over a glass of wine and a puff of cigarette with Hindi Cinema

 

Sometimes things undergo a complete transformation. I recall the portrayal of stigma associated with drinking and smoking, let us say 'the habits', in mainstream Hindi movies till the late 90s. The lead actors refrained from alcohol on-screen, in many instances even lecturing addict characters out of it. No wonder we saw the habits as something that damages and corrupts one's inner soul and mind, let alone the health concerns.  

Source: https://in.pinterest.com/pin/280700989253009243/?d=t&mt=login

I wonder who drank more 'the villains or the heroes of the cinema' in older times. The nefarious activities of crime-masters would sound make-believe if not for its sabotaging ability considered over a glass of wine. The glasses took bullets for them every now and then, when hiding for a cover. The habits caused dismemberment from a civilised society and could not befriend positive characters in the cinema. Even the hardcore real life drinkers would not like to play alcoholic. The protagonists went so far as to justify why they started drinking in the first place if they did with excuses such as loss of a family member, breakup with a soulmate and having been born to an addict father/mentor among others. Playing drunk with a strong message to convey to the society is a different ballgame altogether as they constitute a distinct genre having alcoholic lead roles where the protagonist either dies of the habits or renounces them in the end. I have had a hard time watching them, I still do, but let us keep this genre out of our consideration.

Source:https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6405126/mediaviewer/rm543629824

The role of lead actors has shifted gradually, as we moved on to 21st century, from lighting the villain's cigar to one's own for a pleasure and not a cause. The protagonist's well to do family members are doing just fine. He/She is in the most ideal relationship. The glasses traded places in the item numbers. Crime-masters are sober and our heroes are not the same anymore. Perhaps later on we came to realise the early protagonists as orthodox and traditional, silly enough to have to justify why they took up the habits. That brings us to our own friend circles devoted in letter and spirit to the cause of alcoholism, celebrating smokers and worshipping weedists through praising memes and deifications. The non-alcoholic friend circles grew smaller as more and more buddies got claimed by the cause over time. The Alcoholics found a sense of belongingness and brotherhood in confiding in one another their innermost kept secrets over wine and puff. 

Trying to match their western counterparts, they celebrated hangovers and after parties demonstrating partying to infants in the league and further pushing non-alcoholics away everyday with their superiority complex. With advent of western mainstream sitcoms and movies into the subcontinent, the trend transcended boundaries set up by Hindi Cinema and that Bollywood's been trying hard to catch up intrigues me. I feel delighted to have a few friends still untouched by this disorder. The question you should ask yourselves is do you have any?