The first promo of Sanjay Leela Bhansali's ambitious film Guzaarish is out. But what has instantly drawn public attention is a smoking scene featuring Aishwarya Rai- Bachchan.
In a sequence of the promo, Ash is seen puffing away even as the film's hero, Hrithik Roshan, gazes at her, reports Mail Today.
The buzz is that Guzaarish producers are concerned over the smoking scenes. Reports suggest that producers were so worried about the scenes that the trailer — which was set to be shown with We Are Family — was withdrawn. It's suggested that Ash's smoking sequence was shown to a focus group to gauge reactions.
“ It's a non- issue for us. Technically, Ash is not really smoking in the scene. It's a funny scene where she is trying to smoke. It's a lighthearted and cute sequence that doesn't propagate smoking at all. In fact, we are making fun of smoking,” says Siddharth Roy Kapoor of UTV, the co- producers of Guzaarish .
Kapoor, meanwhile, quashes all rumours about the scene. “ Neither did we postpone the film's trailer nor has the promo been shown to any focus group. It's not true,” he states, adding that the Guzaarish trailer has got a U certificate.
Smoking, right now, is not prohibited in films, but it has always been believed that filmstars glamorise the hazardous act. And concerns are aplenty since Ash is a global icon. “ Ash is not glamorising smoking in any way in the film; you will know when you watch Guzaarish ,” insists Kapoor.
It's not the first time in the recent past that a Bollywood heroine is shown smoking. In the past, Rani Mukherji lit up in Bichoo ; Kareena Kapoor did it in Chameli and Manisha Koirala was shown smoking in Company .
Recently, Priyanka Chopra and Kangna Ranaut were shown smoking in Fash- ‘ I coughed and had tears in my eyes' ion . All of them went on to create furore among antismoking lobbies.
Deepika Padukone, on the other hand, refused to light up for a sequence in Karthik Calling Karthik . She was only shown holding a cigarette for the role.
Ash recalls the scene saying: “ You saw what happened to me when I attempted smoking in the scene. I coughed and had tears in my eyes.”
Hrithik took to smoking especially for the film to get into the skin of his character. He plays a magician who becomes paraplegic — a person who has complete paralysis of the lower half of the body including both legs, usually caused by damage to the spinal cord.
Hrithik plays Ethan, a magician who suffers a spinal injury. Ash is a beautiful nurse and a married woman who develops feelings for him. Bhansali's film will reportedly touch the controversial issue of mercy killing.
