Child rights panel notice to Sony TV for 'inappropriate' content in dance show
The NCPCR has issued a notice against Sony Pictures Networks for airing 'inappropriate' content on the children's dance show "Super Dancer - Chapter 3."
The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has issued a notice against Sony Pictures Networks accusing it of airing inappropriate content. The video, viral on social media, shows a segment from the popular children's dance show "Super Dancer - Chapter 3," aired on Sony Entertainment Television, where judges asked a minor contestant “inappropriate and sexually explicit questions” about his parents while on stage. The commission has demanded that the episode be removed from all platforms immediately.
“The Commission has come across a video on Twitter from your kid's dance show called Super Dancer Chapter 3 which was aired on Sony Entertainment Television, wherein it is seen that the judges on the show were asking the minor child vulgar and sexually explicit questions regarding his parents on stage,” the notice from NCPCR read.
It added that the Commission is of the view that all the questions asked to the minor child were “inappropriate and disturbing in nature and not meant to be asked to children.”
The NCPCR said that the network's actions have violated provisions under the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, the Information Technology Act, 2000, as well as the Commission's guidelines on child and adolescent participation in the entertainment industry.
The Commission, a statutory body responsible for child rights protection, demanded an explanation from the media house as to why these inappropriate questions were posed to a minor on a kids' dance show. Additionally, they requested that the network refrain from broadcasting such unsuitable content on their channel and submit a detailed report on the actions taken within 7 days.
Super Dancer is a children's dance reality show judged by Bollywood actress Shilpa Shetty, choreographer Geeta Kapoor, and Bollywood Director Anurag Basu. After nationwide auditions, the judges select children who are talented dancers, aged between 4 to 13. These dancers are paired with choreographers known as the Super Gurus. Alongside their Gurus, the kids compete to become Super Dancers.
Super Dancer Chapter 3, which aired on Sony TV, premiered on December 29, 2018, with the Grand Finale on June 23, 2019.
Sony Pictures Networks is yet to issue any public statement on the issue.
