Thiruvananthapuram: The Customs and Central Excise has brought out a Malayalam documentary featuring actor Mohanlal, besides an English animation film, to create awareness on customs rules and related matters.
The theme of the films for screening at airport arrival halls, also to be released on the social media and other platforms, is ‘Indian Customs by Your Side in All Things Right.’
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan released the documentaries here on Wednesday in the presence of customs commissioner Sreedhar Reddy, joint commissioner Senthil Nathan and other senior officials.
Procedures of customs examination, rights and responsibilities of officials, restricted items, duties and other charges, dos and don'ts, advice to disclose real information and guidelines on modes of payments are the contents of the documentaries.
Actor and Rajya Sabha MP Suresh Gopi and magician Gopinath Muthukad also appear in the Malayalam documentary of around six minutes. Noted musician M. Jayachandran had composed the music.
"The reluctance often shown by passengers towards our checks prompted us to create awareness among them about responsibilities and rights of customs officials," said deputy commissioner Sree Parvathy. "Many even give wrong answers to queries, which could land them in trouble. Such things happen mainly due to lack of awareness.”
The customs officials would also be exploring the possibility of screening the documentary onboard the aircraft.
Customs deputy commissioner Vageesh Kumar, superintendents Baby Aloysius, K. Balachandran, Biju K. Mathew and Saline were also present at the brief release ceremony.
