Be it for their kids or for health-related reasons, many Bollywood actors such as Aamir Khan, Saif Ali Khan and Ranbir Kapoor, have decided to lead healthy lives by quitting cigarettes. We look at how some of these celebs battled their way to kicking the butt.
Hrithik Roshan: Actor Hrithik Roshan finally quit smoking in 2012 after a lot of attempts. It was a book, which finally got him to ditch the cigarette. “I wanted to give up smoking. I tried quitting five times before and failed. I tried nicotine patches and other methods, but nothing worked. I wanted to kick the habit so I began researching how to. I spoke to people who had quit, went online and read articles, saw testimonials of people on YouTube... I kept checking, and then finally I came across this book Alan Carr’s Easy Way To Stop Smoking, I ordered that book and the day I finished the book was the day I smoked my last ciggie,” he was quoted as saying at the time.
Aamir Khan: Actor Aamir Khan stopped smoking in 2011 after repeatedly being told by his children to kick the butt. Reports suggest that he would smoke close to 40 cigarettes in a day. After his son Azaad was born in 2011, Aamir quit for good. “Whenever my film was about to hit the theatres, I got nervous. And I felt that a cigarette could ease the pressure...Honestly, my son Junaid and my daughter were getting very annoyed. Kiran and my mother too were constantly telling me to throw my cigarettes and lighters away. There was this day, January 1, 2011, to be precise, when I decided that ‘Enough is Enough’. I can say that four people were instrumental,” he was quoted as saying.
Saif Ali Khan: Back in 2006, Saif Ali Khan recovered from an illness,which was when he decided to quit smoking. Saif was hospitalised with chest pain. The doctors said that he had a small clot in his heart, which was because of excessive smoking. While he was following this strictly, he had to a smoke a few cigarettes on screen for his film Rangoon. “While Saif was shooting for Rangoon, his character Rustom Rusi Bilimoria, a filmmaker, had to be seen smoking cigarettes in a few scenes with his international co-star Rebecca. Saif was off cigarettes for a long time but picked it up only on camera for his role. The actor had to take a few puffs for some scenes and he was fine with making this exception because the script demanded it,” a source was quoted as saying.
Arjun Rampal: Actor Arjun Rampal quit smoking for his children. In 2010, he took to Twitter to express his feelings about how he wants to quit just like his wife Mehr Jessia. “Proud of Mehr who has stopped smoking, the kids after my life to quit now. Will try again after I finish this film. Then a nice long vacation (sic),” Rampal wrote on his Twitter page. He was shooting for actor Shah Rukh Khan’s Ra.One at the time.
Vivek Oberoi: Vivek Oberoi has often spoken about the ill effects of smoking. In fact, he even featured in a no smoking commercial to discourage other people from smoking. He kicked the butt when he started meeting cancer patients. “I cannot stress enough on the importance of keeping away from tobacco and smoking as the damage it causes in the long run is irreversible. I have been working with the Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA) for several years now as well and I am taking the thought and no-tobacco campaign forward with this commercial,” Vivek said at the time. In fact, there are reports that he doesn’t let anyone on the set smoke.
Konkona Sen Sharma: Actor Konkona Sen Sharma was a regular smoker, but had to quit when she was pregnant with her son Haroon in 2011. “The pregnancy has meant a complete change in lifestyle. I used to be a smoker and overnight I couldn’t smoke or drink at all,” she was quoted as saying.
Ranbir Kapoor: Actor Ranbir Kapoor wasn’t able to smoke on the sets of his film Barfi! (2012) to win a friendly bet with filmmaker Anurag Basu. Although he slips up from time to time, he is making sure to not smoke for as long as he can. “Also, I wanted to be healthy and I hope that I know being an actor I can give inspiration to people who want to quit smoking. I was a big smoker, and when you give it up, trust me, life is so much better. You have so much of free time to think about other things, instead of thinking of lighting a cigarette and it feels great. I feel more alive and I feel like a better person,” he was quoted as saying.
