No Smoking is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language thriller film[2] written and directed by Anurag Kashyap and co-produced by Vishal Bhardwaj and Kumar Mangat.
The film stars John Abraham, Ayesha Takia, Ranvir Shorey and Paresh Rawal in the lead roles, while Bipasha Basu appears in an Item number.
[4] The story follows K (Abraham), a self-obsessed, narcissist chain smoker who agrees to kick his habit to save his marriage and visits a rehabilitation centre, but is caught in a labyrinth game by Baba Bengali (Rawal), the man who guarantees he will make him quit.
[9] According to Kashyap, the film failed because, it was considered much ahead of its time, courtesy of its dark and unusual storyline comprising with elements of surrealism, fantasy, dream, reality,[10] horror and dark humour which left critics and the cinema-goers baffled, this was frowned upon by Indian audiences, as it was unconventional, pretentious and they had never seen anything like it.
The idea for the film came during the making of Satya (1998), when director Ram Gopal Varma pitched a story about a chain smoker's encounter with someone who despises smoking.
Varma later incorporated his own idea of the story as a short segment in his anthology film, Darna Mana Hai (2003).
During the shooting of Kashyap's Black Friday, his assistant narrated him a different script about a chain smoker who wakes up without cigarettes and is unable to get any because of a curfew.
When the deal fell through Kashyap who was in bad shape at the time, as one of his films were delayed and the other stuck in production, he tried to get a hold of all the top actors, though none of them responded except for Abraham.
Later false reports surfaced that Saif will be appearing in a cameo, on the request of co-producer Kumar Mangat, who worked together in Omkara (2006).
[24] The film was also shot in parts of the Russian Federation, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan and Siberia, in extremely cold climates with temperatures of minus 25 degrees Celsius (°C), despite this none of the crew members had any problems during the shooting.
Sify gave it 2 out of 5 stars saying "You try so hard to understand what No Smoking tries to say, but the film is like one big puzzle that refuses to get solved.
How else do you explain the intentionally incohesive screenplay, the bizarre dialogue, and the blatant disregard for the viewer's time and patience?".
[30] Indu Mirani from DNA India rated it 1.5/5 saying "There is a fine line between intelligence and indulgence and with No Smoking, director Anurag Kashyap crosses it often.
It’s not like he has made a rank bad film, but 'No Smoking' is so influenced by graphic novels and Neil Gaiman books, that understanding its plot's many forward and backward movements would be out of the scope of the layman".
"[32] Taran Adarsh from Bollywood Hungama giving it 1 out of 5 said "You try so hard to understand what No Smoking tries to say, but the film is like one big puzzle that refuses to get solved.
[33] Prithviraj Hegde of Rediff.com gave the film 0 stars and said "The movie unfolds like a bad dream and spins into a downward spiral that's unreal, incomprehensible and leaves you dazed.
"[34] On the contrary, Chandril Bhattacharya of Anandabazar Patrika praised the movie uninhibitedly and described the film as first of its kind in India and historical.
[35] Aesthetically and culturally significant, it is extremely unfortunate No Smoking was not sent as India’s official selection at the Oscars for Best Foreign Language film.
[36] On Rotten Tomatoes website, the film has received 46% fresh rating, indicating mixed reviews.
[37] Phelim O'Neill of The Guardian gave it 3 out of 5 saying "While no screen credit is offered to King, it's clear his tale directly forms this film's basis, making it kind of a first for Indian cinema.
While a slack pace, unsettled internal logic and a goofy subplot undo much of director Kashyap's hard work.
[39] Tajpal Rathore from BBC Films gave it 1 out of 5 and said "No Smoking is a surprisingly sincere effort, but shouldn't make your life feel any more fulfilled, even if you are a smoker.
The film was made on huge budget and at the time when it sank at the box office, the director Kashyap fell into depression not expecting the critics to lash at it.
[44] He admitted that most of the audience expected to see a film about quitting smoking and that pre-release, the extensively played item song featuring Basu gave audience the wrong type of image as they expected her to play the lead role opposite Abraham.
[45] No Smoking has garnered a strong cult following, among Kashyap's fans and movie buffs, who rate it as one of the most abstract stories, which can have multiple interpretations.
[46] The film has seen more positive response from overseas than in India,[44] though the audience now views it as a modern masterpiece, critical reception has still not improved.
Abhishek Singh from Planet Bollywood said "Over all, as expected, the music turns out to be daringly different and in complete contrast to anything that you might have ever listened.
[55] Joginder Tuteja from India Fm said "With music by Vishal Bhardwaj and lyrics by Gulzar saab, one expects an unconventional soundtrack in the offering.
[56] Satyajit from Glamsham said "No Smoking dares to be different for chartering unexplored territories and have surprises in raucously driven vivacious tracks like "Phoonk De" and "Jab Bhi Cigarette".
Rekha Bhardwaj's peculiar nasal twang will be garnering major spotlight in "Phoonk De" (club mix) with chartbusting success after her subtle and submissive Laaga Chunari Mein Daag".