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CHENNAI, INDIA, June 7, 2003: Popular South Indian Actor Kamal Hasan has vowed that he will never again be seen smoking in any of his future films. This prompted a leading cancer surgeon to appeal to other stars, particularly Mr. Hasan’s peer, Rajnikanth, to follow suit. Speaking at a function organized by WHO on “Tobacco-free films and fashion” Mr. Hasan said, “I promise that I would never again wield a cigarette before the camera.” His declaration evoked a wave of support from others in the Tamil film industry like producer A.V.M. Saravanan, lyricist Vairamuthu and comedian S.V. Shekher. Dr. V. Shanta, chairman of Adyar Cancer Institute, pointed out that 76 percent of the movies show tobacco in some form and 50 percent of the time the hero is shown smoking. She appealed to other stars, especially Rajnikanth, a chain smoker who made cigarette smoking an inimitable style in Tamil films, not to smoke on the screen since they set a bad example to young filmgoers. The Cancer Institute has invited film, TV stars, directors and producers for a dialogue to evolve smoking-free films. In America, tobacco companies have paid movie stars hundreds of thousands of dollars to smoke their brands in films.

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