Having worked in films, TV and also on the web, Samikssha Batnagar is totally against the smoking scenes on-screen. The actress, whose "Black Rose" released recently on Shemaroo, revealed that she had a hard time convincing her director of the web film to eliminate smoking scenes.
"Today's youth is impressionable and often imitates what they see. Smoking in the movies accounts for the high percentage of all smoking initiation and I never thought I should promote or endorse any such thing," she said. ALSO READ: Kumkum Bhagya’s Samikssha Batnagar’s Action Scene Gone Wrong, Actress Suffers Leg Injury- EXCLUSIVE
"I questioned my director Hemant sir, when I was offered this role and after a couple of rounds or discussion and research he agreed. The problem with smoking on-screen is that we glamourise addiction," she added. ALSO READ: BACK TO CHILDHOOD: TV Stars Revisit Their Fondest Republic Day Memories
The actress, who will soon be seen in web series Jo Hukum Mere Aaka, feels that people associate smoking to being cool and thus it's common for such a character to smoke on-screen.
"The general perception is that while smoking is a terribly unhealthy habit, there’s something about it that automatically makes a person feel cool. Especially when a character is supposed to be rebellious, famous, or just super cool. That’s why it is common to find someone playing a character description like that in the movies taking out a cigarette," she said.
Samikssha revealed that herbal cigarettes are used in movies these days, and said, "They are more or less an exact copy of a cigarette when it comes to appearance. However, the content is purely herbal and does not cause damage to anyone inhaling it, even if it’s for long periods because they are nicotine-free and do not have any traces of tobacco."
Lastly, she requested streaming giants to eliminate smoking from their film web programming, rated PG-13 and under, to make it smoke free depiction in movies. "Smoking isn't cool, say no to smoking to build a smoke-free next generation," she concluded.
Image source: Instagram/samikshabhatna1