MADRAS, India — Humphrey Bogart used to seduce women through his smoke rings. In a movie like "Casablanca," much of this Hollywood star's playboy persona came from the cigarette he held between his fingers. That the tobacco stick finally finished him is something that all his fans, especially female, wish they could blow away. Bogart died of lung cancer and the world is much wiser today than it was then.

However, cigarettes still play a disturbingly major part on the screen, and continue to symbolize not just masculinity but also female empowerment. We all remember Sharon Stone's fag play in "Basic Instinct," which women copied with glee, hoping that the stick between their lips would kick up their confidence, boost their image and help them look all the more sexually alluring. This precisely is the problem — stars pushing not just cigarette sales but also a concept that is deadly.

In India, time was when only villains or vamps smoked. They were bad people in any case — not worth aping. The larger society was not unduly perturbed by this, for it knew that the young would not seek to transform themselves into evil, unlovable figures, reeking of tobacco, stained teeth and ruined health.