Irrfan
Subhash K Jha (DNA; August 8, 2015)

While most of Bollywood’s denizen had expressed dismay and alarm at the government’s unofficial ban on pornography on the internet, Irrfan Khan is not happy with the government’s roll-back on the issue. He says, “Freedom to access any kind of information and entertainment on the internet is a fine thing. But this accessibility to porn is a huge problem for parents whose children are prematurely exposed to adult content. There is no stopping the free flow of smut on the internet.”

Irrfan has two growing sons and he is concerned about what pornography can do to children. “It’s not only about child pornography, which is a very serious issue. It’s also about children getting free access to pornography. A five-year-old child can look at sexually explicit content on the net without knowing what is being done. It can mess up his perceptions of gender equations for all times.”

Irrfan also has a huge aesthetic objection to pornography. “Pornography reduces the art of love-making to very basic carnal visuals. Love making is not only about private parts and ejaculation. By bringing sex down to the most elementary level we are stripping the art of love making of everything except instant gratification. That’s a very dangerous position to take.”

The actor also expresses grave concern about the participants in pornographic films. “Especially, the women who shoot for these films are highly susceptible to exploitation. They do it mainly out of financial compulsions.”

Irrfan feels pornography should stay banned. “It’s only harmful to society. Nothing there that threatens our freedom.”