Subhash K Jha (DNA; August 11, 2017)

Smoking, as we all know, is not allowed in Indian films without a warning ticker. But what is to be done when a film has its protagonist smoking almost throughout the film? That’s the dilemma the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) faced when they viewed Charlize Theron’s film Atomic Blonde. Says a source, “She is seen smoking almost in every frame. We’ve asked for the anti-smoking ticker to be placed at every place where the heroine is smoking.”

The film’s Indian distributors argued in their defence that the film is set in 1989 in Berlin when smoking was far more prevalent, even fashionable. But the argument didn’t cut any ice with the CBFC. “The film may be set in any time. The protagonists’ actions are going to be judged by the audience now,” says the CBFC source.