PMK founder S. Ramadoss has written to Nadigar Sangam president M. Nasser on advising artists, especially leading heroes, to desist from smoking on-screen in their films.
He said smoking was a leading cause of deaths, and cinema which was a mass medium that had tremendous impact on people.
Scenes in Sarkar
Referring to many scenes in the recently released Vijay starrer Sarkar , Dr. Ramadoss said the film had 22 scenes depicting smoking.
“What is more baffling is that, in one scene, Vijay smokes a cigarette during a consultation meeting where ministers are present. There is a ban on smoking in public places and these types of scenes have been forced just for the dramatic effect,” he said. Dr. Ramadoss added
Lancet magazine in 2003, had attributed about 52% of smoking by youngsters to cinema. The leader added when Anbumani Ramadoss was the Health minister, he had requested top actors to not smoke on-screen, based on which actors like Kamal Haasan and Ajith desisted from acting in such scenes.gave up smoking in films.
“Even Rajinikanth, who initially didn’t heed such requests, finally admitted on his birthday in 2012 and said that the former Health Minister’s views on smoking was a good one, and stopped smoking in his films after that,” he said.
He requested Mr. Nasser to look at the possibility of issuing an advisory to actors to avoid smoking scenes in movies. “If possible, make this a basic rule of Nadigar Sangam,” he added.
