Reviewed by Cassam Looch
Stars John Abraham, Joy Fernandas, Paresh Rawal,
Ranvir Shorey, Ayesha Takia
Produced by Vishal Bharadwaj & Kumar Mangat
Original music by Vishal Bharadwaj
Certification UK 12A
Runtime 120 minutes
Written & directed by Anurag Kashyap
This film is so bizarre that it defies description, more surprising given that it produced and distributed within the Bollywood studio system. If nothing else, No Smoking proves that given enough money, freedom and rope even the most ‘traditionalist’ film industry can hang itself.
A man known as ‘K’ finds himself haunted by recurring nightmares. Given that he has the perfect life with the perfect wife this proves no more than an inconvenience, but when he realises he may be losing all that he values he decides to confront the cause of it all — cigarettes. K is a chain-smoker, and given that his brother is lying in a hospital suffering from ‘cancer’ its not long before he is forced to quit. The company assigned to K is a mysterious organisation determined to make him stop by any means necessary, and its not long before K realises he might have place himself and his family in grave danger…
It sounds like a new twist on an old movie genre; the man signing up to a mysterious and all powerful organisation only to find he has bitten off more than he can chew. And yet given the film’s A-list cast and contemporary setting what follows is a hardcore decent in indie/arthouse filmmaking that will leave novice and critic scratching their heads. The film appears to be reaching for a massive final reveal, which only serves to leave more questions than answers. I have no idea how the Bollywood fans will react to this, but I suspect it will make no difference where you watch this film, it will make no sense whatsoever.
All that said, there are some great ideas, neat effects and superb performances throughout, and as someone who regularly shuns the standard ‘three-hour boy meets girl’ Bollywood film, I find it hard to complain about a movie which is unlike anything I’ve seen ... anywhere. If you want to be challenged and engage your brain in the cinema then this is certainly one of the films of the year; the rewards may be scant, but the journey is certainly fulfilling. When I earlier made reference to the film ‘hanging itself’ I should clarify I meant to the audience, I can’t see a market for this, which is a shame given its not inconsiderable efforts.
If only it made a little bit of sense.