The film premiered at the Rome Film Festival on October 24, before seeing its general release on 26 October 2007. The film was critically panned for its cryptic storytelling, and grossed ₹3.49 crore (equivalent to ₹11croreorUS$1.2million in 2023) against a budget of ₹7.50 crore (equivalent to ₹23croreorUS$2.7million in 2023). It went on to receive three nominations at the 53rd Filmfare Awards. The film later gained a cult following.
K, a wealthy businessman in his 30s, is confident, narcissistic and very arrogant, and also completely addicted to smoking. He smokes almost constantly, at work, at home and even in the bath. K's friends and family begs him to quit, and his friend Abbas and the doctor, offer to set up an appointment at a rehabilitation centre called 'Prayogshaala' ('The Laboratory'), which they claim will surely rid K of his habit, but K ignores their advice. His addiction puts severe strain on his relationship with his wife Anjali. After K cannot even make love to her without having to stop to light up a cigarette, she leaves him.
Finally realising that he has a problem, K decides to check out Prayogshaala, and meets Shri Shri Prakash Guru Ghantal Baba Bengali Sealdahwale. K finds the building to be unconventional and confusing, similar to a Labyrinth. The method Prayogshaala uses to cure their patients of their addiction is based on fear and psychological manipulation. Each time a patient gives in to their vice, Baba makes sure that something shocking happens to them.
Almost killing a loved one, by keeping him / her in a chamber full of cigarette smoke the person has smoked in his entire life, for a duration of 5 minutes.
Losing a finger.
Death of a loved one.
Taking the soul of the person from his body
K initially refuses to sign the contract and pay the fee of ₹21,11,110 for his treatment but is forced to do so by Baba and his disciples. Baba then tells K that he is free to leave, but he must abide by the rules or he will suffer the consequences. K witnesses other members of the group as they try to quit smoking. Many end up losing fingers as they cannot resist the urge to smoke. K tries to keep to the terms but fails twice and is punished. He is now very conscious about the third time.
After some time, K meets an old friend, Alex, who is now a Cuban cigar seller. At an event, K is forced to place a cigar in his mouth, in order to appease his friend. Seconds later, he receives a phone call from the police, who inform him that his wife is missing and possibly dead. He calls Baba and is told that for smoking, his wife will be killed, as per the rules. He protests that he did not actually smoke and Baba apologizes for the mistake, but says it is too late. K asks Baba to tell the police about this, but the line goes dead and the phone number is non-existent on dialling. K's protests are ignored and the police believe that he is delusional. Trying to prove his story, he seeks out Abbas, who had lost a finger at the rehabilitation centre, only to find that the man has all fingers intact. Mocking him, the police force K to smoke. Shortly afterwards, K gets a phone call that his brother committed suicide due to his smoking habit. K raves angrily at the police and is thrown in the jail.
K is eventually bailed out. Soon, he learns that Baba permits sins and vices to be done during a period known as 'Zero Minute'. He attends an event, where he sees Baba, but is unable to reach him. K decides to light a cigarette. Suddenly, K wakes up in a Russian army base, with a call from his wife. She asks him why he believes she is dead. K is confused, but escapes from the base by jumping into water and ends up in a ragged room, from which he sees himself staring out from a hospital room. He also sees his wife and Baba. He calls out but no one can hear him, and he is told that it is because his body no longer hears his inner soul. The final punishment is complete.
K wakes up in his home to find his wife sleeping near him. He also discovers that he is missing two fingers. In a mid-credits scene, K, who has since gotten his finger back, is seen recommending the Prayogshala to a friend.
Cast
John Abraham as K, a chain smoker who agreed to quit smoking for his wife, but instead was caught up in the game of Baba Bengali in the process, after he refuses to co-operate[4]
Anjali, K's wife, who is fed up of his habit and forcefully tries to make him quit by threatening to leave him
Annie, K's secretary, who seems to have a crush on him
Paresh Rawal as Shri Shri Prakash Guru Ghantal Baba Bengali Sealdahwale, the film's main antagonist, who is extremely mysterious, very clever and powerful. He forcefully makes people quit smoking, otherwise bad things keep happening on in their lives. He knows at all times if someone is breaking his agreement, even if they are in another country, or no man's land
Ranvir Shorey as Abbas Tyrewala, a friend of K, who was also the one who introduced him to smoking. He recommended the Prayogshala to K, as he himself quit smoking from Baba Bengali
Kiku Sharda as the doctor, a friend of K, who quit smoking after meeting Baba Bengali
The idea for the film came during the making of Satya (1998), when director Ram Gopal Varma pitched a story to Anurag Kashyap, the film's writer 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.[5] Taking inspiration from Stephen King's "Quitters, Inc.", Kashyap decided to take the story forward.[6][7]
When Vishal Bhardwaj approached Kashyap, wanting to make a film with him, he narrated his script of No Smoking to him, after which the project came to fruition.[8] The film was originally titled Smoking is Injurious to Health, but was later changed to No Smoking.[9] The film was distributed by Eros International.[10]
Casting
Kashyap approached the actors through messages; John Abraham replied back. Thinking that Abraham would not be able to understand the script, and afraid of throwing away the chance, he narrated him a bad script titled Lapata, after which Abraham told him that he expected something more intelligent from Kashyap. Thrilled, he told him about No Smoking, which the actor ended up loving. He further claimed that Abraham was trying to rediscover himself, that's what propelled him to accept the film.[8] Kashyap was uninhibited about his fondness for Abraham, calling him "smart," "intelligent" and "a good guy," who understood the script "immediately."[9] There was a rumor of Abraham appearing in a nude scene, but Kashyap clarified that he hadn't decided how to shoot it.[11]
For Anjali/Annie, Kashyap went to actresses he thought could do the role, but they refused, thinking the role was not substantial enough. Ultimately, Ayesha Takia was cast. She was not comfortable with the lovemaking scenes, and the outfits of her character Annie, though Kashyap refused to make any changes. Despite this, he maintains that she is an "actress" and a "face" too.[8]
Originally, director Rajkumar Santoshi was to play the role of the doctor, and writer Abbas Tyrewala was to play the role of Abbas; that's why Kashyap named the character after him. But Tyrewala later opted out and the role was given to Ranvir Shorey instead.[12] Furthermore, reports surfaced that Saif Ali Khan would be appearing in a cameo, on the request of co-producer Kumar Mangat Pathak, who worked with him in Omkara, a report which turned out to be false later. It was also reported that Bipasha Basu was to appear in an item number.[13] When asked what made Kashyap appear in the film, he replied, "only vanity."[6]
Filming
Principal photography took place in Bhuj, Dharavi, Mumbai, Uzbekistan and Siberia.[9] During the shooting in Uzbekistan, a Russian actor dressed as a soldier had to chase Abraham. After running 200 meters the man collapsed, as the shooting was on high altitudes, there was a lack of oxygen. He had to be rushed to the hospital, as he had stopped breathing.[14]
Kashyap explained that the film has nothing to do with quitting smoking but relatively about the state of mind, which refers to the mood or the mental state of the film's protagonist, K. He has left it upon the audience themselves to make their own interpretations and speculate what transpires.[9][6] Critics have interpreted the film to be inspired by the works of Franz Kafka, particularly the protagonist being named "K" after the author's protagonist in one of his classics The Castle.[17][18]
Release
No Smoking was invited to be screened at the 2nd Rome Film Festival, where it had its premiere on October 24 before its general release on October 26, 2007.[19][8]
Reception
Box office
No Smoking grossed ₹3.49 crore (equivalent to ₹11croreorUS$1.2million in 2023) against a budget of ₹7.50 crore (equivalent to ₹23croreorUS$2.7million in 2023).[20]
Critical reception
The film was critically panned for its cryptic storytelling.[21][22][6][23] On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 50% of 12 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.8/10.[24]Sify gave it 2 out of 5 stars saying, "John makes a sincere attempt to leave a mark and succeeds to an extent. Really, one wonders, what prompted John to instantly approve this bizarre story."[25]Rajeev Masand of IBN Live giving it 1.5/5 said, "What the director gives us is an extremely arrogant piece of work that reeks of over-confidence and self-proclaimed genius. How else do you explain the intentionally incohesive screenplay, the bizarre dialogue, and the blatant disregard for the viewer's time and patience?"[26]Nikhat Kazmi of Times of India also gave it 1.5/5 stars and said, "No Smoking leaves you completely baffled and desperately looking for logic in its surreal sequences of John in a jaded jail, John in a tunnel, John in a bathtub, John in Siberia-like surroundings."[27] 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."[28]Khalid Mohamed of Hindustan Times rated it 1 star and said, "Too in-depth man, too in-depth, puffing, driving, the sex act, fingers being chopped. Kcuf, kcuf. What’s happening out here? You can’t make out, you don’t care, and you’re fed up of the affectations, the self-indulgence."[29]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. What ails No Smoking, did you ask. Simple, it's the most complicated cinematic experience of 2007. On the whole, No Smoking fails miserably. Very disappointing!"[30] 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. And as you may have gathered, I still have no clue what the movie was about."[31]
Among the overseas critics, 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. It could be the beginning of a trend. While a slack pace, unsettled internal logic and a goofy subplot undo much of director Kashyap's hard work."[32] Neil Smith from Film 4 said, "A cut above the usual Bollywood fare, though ultimately too slight to justify its rather exorbitant running time."[33] 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 shoddy screenplay is stale, and its situations laughable, and though the actors' give it their all, it just doesn't light up in the end. No smoke, and no fire, in what is ultimately a bit of a drag."[34]
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