Kicked, butt: Gurugram moviegoer smokes while watching Dhurandhar in theatre
A man was escorted out of a Gurugram cinema hall when spotted smoking during Dhurandhar film screening. Incident captured on video sparks social media outrage.
The Bollywood spy action film, Dhurandhar is in the news for more reasons than one. Among these is a video showing a man seated in the front row of a cinema hall in Gurugram and spotted smoking a cigarette in the middle of a packed theatre. All this was captured by a fellow movie goer during the screening of the recently released Ranveer Singh and Akshaye Khanna-starrer.
What happened?
The clip, which was originally posted by Gurugram-based vlogger Divyanshu Discovers, has so far received 1.5M views and is being widely reshared by social media users. In the captured footage, the man seated in the front row, as claimed by Divyanshu, was also consuming alcohol during the film's screening.
This has triggered outrage on social media as viewers around him appear disturbed as he continued to smoke without interruption. Divyanshu, who recorded the incident, expresses his disbelief in the background of the video, and said, “Yeh kya chal raha hai Gurgaon mein (What is even happening in Gurgaon)”… Theatre mein movie chal raha hai Dhurandhar aur full on smoking aur sharaab chal rahi hai (Dhurandhar is playing in the theatre and there is full-on smoking and alcohol consumption going on)... Yeh dekho, aaram se chill karke smoke kar raha hai bhai. Bhare theatre mein sab logon ko pareshaan kiya hai (Look at him, he is chilling and smoking comfortably. He has troubled everyone in the packed theatre).”
Some moviegoers later called for help. “Uske baad, logon ne security ko bulaaya. Phir inko baahar nikaalne ke liye log aaye (Then people called the security, and they came to take him out),” said the vlogger, Divyanshu alleging that there were no theatre-appointed guards present at the time of this incident, and said: “Theatre waalon ki koi security nahi thi. Sab mall ke security thhe (There was no theatre security. All the security personnel were from the mall).”
As the video ends, a group of people are seen confronting the smoker and soon the security personnel escort him outside the theatre. Commenting on such an unpredictable situation, Divyanshu added, “Gurgaon mein kuch bhi ho sakta hai. Toh thoda dekh ke chalo aur apna dhyaan rakho sab (Anything can happen in Gurgaon, so be careful and look after yourselves).”
The Legal Side
Under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, 2003 (COTPA), smoking is strictly prohibited in public areas, which include cinema halls, auditoriums and other entertainment venues across India. In fact, anyone who is caught violating this rule is liable to face a penalty of up to ₹200. Even cinemas are legally required to display clear notices stating ‘No Smoking’, and the management can also be held responsible if it fails to enforce this ban.
