If a song on ganja is punishable, what about rape scenes in movies, asks rapper

Bengaluru: Kannada Rapper Chandan Shetty clarified before the Central Crime Branch officials on Tuesday that his song on marijuana in yet to be released movie ‘Anthya’ was for entertainment and not to influence people to consume the same.

Responding to the CCB’s notice, Shetty appeared before CCB ACP Mohan Kumar on Tuesday morning told the police that he sang the song ‘Ganja’ for the movie three years ago, but the movie could not be released due to various reasons, but the song, somehow, got leaked on the internet prompting the director to officially release it on YouTube.

Shetty, who had expressed surprise over the police order, argued that if his song influences youth to consume ganja, which was banned in India, murders, thefts, and rapes on screen were also punishable under the law and hence depiction of the same in movies could influence people to do so. If those scenes which everyone knows are for entertainment, how this song wasn’t, Shetty argued.

He further said that he just sang the song at a time when he was waiting for a break in the Sandalwood industry and in dire need of money. “The director of the movie approached me with the script and I just sang the song. I was told that the song was for a movie has a message for the youth about the dangers of drugs and I was paid Rs 5,000 for the song.

Shetty added that even a great Kannada mystic Saint Shishunala Sharief wrote and sang on Ganja three centuries ago. They are hugely popular even today and no one bothers to complain about it.

On Monday, the CCB had issued a notice to Shetty for promoting marijuana in his new song, which went viral on the internet.

Notice to Arjun Janya?
According to a source, the CCB is planning to issue a summon notice to popular music director and singer Arjun Janya for his song ‘Dum Maaro Dum’ in a Kannada movie Raambo 2. Janya has composed the song which is popular among youth.