Hyderabad: Bollywood flicks aren't the only ones flaunting cigarettes. Down south, in Andhra Pradesh, item girl Mumait Khan, in her debut film Maisamma IPS is courting controversy, as she decided to take a puff or two on screen.

Item girl, Mumait Khan, well known for smoking-hot dances, has now upgraded herself to a full time heroine with her debut film Maisamma IPS, where she plays the role of a tough cop.

"She will have to talk in a goons language to answer him. A goon understands only his language. So, she has to behave like them, and talk like them. It is this reason that she smokes a cigarette and adopts other mannerisms of the goons," says Bharat Parepalli, Director, Maisamma IPS

The hullabaloo created by Health Minister, Anbumani Ramadoss about smoking on screen does not bother the filmmaker, who says that it is no big a deal. The movie script has been written by the Union Minister of State for Coal, Dasari Narayan Rao and with his involvement, the Health Minister's efforts could take a hit.

“The smoking scenes in the movie by Mumait are added for extra fun and not for the viewers to follow the film and take to smoking,” says Bharat Parepalli.

Although a scroll saying that cigarette smoking is injurious to health will be played up, the bigger question is, that while the smoking-hot Mumaita smokes up the screen, not many viewers may read the warning.