Kick the butt

Jasmine Singh

Smoking, a habit which is definitely hard to quit, irrespective of whether you are a star like Shah Rukh Khan who often talks about his battle with the addiction, or whether you are a non celebrity. And what else is equally hard is to digest for many to see Sikh characters on screen smoking. Thanks to director Anurag Kashyap’s recent Bollywood release Manmarziyaan which has raised smoke due to the portrayal of Sikh characters smoking on screen, the spotlight once again has been shifted to the butt. Even though Nawazuddin Siddiqui, the silver screen’s Manto, who smokes like a chimney, finding meaning in the translucent vapours, we get hold of some of the celebrities who are well-versed with the term smoking like a chimney, but now they have extinguished the butt for good! 

All in your mind
Sherlyn Chopra

The sexy siren fought a battle with the cigarette, which she finally won. “After studying at length the integral connection between human beliefs and actions, I realised that our actions are predominantly governed by our beliefs. Therefore to give up any addiction, it is crucial to challenge or question the bogus or false beliefs that support the habit or the behaviour. It is only when I challenged my bogus beliefs as a smoker that I was able to separate myself from my habit.”

No smoking please: Since January 2017, I have been successfully and proudly leading the life of a non-smoker. I have become much healthier and glamourous than ever before since the time I walked out of my relationship with nicotine. The best ever decision of my life!

Best decision of my life 
Vipin Sharma, actor 

Vipin is a popular face on silver screen, he has been part of films like Taare Zameen Par, Ghajini and more. And today: I can clearly divide my life into before and after. After I quit, I actually became who I am. All positive changes took place with one step to decide to quit. 

Literally, version 2.0
Zubair Khan: Reality show celebrity 

 Zubair feels like a totally different person today after quitting. “I used to do it occasionally and then one fine day I realised I couldn’t live without it.” 

And now: My anger is pretty much under control. 

Different life
Anas Rashid, TV actor 

The television actor from Punjab is relieved that he could leave cigarette, and now he is a different version of himself. “I can feel oxygen in my lungs, it took me a while to nail the habit, I am glad that I could. I am a healthier and much happier version of my own self now.”  

Time to spread the word Vivek Oberoi, actor

Vivek Anand Oberoi recently conducted tobacco awareness workshops with 3,000 police personnel, 1,000 BEST employees and 450 junior artistes working across film industries. Vivek says, “We had screened 500 transgenders as a part of our precancer detection camp, out of which 75 per cent consume tobacco in various forms. After interacting with many of them, it was delightful to see many of them kick the butt after 15 years or more."

jasmine@tribunemail.com