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Konfessions of an Erstwhile Smoker
Spolier Alert: Please don’t read this post if you haven’t watched the movie “No Smoking”.
Unlike during the Black Friday release, the supreme powers were in my favor this time.
No Smoking was being released in Australia, at a multiplex just 10 minutes away from my home.
I was ecstatic. Booked my tickets in advance.
Day 1 - Show 1
I was too eager to experience the movie, which, in a sense, was a PFC project right from the initiation. I don’t know how to put it in words… it was like a family thing for me… Anurag.. our Anurag… is the director. I haven’t met him or spoke to him - but I still felt that he is someone I know - and told myself that I need to be there.
And… we were there… 9 members… my whole family - dad, mom, b-i-l, sis, kids (8, 4, and 0.5 years), biwi and yours truly.
3 hours later, when we stepped out of the movies - the reactions were mixed, so to speak.
I was shocked, confused, and depressed.
Shocked because what I watched was not what I was expecting; Confused because of the obvious; and Depressed because Anurag chose *this* movie to be his second release… after Black Friday.
WTF was he thinking?
Later, when I wrote to a couple of close friends, this is what I had to say about the movie:
“Saw NS on Friday night. It was a trip, to say the least. One more watch, and I am certifiable. David Lynch will rot in hell for making Blue Velvet, which I still think was about advertising Heineken. So will Anurag, unless he makes it up to the viewers by giving them a good movie next time.”
I really thought that the movie is really a can of worms, a pandora’s box, a snafu, a snake pit, a dog’s breakfast, a hornet’s nest… I am running out of clichés here.
It’s an arrogant, selfish, self-indulgent, mirror-gazing, navel-cotton-picking movie.
UNLESS! Unless I am missing something big.
In other words, I was not convinced with myself and my judgement of the movie - wasn’t sure if my ability to grasp the movie was adequate.
I’ll tell you why.
As I mentioned earlier, I know Anurag for a year or so.
I have been reading his posts - his rants and raves, his thoughts and takes - about his passion towards movies - making them, watching them, dissecting them - he makes it sound like a ritual, a ceremonial affair - a slow, intense and satisfying labor - not quite unlike making love, if you may.
Now why would such an erudite person, the lover of intelligent cinema, make such an esoteric movie?
My Clarence Darrow mind got to work and I decided to watch the movie for the second time, to gather more evidence.
Meanwhile, like a true jury member, I stayed away from PFC and other websites - didn’t read any of the reviews, not even the Bard’s - and went back to meet K with an open, unmanipulated mind.
Day 3 - Evening
Stepping out of the movies, I thought that I’ve noticed some new things and heard some new meanings.
There were still a lot of questions though.
Why does the first punishment include cutting two fingers? Why not just one?
What does the labyrinthine ingress mean?
Why is Baba Bangali’s entourage made up of the veiled women, the little people, and the menacing thilak-dhari people?
“Aatma hai to shareer eeshwar hai, warna sab nashwar hai!”
“Aatma, antharatma, bhogi hoti hai, usse mukth karna padta hai!”
What does that mean? I mean, what does that mean really?
“Ae ajnabi…” is playing in the background when the person is acknowledging his own transformation. Deep!
All this means something… but what?
I wanted to watch it again, before the movie is pulled out for the impending dard-e-OSO.
Day 6 - Night
I finished watching No Smoking for the third time. And surprisingly, I finally knew what this was all about. It’s about nothing. It’s about the metaphysical emptiness. It’s about the oppressed society and the choices we are forced to make because we are made a part of it. It’s about secret desires - wishes we hope to see becoming true.
It’s about Anurag Kashyap and his opinion on the mankind.
I wanted to share my take on the movie with friends, and this is what I wrote:
Vedanta speaks of universe as God’s dream. It’s all space - nothingness. On one side of the space is creation, and on the other side the God…. and God alone. Everything in the creation is an attempt to lure you away from the God. And in order to know God you must become like God. You must understand that the mind and matter - your feelings… of pleasure, pain, hunger, anger, success, failure, will and consciousness - all are realities only in this dream of the God’s… the maya, the great cosmic illusion.
On the contrary, just as a person has dreams that seem real for a time but lost their validity when the person emerges into a waking state of consciousness, so it is possible for a man awaken from the state of consciousness and to live in the realm of dream. This is the basis of No Smoking.
There is no ending because there is no end to this maya. It’s a never ending cycle of life and death. It ends where it begins - the coiled snake that’s biting its own tail - the end of the beginning is also the beginning of the end.
We don’t get it, because there is nothing to get!
Just be and do. Do be do be do.
It’s a symbolic depiction of the voluntary torture that every being takes during their lifetime; by living it. You can only decide what step you can take - you will have no control over the consequences.
Take a wrong entry… and you lose your fingers (you cannot hold a pen or a cigarette) and your loved ones (the passive smokers you have hurt will be avenged). Your freedom is taken, dreams are broken, and life is lost - you design your own hell and you live in it - your body is but a shell sans soul. That’s what Gita says, that’s what Baba shows, and that is what K experiences.
We are K - all of us. It’s our life. That’s the reason why watching it on screen is such a torture.
Finally, K is Kashyap and this is his way of saying a lot without saying much.
Just the way Baba offers a dummies version of his cigarette shastra, we should get a dummies version of this K-shastra, when it comes out on DVD.
Peace!
[I wasn't planning on writing this post. But someone who I consider family has asked me to do it. Ergo.]
37 Responses to “Konfessions of an Erstwhile Smoker”
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Nice article. The fact that NS has generated so much debates and discussions is testimony to NS being a well-made/thought-provoking movie.
Thanks Omprakash. And you’re right - NS is a (tour de) force to reckon with. This is what Matrix would have been, if Wachowskis were brutally honest with themselves. The only complaint I have is the usage of cigarette as a symbol. Wish Anurag had used something else as a pointer to tell this story.
How interesting is it that many reviews of No Smoking are written in first-person voice? NS is personally confrontational in a way others are not.
Since seeing it two weeks ago, I’ve watched Om Shanti Om, Parzania, Johnny Gaddaar, Manorama Six Feet Under, AIDS JaaGo, and half of The Last Lear. –And, I’m still pondering the point of No Smoking.
The marvel of the moment for me is the myriad ways Anurag found to represent a man’s state of mind, such as the:
Siberian dream sequences, comic thought bubbles, flashback about smoking in the bathroom, voice-overs with no expressions on John and Ayesha’s faces, K’s trip into the depths of Dharavi, K’s spirit watching his body through a one-way mirror, the drain scene in a tub, K floating out of Dharavi when he realizes his dilemma, the shower room scene… There are too many to count.
It’s a very deconstructionist way of thinking about thought. (Ooph, did I just say that?)
So, I’m not sure I agree it’s about “nothing” but instead it’s about anything you can think of.
.. It all sounds so abstract and out of this world.. Good to read in a book, but for the fun-loving average Indian cinema goer, looking for entertainment and story-telling on screen..! 2 and a half hours of paisa vasool, what will NS have to offer..? My statement may be too “in your face”, but the sad thing is there is a world outside PFC, a world of movie business, producers, BOx office and Entertainment. and NS will take a long long time to fit in there.!
@wb: The usage of cig is apt, which is mild enough to encourage debate unlike other addiction like porn , drugs, sexual perversion, etc
Rants about No smoking(there are raves as well):-
1: why does the writer make it so confusing: the last 20 mins, K falling in the jail water to wake up in his bath tub : how his aatma is detached and attached again ? the point is “i didn’t get it” before u say fuck who cares, i will say the matrix has such convoluted funde that i had to see it 3-4 times to understnd it completly. but yes it was well explained since it was made to be shown to aam junta : aam junta has to appreciate it or atleast understand it and i know for sure that each artist (anurag included) loves applauds. So Mr Anurag we love to see different films (like NS) but yes plz respect your audience and make it understandable since u were associated with Jan Natya Manch(i guess i m not wrong on this) u would understand that for a symbolism to achieve it’s desired result it has to be explained to the AAM Junta ( you are charging them to see your movie): I have granted you the right to take creative freedom with logic defying sequences, in the last 20 mins: and hence loved your movie but a majority of Indians have not granted you this right :
We are waiting for your next movie …..
The Rave : Paresh Rawal was as good as “Jack Nicholson” in departed and of course i loved the arrogance i luved it in shakti as i luved it now,
cheers, a great effort , never mind the boxoffice collection or the rants
very well written. i ended up seeing NS on its last day last show as my best attempts to see it before all went for a toss … so haven’t been able to catch it on screen again. will do so once the DVDs are out.
[Editor Note (OM): No personal attacks allowed here]
PFCC - Passion for cult cinema.
Bunch of crooks running this site.
Not a single person writing for this site is successful.
They r only successfooooooooools.
bhaai australia main bhi welle ho? ki no smoking 3 baar dekh aaye, himmat hai bhaai…
@ Nikhil Singh,
I dont think Matrix was for aam janta ..it was too philosophical to be understood by a regular aam guy ..the movie was a hit because of its special effects and fight sequences…….I am a huge fan of matrix series ..evry time i watch it i understand something deeper and more deeper ….
@wb,
Very interesting post and very different take than previous posts made on same film. Have not seen the film but your post is pushing me to see it ASAP.
So more about film later, as at present I dont qualify to discuss the film except its music, which is wonderful.
Many children can recall which films they saw in very early phase of their childhood and few scenes remain their in memory for the rest of the life. I am highly curious what these two kids (4 and 8 years old) would have carried with them from the cinema hall.
Kids cant understand a film (NS is out of question) but they see the pictures running on the screen. Were both the kids watching scenes with good interest.
Please try to get that feeling from them, if its possible. It will be SOMETHING to know.
:)
A friend of mine used to often come up with this saying, while referring to his GF “Mahine din saath raho to insaan ko kutte se bhi pyaar ho jaata hai, woh to phir bhi ek insaan hai”
ab ek hi hafte main 3 baar no smoking dekhoge to itna achcha lagega hai…
The only thing that i liked about NS is the songs, They are simply amazing and its audio CD is the only audio CD that I have bought in the whole last year.
@Azad,
Reality can be very opposite. Its a proven fact that its very easy to be in love instantly with any animal let alone dog, than to be in love with another person. Animals dont produce opposite views while to love a person first one has to cross the aura (+ve/-ve) of his/her views first.
The saying you quoted is very old and outdated.
And scientifically also good things cant be comprhend in one go (not saying with respect to NS, as have not seen it). Its not about loving a thing because of repetition of being in touch with that thing but its more related with understanding that thing and many things are there in the world where one has to keep their company continously to understand them. Classical music is one such thing. for many it can be cacophonic while those who understand they go in trance while listening it. because its not superfacial thing. Its meant to go deeper.
There will be many things which came before you in your life and you could not understand them. It happens with everyone.
Its not necessary that Author has started liking the film because he saw it three times. It may be the reason that first viewing left him unsatisfied and yet attracted him. second viewing brought more meaning to him and in third he saw some deeper meaning which he has mentione din this post. even an objective Art can be subjective and it may affect individuals differently.
This is your sensitivity, understanding and way of watching a movie that you disliked the film and liked only its music. Author could see much more than you. Show Disagreement with his views as thats your birthright ( as your name Azad also suggests) but please dont try to ridicule someone’s understanding. Hope alive humanbeings can follow this much civic sense:)
@RK,
Boss, my post was written just add a little humor, but I guess like many others in this forum, you too belong to those group of people who take umbrage even when an iota of criticism is hurled against Anurag or his films. Grow up dude. “NS is not the end of the world”.
@Azad Babu,
You like only to give humour but dont want to take it back?
You are not proving your friend’s quotation:)
You are proving opposite thing.
You must be visiting PFC for so long but you are not loving it, you are still a foreign material:d
Man, did I write anything about NS:-w
I thought I excused me clearly from mentioning NS.
You have specs of partiality on your eyes and hence is unable to see that yours was a trial to ridicule the authors sincere effort to write about a film ( it does not matter that you dislike the film) and now you are unable to take little criticism of your doings.
But please keep visiting and commenting and one day you will also start liking being here ( you have to prove your quotation also (which your friend borrowed)
what say :-?
and you are very right NS is not the end of the world. Nothing except personal death is the end for a particular one. No defeat, no victory last long. So I acceede with your profound saying there.:)>-
As an ardent admirer of world of cinema and follower of this site, I can feel the pain. AK, this movie has nothing (absolutely nothing) for Indian audiences albeit it might be your tribute to foreign movies, whose hang-over you still have not came out from.
Make movies for us not US or some film festivals.
Evelyn // “I
Omprakash // Do you smoke? Stop smoking for 4 weeks and we’ll talk about it again.
Nikhil Singh // Thanks for your comments.
ravi // Thanks!
Ravs // :-) I’ve seen people like you, but I had to pay for the ticket! How did you escape?
Goverdhan // Your comment is one brick shy of the load. What was the question again?
Anand Kadam // The genre discussions aside, Matrix had to explain everything to the viewer via Morpheous, which NS rightly doesn’t do. But Matrix, for all practical purposes, is SFX popcorn candy-coated with philosophical annotations. That’s a discussion for another day on another post though. :-)
RK // The kids were playing in the theater, sugar-hit on candy and coke, running amok.
AZAD // RE #12, what a line!!! As smart as a finch! Ask your friend - kaunsi public toilet se mili yeh saying? All I can tell you, going by the old saying “what you don’t know can’t hurt you,” is that you’re practically invulnerable.
RK // bhai, thanks for the support, but I think I know where Azad is coming from. I also would love to know what he thinks of human race, as a hopeful contender.
AZAD// RE #14, :-) trust me mate, I don’t want to make a monkey out of you. Why should I take all the credit?
Prashant // Thanks :-) Before this comment, I was hungry. Now I am fed up. BTW, what videshi hangover did you find in NS? Can you kripaya vishlesh?
@ wb
yeah I smoke… but not going to give it up anytime soon. (leave alone for 4 weeks) :D even NS failed to achieve that like the censor guys and social-messg-looking-audience/critics foresought… rather I have discussions about NS with ciggies :p
Omprakash // :-) I rest my case
@wb, nice article………….
I am a normal audience and watch movies every Friday. I was dying to see No Smoking
@ Dileep Kumar
I am also not intelligent like you but will try to answer your question. :D
1) John sahi mein baba ke paas jaate hain. baba dharavi ke peer baba hain. unke paas matha tekna jaroori hai. ek aur baba hain, jisko humlog baap kehte hai. woh tight jeans pahenkar jhoom barabar jhoomte hain, lekin unke paas sirf sapne mein ya fir agricultural land (pata nahin ise hi no man’s land kahete hain ke nahin) mein hi mil shakte hain.
2) Since pehle sawaal ka jawaab yes tha, isliye is sawaal ka answer is following. baba mahabali hain, woh ICU se check likh shakte hain to John ka biodata aur checks koi badi baat nahin. ismein amar (singhji) hone ki koi baat nahin. iske alawa OSO mein SRK ki manoj kumar act se asli sawedanshil manoj kumar kaafi dukhi the (TOI mein aaya hai). srk aur amar ka hamesha se 36 ka aankra raha hai (woh ek dusre ko wahasi darinda aur goonda bulate hain)… aur abhi haal hi mein srk aur john ka bahut lapat-jhapat chal raha hai because of ads. to fir mujhe isse zyada bolne ki zaroorat nahin, aap khud hi 2+2 kar shakte hain :D
3) Lift ke andar aapko charo taraf screens hain jahan pe aapko Neal n Nikki, Khalid’s Silsila, Indian Amadeus aka “shaka laka boom boom”, heyy babyy, etc dikhai jaati hai… usse koi bhi bahar aayega, kahin pe bhi sign kar dega… john to doodh peeta bacha hai. kal ka chokra :p
4) baba pehle hi bolte hain ke antaratma bhogi hai. woh bhog-vilaas mein vishwas rakhte hain… bahut bade pervert hain. unka kaam hi hai doosre ke bathroom mein jhankna. palika-bazaar mein mms banake bechne ka bhi unka dhanda hai. lekin koi iit-kgp ka gadha usko jab ebay mein becha to bechare ki bahut thukai huyi. isme bhi baba ka haath tha.
5) lighter mein “bum” ko samajhne ke liye tumhe “Haseena Atim Bum” dekhna padega… Anurag here is paying homage to the cult classic movie.
6) ice land mein wwII ke dauran underground sewer system banaya gaya tha… baba aur hitler ka photo to aapne dekha hi, isse zyada bolne ki zaroorat nahin hai mere khayal se
7) john ki wife aur secretary kumbh ke mele mein khoye huye do “bahin” hain. yeh to eazy funda tha… aap kaise miss kar gaye
8) gadi ka driver, liftman sab isliye ek lag rahe the kyun usne apne aankh se kaala chasma utar diya tha… chasma utar ke to biwi pehchan mein nahin aati, aap driver aur lift man ki baatein kar rahe hain
9) john woh kaleen bips ke liye khareedte hain jispar woh end credits ke baad phoonk de phoonk de bolke nachti hai… mere khayal se aap ne miss kar diya.. phir se dekhna padega :(
10) Do police waale nature ke duality principle ka prateek hain. is principal ke baare mein aapko aur jankaari wikipedia se milegi
11) 1 rupaya futuristic funda hai… aapko kitne mails aate honge jahan pe likha rahta hai ke 2020 mein 1 rupaya equal to 50 dollar ho jayega… isliye baba 1 rupaya sangraha kar rahe hain
12) cig shastra, sunil shetty ka ram shastra ka chota bhai hai.. yeh bhi tribute hai us movie ko
13) last mein woh siberia “blue” gondola se pahunchte hain. usi beech woh jab ek anjan se neele sahar se guzarta hai to saanwariya banti hai.. is ka ullekh anurag ko karna chahiye tha aur bahut logon ko iska bhanak nahin laga.. isiliye rediff mein raja sen ne anurag aur bhansali ko ek hi sikke ke do pahelu bataya hai… aur wahan pe kisi ne comment section mein hot pondy movie ka link dia hai… pata nahin chalta bhi hai ke nahin.
I think I have explained every thing.
Now I need one masara dosa and a whiskey.
wokay.
P.S. Do not intend to offend any one, just innocuous fun.
Aur jinko Haseena Atim Bum ke baare mein pata nahin hain, unke liye yeh poster
Direct link
http://img204.imageshack.us/img204/8421/haseenaatimbumch7.jpg
And an article
http://www.paktribune.com/ezone/newsdetails.php?id=148052
@ anand kadam: ya it is drenched in philosophy: Yes,special effects draws the audience to the theater but that is just once, there are too many films which have failed in spite of gr8 special effects. No body in the world gives a fuck that it has philosophical “undercurrent” to it. The movie did well because it was well made. don’t say it did well only b,coz of philosophy or specl effct or watever, it had a convoluted funde and it was able to convince the audience that gravity defying stunts are possible in that virtual reality not like our indian/south/bhojpuri hero lighting a ciggrate by firing a bullet kind of stuff.
@wb
bhai please i am dying to see discussion on The Matrix jaldi post karo apne busy schdule say samai nikaal k
About the Matrix, I loved it because of its Marxist undercurrents. I feel pretty certain most audience members didn’t notice them. A movie can be enjoyed in different ways by different people, and this one obviously was intended to be understood at different levels. NS seems to be hitting people that way — the few who see it, at least.
Dileep Kumar // Itne saare sawaal? Suggest that you read the NS script posted on PFC, and also read Anurag’s latest post. Hopefully some of your queries, if not all, will be clarified.
Omprakash // PFC pe scratching “bum” in public mana hai :-)
Nikhil Singh // Matrix 1 & Animatrix (including the sound track) are my favorites. 2 & 3 didn’t work for me though. You need not wait for me to start the discussion. Post your views via iView - and discussion will start… apne aap.
Evelyn Tu // Subliminal marxist thoughts! You said it! And yes, NS will hold its place in the time and space continuum. Kaash more people could view it as it was meant to be seen.
Very nicely put thoughts sir.
I sometimes wonder if we have made a Case Study out of a film.
I have seen the film just twice, wanted to say a few things about it, said it on the day of its release, after that its just been an intrinsic personal journey, living it while thinking about the images, the lines, and the LIFE given to it by Gulzar sa’ab’s vivid imagination. Anurag recently unraveled it for all of us. I didn’t like it. It was like ‘bachcho, ye hai hamaare daanto ki banaawat’ for me. I have my selfish associations and interpretations of the film which I would never share or discuss. I perfectly agree with him when he says the film didn’t belong to him after its release, it got ‘raped’, in all sense. It became an object of public eye. And objectify it we all surely did. Good enough. It doesn’t end there. Sorry I am a little drunk.
A friend who has constantly been having this question mark on his face ever since I took him to the film was glad like hell after that post came up. He ate it up, and said with a sigh , “So I finally know I was right. We are so illiterate, Mr. Film Maker. And you are know it all.” I didn’t react, as it wasn’t the first time I had heard that.
I don’t know what my point was but on the retrospective I am glad that the film has triggered so many discussions, and discussions don’t always revolve around the film or topic per se. People talked about Kafka, quitters inc, Lynch, Fincher, surrealism(no Bunuel I guess), Dali and what not. I learnt a lot from these discussions, and it became an experience larger than the film. And that’s something I liked. But when I hold a drink yet again and sit down to watch the film some day at home, I would be again away from all this, I would be that selfish film consumer, delving deeper into my snobbish associations and relations with the film. It will open up few more pages for me, and may be I ll smile at my intellectual quotient.
and I LOVE ANIMATRIX! can’t seem to find in on the shelves anywhere, saw it on a Matrix fest long back.
@Omprakash Seresta
Thanks for ur reply……..really funny………and enjoy it……..
@wb
Thanks for suggetion……..
Tushar // Case study? For a given viewer (I mean the genuine viewers who want to watch it through, not those who shut their minds in-flight because they have already decided that this is not a movie for them) when the movie invokes various interpretations in various viewings - not unlike Jackson Pollack’s splatter, or Hermann Rorschach’s blotter - then why not? I would really like to sit with you someday and discuss NS over a chilled KF or aberlour on the rocks.
anyday sir!