March 13th, 2009
When Minister for Health Anbumani Ramadoss appealed to film actors to desist from smoking on screen, he did not extend his request to actresses. We have seen actresses who have had a puff or two on screen. In earlier days, it was usually the vamp who was seen smoking on screen, but in recent years, we even saw leading ladies take a puff, both on and off screen. Sigh! Changing times!But of course, the film industry did respond to the minister and we have had actors voluntarily not smoking on screen. Even our all-time favourite onscreen smoker, Superstar Rajinikanth, replaced his cigarette for chewing gum in his superhit Sivaji. But he continued to enthrall his audiences with the same antics with the gum, as with his cigarette stub!
As we look at some of the actresses who have smoked on screen (and some even off screen), we would like to remind our users that though smoking may be a personal choice, banned at public places and so on and so forth, it is indeed injurious to health. Like all bad habits, smoking does lead to health problems like cancer and is best avoided. And smokers beware; you are not only harming your own health, but also those around you, thanks to second-hand smoke, which is even more lethal.
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