Hindi movies `influence` Indian teenagers to drink

Dubai: Bollywood movies make Indian teenagers more vulnerable to drinking alcohol because of scenes that glorify drinking, a new study has revealed.

Bollywood movies are quitepopular in the UAE and young Emiratis and other nationalities enjoy the stories that show the glitz and glamour of high life among a segment of the Indian society. The study found that teenagers were nearly three times as likely to try alcohol if they were exposed to Bollywood movies glorifying dinks, compared to those who were least exposed to such movies, the Gulf News reported. Fifty-nine Bollywood movies were coded to record the number of alcohol use occurrence and almost 4,000 teenagers were asked if they had seen these movies. These adolescents were found to be 2.78 times more likely to have tried alcohol. Dr G.P. Nazar, who presented the study, asserted that there was an urgent need to bring about legislation prohibiting depiction of alcohol in these films. ANI