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• No smoking, please: Bipasha  

Bipasha Basu is a health freak and is known to never smoke or drink, which explains her bootylicious body.

Now, she has refused to smoke a cigarette or even hold it for a scene in her forthcoming film, Pankh.

Our source said, “Sudipto Chattopadhyay, the director of the film, wanted Bipasha to smoke on screen for a vital sequence. However, Bipasha flatly refused as she does not encourage smoking and hates it. She was not in favour of the scene and if she smokes, it meant that she would be promoting smoking. After that, Sudipto even gave her the option of holding a cigarette, but she refused that as well. Sudipto understood her point of view and agreed to shoot the scene differently.”

Bipasha Basu confirms the story and maintains her anti-smoking stance.

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WVU lecture series tackles tobacco topics  

Teen smoking, cigarettes in the cinema and the marketing of new smokeless tobacco products are some of the topics of a September lecture series at West Virginia University.

Four experts on tobacco research and behavior will visit the Health Sciences complex Sept. 9, 10 and 11.

Their talks are free and open to the public.

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• Blu Cigs President Won't Confirm Product in Sex Tape 

In response to a surge of inquiries, blu Cigs president Jason Healy said he will not confirm the speculation by Gawker.com that the mystery cigarette in the Eric Dane/Rebecca Gayheart sex tape which emitted a blue ember but didn't burn was in fact, the company's signature electronic cigarette.

"Our client records are confidential. We respect the privacy of all our clients, not only high profile ones."

Blu Cigs are known for the distinctive blue light that glows when the cigarette is drawn on. They have become popular with smokers in the film, television and music industries as they can be used in indoor no (tobacco) smoking environments such as sound stages and recording studios as there is no ash and the vapor emitted won't bother non-smokers and will not harm sensitive equipment.

Healy adds, "With current and stricter new restrictions coming on the use of traditional cigarettes, blu Cigs provide smokers with a better alternative cigarette experience without the bothersome secondhand smoke."

In response to whether an electronic cigarette such as blu is safe for use in a bathtub, Healy said, "While we would not recommend use in an environment like that, there's no problem if it were dropped in the water. It would have to be dried out sufficiently before using again."

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Kollywood gets set to light up  

Ever since Superstar Rajinikanth popped gum into his mouth in the superhit Chandramukhi, the chewing gum was considered by many as a politically correct move — and preferred over the supposedly classy cigarette that actors have flipped over and over again, with style and elan.

But, the new Health Minister has some good news that might, in future, show many on-screen characters in new light. And, literally so, as our actors have been given license to flip that cigarette —with Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad describing a blanket ban on smoking on-screen as “not practical”.

Kollywood has already started burning bright on hearing the news. Director P Vasu, who’s worked with Rajinikanth on films like Chandramukhi and Kuselan, is among those who are delighted. “As filmmakers, there are times when we need to show actors smoking and that just enhances their characterisation in the movie,” he defends.

In K-town, it is widely believed that the mannerisms of a star could influence a lot of youth to take up smoking. Actor Shaam, however, does not believe so. “It’s up to the individual,” he feels, “When I started smoking, I did not do so because my favourite actor did it on-screen.” The 12B star has almost given up the habit now, but opines that smoking portrays a powerful body language for his on-screen characters.

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Taiwan has cigarette removed from French film ad : Health 

A Taiwan anti-smoking group Friday succeeded in persuading a film company to remove a cigarette from an advertisement for the movie Coco Before Chanel. The John Tung Foundation made the request commuters complained about the ad displayed in the island's mass rapid transit system, saying it was a bad influence for children.

The ad shows Audrey Tautou, who plays Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel, seated in a chair, her right hand holding a cigarette.

Vievision Pictures, the Taiwan distributor of the film, on Friday released new ads in which Tautou still holds up her right hand, but the cigarette is gone.

"We stand on the same side with the John Tung Foundation, and believe that by removing the cigarette from the ad, we can create a better atmosphere for the anti-smoking campaign," the company said.

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WARNER: Why pretend the past was cigarette-free?  

Send for the Sanity Inspector - quickly. There is work for him among the denizens of Liverpool city council. The council is proposing to use its powers to upgrade to an 18-certificate the classification of films "if they depict images of tobacco smoking", in order to protect the vulnerable youth of Merseyside from exposure to such depravity. . . .

Accepting the axiom that what Liverpool city council proposes today, the world implements tomorrow, we must come to terms with the prospect that this is just the beginning of a new age in cinema. For political correctness is never a static force; it seeks always to break new ground. Assuming young cinema-goers are successfully kept from exposure to smoking, the next logical step would be to extend this protection to over-18s as well.

Tentative moves have already been made towards a more broad-based censorship. In Paris, the cigarette was removed from a picture of Jean-Paul Sartre on a poster from an exhibition. Sartre, when asked what was the most important thing in his life, replied: "I don't know. Everything. Living. Smoking." Posthumously, he has managed to give up the latter. In a more directly Liverpudlian context, Paul McCartney's cigarette was excised on US posters of the cover of Abbey Road.

The really exciting thing about such initiatives is that they represent the first, cautious moves towards rewriting history - towards creating an alternative past that is more palatable to the promoters of political correctness To some extent, things are already moving that way, for example when we hear a powdered 18th-century aristocrat in a television period drama referring to "the under-privileged". Such anachronisms are attributable to the increasing historical illiteracy of scriptwriters; but why not harness ignorance to progress?

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Merseyside | Smoking-in-films rating debated 

People in Liverpool are being asked to give their opinion over plans to give films featuring people who smoke an automatic 18 rating.

The city council has put the idea out to public consultation after receiving an application from the local primary care trust (PCT) in June.

Films with images of smoking would only be suitable for adult viewing.

About 5,300 under-18-year-olds smoke in Liverpool, half of whom were influenced by films, the PCT has claimed.

If the proposals came into force, the 18 rating would not apply to films that provide a "clear and unambiguous portrayal of the dangers of smoking, other tobacco use, or second-hand smoke".

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Chinese tobacco control expert calls for smoking ban in TV, film 

A Chinese tobacco-control expert has called for screens to be free of smoking scenes so as to better protect viewers, particularly the minors.

Currently, both home-made and imported TV series and films contain smoking scenes, which had a negative impact on viewers, especially minors as they tend to follow and mirror others, Xu Guihua, deputy director of the Chinese Association on Tobacco Control(CATC) was quoted by Thursday's China Daily as saying.

Study shows that young people aged between 13 to 18, who often see smoking scenes in movies and TVs, are 16 times more likely to become smokers than their counterparts.

Among 144 box-office hit movies from 2004 to 2009, of which 66 were imported, about 69 percent contain tobacco-related scenes such as people smoking a cigarette or cigar, with ash tray or lighters in the background, a study jointly launched by CATC and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has found.

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• Group urges smoking ban in TV, film 

The Chinese Association on Tobacco Control (CATC) Wednesday called for tobacco-free TV and film screens in China, in an attempt to take the glamour out of smoking, especially for impressionable young people.

Currently, due to a lack of legislation and low awareness, many scenes in TV series and films - including those produced in China and those imported - contain smoking scenes, which has a negative impact on viewers, particularly on minors who are not mature and tend to follow and mirror others, said Xu Guihua, deputy director of CATC, a Beijing-based non-governmental organization.

The conclusion is based on studies jointly commissioned by CATC and the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Xu told China Daily.

Of 144 box-office hit movies from 2004 to 2009, 66 of which were imported, about 69 percent contain tobacco-related scenes such as people smoking a cigarette or cigar, with ash tray or lighters in the background, the study found. . . .

Red River, another Chinese film, which premiered in April, has the longest smoking scene this year: 7.6 minutes, according to the study.

More than 76 percent of the Chinese films contain smoking scenes, compared with one-third of imported films, Yang noted. . . .

One actor who was forced to smoke in films is now a volunteer for the anti-tobacco cause.

"I became a smoker at 22 because the director wanted my character, a successful detective, to smoke while thinking over complicated crimes in the film," said Beijing-based actor Feng Yuanzheng, one of CATC's anti-tobacco volunteers.

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Scene Stealer - The Web Is Pouncing on Hollywood’s Ratings 

The Motion Picture Association of America started rating films in 1968 to indicate suitability for children. Ever since, some group or another -- whether of parents or politicians or filmmakers -- has complained: Too broad. Too easily manipulated. Too arbitrary.

The association, financed by the movie studios, has occasionally bowed to public pressure and tinkered with its evaluation process. In 2007, for instance, it started considering smoking alongside sex, violence and profanity when assessing films.

But the ratings system is coming under fresh attack via the Web, and that may make bigger changes inevitable . . .

The standard Hollywood ratings -- G, PG, PG-13, R and NC-17 -- must now compete with all manner of Internet-based ratings alternatives, some of which are gaining new traction through social networking tools.

SceneSmoking.org, which monitors tobacco use in movies, issues pink, light gray, dark gray or black lungs to films, depending on how smoking is depicted.

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CHOK SUAT LING: A ban just makes it more alluring 

TELEVISION programmes and movies have one thing in common with the government -- they get blamed for all the ills afflicting society and the country. . . .

But how influential are they, exactly?

The Italian Job, a 1969 movie featuring an iconic car chase involving Mini Coopers weaving in and out of alleyways and gridlocked streets, resulted in the British classic car experiencing a vast increase in sales in Europe and elsewhere.

The movie was remade in 2003 with Mark Wahlberg in the lead role, and once again managed to boost new and used Mini sales. Industry experts believe The Italian Job was one of the fundamental reasons behind the continued popularity of the Mini.

When Jennifer Aniston flaunted a new bouncy, square-layered shag in long-running sitcom Friends, women the world over rushed to salons and demanded "The Rachel". . . .

More ominous and worrying, however, are the "counter-culture" elements pervasive in many local dramas and films.

It is no secret that every time a movie about Mat Rempit is shown in the cinemas, police have to be on high alert. The most recent example was the box-office hit Bohsia: Jangan Pilih Jalan Hitam. The week it was released, police had to redouble operations against illegal racing in major cities and towns. . . .

In the end, like everything else, it all boils down to parental guidance. How anything impacts children is largely dependent on how effectively parents play their role.

If the parents can't -- or worse, don't -- they must be made to bear the consequences of their offsprings' misbehaviour.

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Jonathan Kim: ReThinking Thank You for Smoking: Tobacco's Last Action Hero? 

In honor of the Obama administration FINALLY passing strong anti-tobacco legislation (which had been stalled in Congress since 1994), I decided to revisit Jason Reitman's excellent, hilarious black comedy about the tobacco industry, Thank You For Smoking. . . .

Another magical thing about cigarettes is their truly awesome killing power. Cigarettes kill roughly 400,000 Americans a year (about 1,100 people a day) and snuff out between one third and one half of all smokers. As Chris Rock said, cigarettes are so deadly that they even kill people who don't smo . . .

So will the Nick Naylors of the world soon become extinct? Not by a long shot. Howard Wolinsky and Alan Blum, writing for the Huffington Post, highlighted some of the many troubling loopholes in the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. Once again, Big Tobacco has worked its dark magic and is being treated as if it's some sort of responsible partner that deserves a seat on the FDA's tobacco advisory board. The fact that Philip Morris, the biggest of Big Tobacco, supports the legislation should give everyone pause. The tobacco industry is not suicidal, and they've survived and thrived despite multiple "obstacles" in the past, the least of which being the revelation that cigarettes will kill you (and some of those nearby). And with scary warnings clearly labeled on every pack, can anyone rationally argue that they were unaware of the dangers of smoking? Even when Nick Naylor admits to Congress that cigarettes are deadly, he clearly isn't waving a white flag.

Still, we have to start somewhere. Hopefully the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act is just a first step

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CNY Teen tells SONY to get smoking out of youth movies 

Have you ever wanted to make a difference? I have and I do.

I have been an active participant in Reality Check for the past two years . . .

After attending NBC's The Today Show and CBS' The Early Show to try and get media coverage, we all marched through the busy streets to the Merchant's Gate of Central Park where we held a news conference. . Afterward, the youths and their coordinators separated into groups of about 50 and went to protest in front of the office buildings of Sony, Time Warner, NewsCorp, and Viacom. I was in the group that rallied in front of Sony.

We chanted for about 10 minutes and then four of us went inside the building to relay a letter to a direct representative of Howard Stringer, the CEO of Sony. Once inside, we asked several people for directions. . . .

The positive reactions from the general public far out-weighed the negative reactions from the corporations and we didn't let the negative get us down. As we walked back to our bus, we were applauded as we sang a jingle that our group came up with. It is sung to the tune of the Frosted Flakes theme.

"Hey, Sony, we hate the things you do. Hey, Sony, if we could we would sue you. You're one of many companies that try to target teens, so get those dang cigarettes off our movie screens. They're more than bad. They kill!"

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What are they smoking?! When scenes call for pot or cocaine, Hollywood turns to stash of faux drugs 

Ever wonder what movie actors are really smoking and snorting when they do a line of coke or lift a joint to their lips?

Turns out that many cocaine look-alikes are ingredients you might use in a cake, like powdered sugar, powdered milk and baking soda, while herbal tobacco fills in for genuine cannabis.

Though the fakes are legal and don’t provide a high, sometimes they can make the actors feel a little buzzed. On Showtime's "Weeds," for instance, where potheads Doug and Andy are often lighting up, the herbal tobacco makes them feel a little lightheaded, says "Weeds" executive producer Roberto Benabib. . . .

Herbal tobacco is also the preferred “pot” for cinematographer and prop master Jeff Butcher, who’s now working on a movie with "Pineapple Express" star James Franco, and who also worked with Mickey Rourke on “The Wrestler.”

“You can get herbal cigarettes made out of marshmallows and a bunch of different herbs,” Butcher says. “But they don’t have any nicotine.”

So-called stoner magazines advertise products like Herbal Ecstasy, he notes, which is an herb-based product that can be smoked or snorted. Wizard Weed is another product that can be used in place of marijuana, he says.

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Smoking film villains 'encourage well-behaved teens to light up'  

Villains who smoke in films are enticing 'good' teenagers to light up, researchers claim.

Experts suggest that it is 'alluring' even for well-behaved children to emulate 'bad' characters on a film screen".

But the study also shows that movie characters who smoke, regardless of whether they are a 'goodie' or a 'baddie', overall influence teens' smoking tendencies.

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