Smoking in Bollywood Films
The old villains and the new age heroes, all have portrayed smoking on screen and have impressed audiences with their attitude and their style.
Published: Wednesday,Mar 20, 2013 19:28 PM GMT-06:00
For some unfathomable reason, a person walking with a cigarette in their hand is perceived as cool and sexy. The old villains and the new age heroes, all have portrayed smoking on screen and have impressed audiences with their attitude and their style. Though smoking kills and it has numerous hazardous health effects on the human body, portrayal of smoking in films has always been a basis for character establishment.
Smoking, or even chewing of tobacco, is seriously harmful with a
strong possibility of turning fatal. When turning to Tinsel Town, the
Indian Government has banned
smoking in films and has made it compulsory to issue a statutory warning
in the
opening credits. Screening and banning of smoking will hopefully lead to
a positive
response from audiences and help to build a healthier, non-smoking
society.
When films like Heroine
and Fashion come across your mind, Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka
Chopra holding the tobacco stick are some of the potent images that are
remembered. The characters they portrayed belonged to the glamour
industry. They learned to smoke, because they believed that smoking will
help
them in times of depression and failures.
A similar portrayal was done in The Dirty Picture. It was said that Vidya Balan had smoked 10 cigarettes for the film. Bollywood personalities choose to smoke to make their characters appear more realistic on screen when they do not smoke in reality.
A similar portrayal was done in The Dirty Picture. It was said that Vidya Balan had smoked 10 cigarettes for the film. Bollywood personalities choose to smoke to make their characters appear more realistic on screen when they do not smoke in reality.
Award winning Kahaani showed officer Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) smoking in front of
pregnant Vidya Bagchi (Vidya Balan) sending the wrong message to society. Though such a minor thing, the impact is quite
harmful. John Abraham starrer No Smoking
was not received well at the box office, however, sent an important message
about smoking to society. His character, a heavy chain smoker had
decided to quit smoking for his loved ones.
In general, looking at both the films, one thing is clear,
smoking in no way helps the on screen person or the off screen person.
Smoking only kills and the message should reach one and all. Smoking to
appear stylish or to flaunt attitude is a very wrong message sent out to
society through films.
It's not only films which imply and promote smoking; the decision to not smoke should come from within self. Smoking certainly causes diseases and distress to the lungs and other parts of the respiratory tract and also may lead to damage of the heart. Smoking and chewing of tobacco leads to oral cancer, along with increasing the risk for numerous other body-wide cancers as well.
It's not only films which imply and promote smoking; the decision to not smoke should come from within self. Smoking certainly causes diseases and distress to the lungs and other parts of the respiratory tract and also may lead to damage of the heart. Smoking and chewing of tobacco leads to oral cancer, along with increasing the risk for numerous other body-wide cancers as well.
On a concluding note, smoking or no smoking depends on the
individual and their beliefs. It's up to the person to be able to
differentiate between the
reel and the real. We, at BollyCurry, request our readers to remain
tobacco free as it has numerous deleterious health effects, not only to
you but others around you too, and the consequences can even lead to
death.
Author: Mayu P. & Gurprit K.
Editor: Gunia M.
Graphics: Pooja A.
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