Director Sajid Khan has been trying to kick the smoking habit for over two decades now.
Director Sajid Khan has been trying to kick the smoking habit for over two decades now. He was advised by his doctor to not quit cold turkey and to go in for a nicotine patch and then slowly wean himself off. He checked with 15 chemists across the city for the patch without any luck!
Unhealthy!
Sajid reveals, "I had promised myself that I'd quit smoking on myu00a0 birthday, (November 23). I was smoking almost three packs a day! And it wasn't healthy."
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Determined to quit, Sajid Khan shows off the nicotine patch sourced from London |
The director has just finished shooting for Housefull with Akshay Kumar and Deepika Padukone. He says, "When shooting was on, my stress level would go up and I would smoke four cigarettes a day. I don't drink and have no other vices. My doctor suggested nicotine patches. But can you believe my ordeal when I asked 15 chemists around Mumbai and none of them had nicotine patches? I was shocked! Here people are making smoking-free zones and giving incentives to smokers to quit smoking and we don't have nicotine patches available in Mumbai?"
The chemist shops told Sajid that no nicotine patches had been made available to them for the last three months. "In a fit of desperation, I asked Lara to get some for me fro
m London, as no medicines are shipped online. A nicotine patch cuts down the craving for nicotine in our body. So if I keep a patch on for four hours I don't smoke in that time. I have been using nicotine patches for the last four days, though I had wanted to start two weeks earlier."
The tragedy of it allSajid adds that he has cut it down from around three packs a day to one and half pack a day. "But the tragedy is that I have put on two kgs in four days because I have cut down on smoking. When you quit smoking, the craving for nicotine goes down and your appetite goes up. I eat more these days. The doctor had warned me that I would get withdrawal symptoms too."
The list goes on...He continues, "My head gets heavy, my nose gets blocked and I coughing a lot too. Not to mention the mood swings, irritability and fidgetiness. But I am determined to quit. I have done much damage to my body for the last 20 years. I love smoking but I don't want to be a slave to a habit."
Smoking starsSpotted on TV smoking during a Knight Riders match during the IPL earlier this year,
Shahrukh Khan was targeted by an anti-smoking lobby. There was even talk of a ban
Salman Khan doesn't smoke when he's in his father's company. Salim Khan noted in an interview, "He doesn't smoke in front of me out of love and respect, not fear"
Ajay Devgn may never be seen without a pack, but the actor makes sure he punches holes his ciggies with a safety pin to make them less harmful.
