Cigar smoking has come of age in Bollywood. There was a time till the 80s, when the height of villainy for a Bollywood baddie was to be seen on screen with a cigar in the mouth and a glass of VAT 69 in the hand. The cigar was seen to represent power, sophistication and underworld dominance. All the veteran villains, from Ajit to Pran and Prem Chopra to Amrish Puri, liked to be featured puffing a fat or long Cuban cigar. It defined their wealthy, mob boss status in the golden era of Hindi cinema.

But today, every major Bollywood superstar from Sanjay Dutt to Shah Rukh Khan and Anil Kapoor to Amitabh Bachchan have embraced the cigar while projecting iconic swag to their authoritative characters on screen. The latest to join this ‘smoking hot’ bandwagon is Akshay Kumar who is seen stylishly puffing a cigar in the song ‘Ucha Lamba Kad Forever’ from ‘Welcome to The Jungle’. He does it with the same panache that he pulls of death-defying stunts and breathtaking action in films.

The thing is, while Sanjay Dutt is a regular cigar smoker, and SRK at one time was said to be a chain smoker of cigarettes, Akshay Kumar is known to be a celebrated non-smoker. But he is also known to be a fabulous actor and specializes in action and comedy, so for him to casually be seen smoking a cigar in ‘Welcome to The Jungle’ was another act in a glorious career of 34 years. In Akshay Kumar’s fingers, the cigar does not appear to be a classic cinematic tool used to mirror his power and elevate his appeal.

South Indian cinema, meanwhile, leverages cigar smoking to orchestrate massive moments for their superstars while giving villains an ultra-stylish and menacing edge. Rajnikanth aces the game with his own signature style of lighting a cigar. Allu Arjun has a swag that matches SRK’s. Kamal Hasan, Vijay Sethupathi, Mohanlal, Nagarjuna, Rajkumar, have all gone down that road. Perhaps the coolest dude on screen is Nani as the intense, rugged cop Arjun Sarkaar in ‘HIT: The Third Case’. The cigar never looked better!