John himself is a smoker too

The nation is facing a rather strange dilemma. To smoke or not to smoke, that's the question. And with his penchant for adapting Shakespeare who better equipped to portray this dilemma than Vishal Bharadwaj.

Moving ahead of Omkara, Vishal has produced an entire film on anti-smoking which will star John Abraham.

Says Vishal, "When Anurag Kashyap came to me with the script I was immediately hooked. I've always wanted to make a film against smoking. And this is a great script. Kumar Mangat (who produced Omkara) co-produced No Smoking with me."

When John Abraham showed an interest in the project Vishal met the actor. "John himself is an occasional smoker. He identified with the project. I think it's right to make a film against smoking if you believe in the cause.

To simply go around issuing warnings or giving Adults certificates to films showing smoking serves no purpose. We need to take a more mature view of the matter. I feel very strong about the issue and decided to produce a film."

The story of a man (Abraham) trying to quit smoking will be put across in an entertaining and non-judgemental fashion.

In the meanwhile, Vishal is working on his next directorial venture which will be co-produced jointly by UTV and Vishal. "I've an idea that I'm developing right now. It's not based on Shakespeare this time. But I'll definitely return to Shakespeare again."

Source: Santabanta