Despite Union Health Minister Anbumani's directive to do away with the smoking in films, scenes depicting the lead characters smoking on screen appear to be on the rise. Now, probably for the first time, a leading actress would be defying the 'no-smoking' norm in a film.
Mumtaz, who is one of the six heroines in director Shakti Chidambaram's 'Rajadhi Raja' starring Raghava Lawrence in the lead, plays the role of a hashish smuggler, who 'liberally' smokes cigars. In keeping with the demands of the role, Mumtaz is even shown to be drinking liquor and banned drugs.
A production manager was heard telling his colleague that till today, the actress was only doing these things off-screen and the difference this time is that she is now being asked to do the same on-screen!