Once
upon
a
time
not
so
long
ago
(in
2002)
when
Ajay
Devgn
played
Dawood
Ibrahim
in
Ram
Gopal
Varma"s
Company
he
was
shown
smoking
or
holding
a
cigarette
throughout
the
film.
No
one
objected.
Not
even
Devgn,
who
was
an
oblivious
smoker
back
then.
Much
water
has
flown
since
then.
Now
when
Devgn
plays
another
character
based
on
a
real-life
gangster
in
Once
Upon
A
Time
In
Mumbai
he"s
again
shown
chain-smoking.
Today
any
character
smoking
on-screen
invites
immediate
censorial
rectification.
Even
Devgn,
who
has
a
little
daughter
and
pregnant
wife
at
home
had
cut
down
on
his
smoking.
But
the
the
chain-smoker"s
role
in
Luthria"s
film
has
gotten
him
addicted
to
cigarettes
once
again.
Haji
Mastan
was
a
chain
smoker.
So
is
Ajay
Devgn,
who
plays
a
smuggler
from
the
1970s.
He
smokes
through
most
of
Milan
Luthria"s
Once
Upon
A
Time
In
Mumbai.
Until
very
recently
the
censors
clamped
down
on
any
character
holding
a
cancer
stick
in
his
or
her
hands.
In
fact,
censor
chief
Sharmila
Tagore
was
at
her
wit"s
end
when
in
April
this
year
the
government
sent
the
censor
board
a
circular
stating
that
if
any
character
in
any
film
lights
up
a
cigarette
the
film
automatically
gets
certified
for
adult
viewing.
Despite
showcasing
Devgn
puffing
away
the
cancer
stick
cigarette
in
Once
Upon
A
Time
in
Mumbai
the
film
has
been
awarded
a
'UA" certificate.
Director
Milan
Luthria
tries
to
find
a
rationale
behind
the
'know"
smoking
in
his
film.
“First
of
all,
Ajay"s
character
in
Once
Upon
A
Time
In
Mumbai
smokes
less
than
he
did
in
Company.
We
had
to
put
a
disclaimer
at
the
beginning
of
the
film
in
both
Hindi
and
English
saying
,
'Smoking
Is
Injurious
to
Health".
That
apart
I
think
this
shows
a
sign
of
maturity
on
the
censor
board"s
part.
It"s
the
character
not
the
actor
who"s
smoking."