Sanjay Gupta questions smoking in Bollywood posters: 'What's the point of anti-smoking ads?'
Synopsis
Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta called out three of Bollywood's biggest upcoming films — Animal, Dhurandhar, and Love and War — for featuring their leads with cigarettes in promotional posters, questioning the value of mandatory anti-smoking reels. The debate quickly turned on Gupta himself, with users citing his own 2002 film Kaante — and his sharp, unapologetic reply fuelled the fire further.
Key Takeaways
Sanjay Gupta posted on X on 27 September 2026 showing Ranbir Kapoor , Ranveer Singh , and Vicky Kaushal each holding cigarettes in film posters.
The films in question are Animal (Sandeep Reddy Vanga), Dhurandhar (Aditya Dhar), and Love and War (Sanjay Leela Bhansali).
Gupta questioned whether mandatory anti-smoking reels in cinemas serve any purpose alongside such promotional imagery.
Users pointed out the irony, citing Gupta's own 2002 film Kaante , which features a song referencing cigarette smoke.
Gupta defended himself, noting no anti-smoking public messaging existed when Kaante was made.
The debate expanded into a broader critique of Bollywood's reliance on cigarette imagery as a masculinity signifier .
Filmmaker Sanjay Gupta has publicly questioned the contradiction between mandatory anti-smoking disclaimers in Indian cinemas and the normalisation of cigarette imagery in major Bollywood film posters, sparking a sharp debate online on Sunday, 27 September 2026.
The Post That Started It All
Gupta shared a collage on his official X handle featuring three high-profile Bollywood posters — Ranbir Kapoor from Sandeep Reddy Vanga's Animal, Ranveer Singh from Aditya Dhar's Dhurandhar, and Vicky Kaushal from Sanjay Leela Bhansali's Love and War. The common thread across all three images: each leading man was depicted holding a cigarette.
Gupta's accompanying remark was pointed: 'What is the point of those unpleasant anti-smoking reels we have to endure before and during films when these are the posters of the films?'
The Hypocrisy Charge and Gupta's Defence
The post quickly drew counter-fire in the comments, with one user calling out the irony in Gupta's own 2002 crime thriller Kaante, which features actor Sanjay Dutt in a song that explicitly references cigarette smoke. The user quoted the Hindi lyrics — ciggrate ke dhuan ka challa banake, collar ko thodasa upar chada ke — and labelled it a case of irony.
Gupta did not dodge the challenge. He responded directly, arguing that the regulatory and public-messaging landscape was fundamentally different more than two decades ago. 'There were no non smoking ads then you genius,' he wrote in reply, drawing both amusement and further debate from followers.
Masculinity, Creativity, and the Broader Conversation
Beyond the back-and-forth with Gupta, the post opened a wider cultural discussion. One user argued that the persistence of cigarette imagery in leading-man portrayals reflects a deeper problem in Indian filmmaking. 'Because these people think that cigarette is the only thing that shows a man masculine. This is the lack of creativity. All Indian film industries are suffering from masculinity sycophancy. Bhaad mai gaya content, story aur creativity,' the user wrote.
The observation resonates with a broader critique that has surfaced periodically around big-budget Indian films, particularly those in the hypermasculine action genre — that visual shorthand for the brooding alpha male has become formulaic and, critics argue, irresponsible given the platforms involved.
Regulatory Context
Under rules framed by India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, films and OTT content featuring tobacco use are required to carry anti-tobacco health spots before the screening and statutory warnings on screen whenever smoking appears. The intent is to counterbalance the aspirational imagery that mainstream cinema can inadvertently — or deliberately — project. Gupta's post has reignited the question of whether those disclaimers are effectively neutralised by marketing imagery that precedes audiences even entering a theatre.
Point of View
But its impact is dulled by his own directorial history — and he knows it, which is why his defence was defensive rather than dismissive. The more substantive issue his post surfaces is structural: India's tobacco disclaimer regime was designed for a pre-social-media world where the poster and the film were consumed in sequence. Today, a poster circulates for months before a single disclaimer is ever shown, reaching millions who will never sit in a theatre. The regulatory gap is real, and Bollywood's marketing machinery — which routinely uses cigarettes as shorthand for brooding masculinity — has been quietly exploiting it. Whether the conversation Gupta started translates into any pressure on studios or regulators remains to be seen.
NationPress
27 Sept 2026
Frequently Asked Questions
What did Sanjay Gupta say about smoking in Bollywood posters?
Sanjay Gupta shared a collage on X featuring Ranbir Kapoor, Ranveer Singh, and Vicky Kaushal each holding cigarettes in promotional posters, asking what purpose mandatory anti-smoking reels in cinemas serve if such imagery is used to market films. His post went viral and triggered a wide debate on 27 September 2026.
Which films were featured in Sanjay Gupta's collage?
The three films were Animal directed by Sandeep Reddy Vanga starring Ranbir Kapoor, Dhurandhar directed by Aditya Dhar starring Ranveer Singh, and Love and War directed by Sanjay Leela Bhansali starring Vicky Kaushal.
Why were users calling out Sanjay Gupta for hypocrisy?
Commenters pointed out that Gupta's own 2002 film Kaante features actor Sanjay Dutt in a song that references cigarette smoke, making his criticism of smoking imagery seem contradictory. Gupta replied that no anti-smoking public messaging existed at the time Kaante was made.
What are the rules on smoking depiction in Indian films?
India's Ministry of Health and Family Welfare mandates that films featuring tobacco use carry anti-tobacco health spots before screening and statutory on-screen warnings whenever smoking is depicted, applying to both theatrical releases and OTT platforms.
What broader issue did the debate raise?
Beyond Gupta's specific post, the discussion highlighted a critique that Indian cinema — particularly big-budget action films — uses cigarettes as a visual shorthand for masculinity, which some commenters described as a failure of creativity and a form of irresponsible cultural messaging.
