Mumbai:
He may be almost 70 years old but Amitabh Bachchan is backing Mumbai's youngsters against the Maharashtra government's sudden decision that makes it illegal for anyone below 25 years of age to drink or purchase alcohol.
The permissible age for drinking hard liquor is now up by four years in the maximum city, from 21 to 25. At the age of 21, only beer and wine will be allowed.
This move has surely brought out Amitabh Bachchan's sense of irony.
His tweet on micro-blogging site Twitter read: "Also, on drinking age limit increase to 25 ! Err .. old and mature enough to vote for the country, or join army and fight for the nation ... but not old and mature enough to be told when you are allowed to drink ???? Strange ?!!!!"
The superstar's tweets come as welcome support for the city's youth who say the new rules are out of touch with the times.
While many believe that if one can vote and drive at 18, then one is mature enough to drink as well. Still others say that the shops give it anyway, so it does not matter whether one is 21 or 25. The ones who have to drink will drink at whatever age they want to.
"If one can drive or marry, why can't they drink? What kind of a law is this?" says Suresh Shetty, Manager, Deepak Bar.
"In most states excise brings in a lot of revenue. But there is also the risk of not being able to control drinking. This is what we are making an attempt to control," says Maharashtra Chief Minister, Prithviraj Chavan.
However, the larger question remains as to how the state will enforce the drinking age? Even in the Capital, which has also set 25 as the drinking age, the enforcement of this rule can barely be seen.