Eye doctors see red over spooky movie

Published May 21, 2005

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New Delhi - Indian eye doctors have asked a court to ban a movie in which the heroine sees ghosts after a cornea transplant, saying it will scare off donors and patients.

The All India Ophthalmological Society complained to Delhi's High Court that the movie Naina (Eyes), starring Bollywood bombshell Urmila Matondkar, would reinforce myths about cornea transplants, The Times of India said on Friday.

"This movie could create a fear psychosis among cornea recipients and their relatives as well as among potential eye donors," ophthalmologist Navin Sakhuja told reporters.

Would-be donors could be frightened off, afraid their eyes would "live on after they are dead", said Sakhuja, a member of the society.

"We have a huge backlog of people, particularly children, waiting to get new corneas. This movie adds to misconceptions and could hurt efforts to get them those corneas."

Naina's director says the heroine's visions after the transplant following 20 years of blindness are caused by what the donor had seen and experienced in life.

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