IN DEFENCE OF THE “I”
You know when they bring up their children in the mountains, especially in tibet, and their child sees the burning firewood and walks to it, they let him, when he wants to touch it, they let him, when he touches it and screams and cries, they let him , they ignore him, and that’s how the child learns to deal with fire..this is also what the monks do..
My dad always said something that i never forgot..he said “poot sapoot to ka dhan sanchay poot kapoot to ka dhan sanchay”.. it means why do you save money for your children, If your son is a good son he will earn his own, if he turns out to be a brat he will throw it away.. and he never did save and all three of us are independent and had never taken from him, since we left college..
I know a lot of people right here on pfc who wants to be filmmakers but can’t because they do not have the heart to lose their sense of security.. a lot of people do the mundane jobs they don’t want to but do not step out because they get insecure.. rahoonga kahan, khaoonga kya, paise kahan se aayenge, i can love them but not respect them.. the best way to make anyone an individual self is to abandon them.. when you do they stand up on their own and they do not need role models, they go out and do it because there is an urgent need to survive.. that need takes over everything..i write this because people ask me that why did i not explain the end.. You know in Black friday the end was explained, and everyone called it great cinema and they will watch it a zillion times but in the end it remains just that, great cinema..it has stopped bothering people, they don’t think about the 93 bomb blasts.. they do not think about the lives lost, the politics, nothing, they revisist their favourite sequences and say wow and that’s it.. i do not remember such heated discussion anywhere after the BF release, i even tried to initiate it but none happenned.. One lone post was about continuity jerks and cinema issues.. none about the event.. with NS all that has changed..
Why does everyone want to get it? and will you still like it if you do get it? wouldn’t you say-that’s it!!! is that all you were trying to say..
why the eagerness to gen(e)re[alize] everything? why the symbols used have to be perfect? aren’t symbols about “what’s the best way i can say what i want to say, because what i want to say i already know, and i also know if i say it directly they wouldn’t let me” .. so if i do not find the perfect symbolism should i not say it? should i shut up? looks like? should i let go of my soul? what does my soul signify? is it not me? me with my imperfections?
No smoking does not make a valid point, it tortures you and then laughs at you, the same way i have felt the world do..forget the end.. lets come to the begining.. did anyone read what it said, what the film is about is spoken in the three captions in the beginning, but no one wants to connect.. who is abbas, he is a writer, he has lost his two fingers, the ones with which he holds the cigarette and also holds the pen, what does the pen mean to a writer, freedom of expression, and abbas’s freedom is taken, he is soulless and he doesn’t feel anything even while manipulating his friend, and what does he want the most more than his friends, his freedom back.. did anyone decipher that .. no.. they were too busy being thrilled..did anyone listened to what baba had to say.. he did not agree with democracy, he had his own take on it, he is the man who deems himself more powerful which he is, he thrives on who, minorities(woman in veils) and underprivileged(dwarfs) and his fanatics(teeka toting henchmen).. he lives in his own hell..which is hell from the audiences POV.. when K enters there he wishes for an elevator and a much more straighter designs, not the maze of stairs.. he does it straight.. but baba doesn’t..you see the man’s entry but never his exit.. did anyone think of it .. no.. did anyone listen to baba saying aatma, antaratma, bhogi hoti hai use mukt karna padta hai..if you really heard that.. the ending won’t be so strange..there is a definition of democracy i used in GULAAL and tried to use in GURU..
“Democracy is for the (Powerful) people
By the (Powerful) people
Of the (Powerful) people”
the wife, when she decides to leave her husband, she plays inky pinky ponky.. the man to her is as inconsequential as his cigarette, the wife and the secretary .. two different facets of a woman a man wants to see, the complex, dignified trophy wife and the completely servile slut, and what kind of a man is he.. an arrogant fuck up, not the man you would look up to or sympathise with.. do men like those exist.. yes they do.. i am a similar asshole or was or maybe still is.. just more aware that i am a slut too.. it would have been so easy to make him sympathetic and today i really wish i did make him sympathetic.. baba bengali is winning or has won.. did any one hear the song phoonk de .. the words spoken in english ..
“you have travelled a hole…………to………you will now experience the power to change the semantic sensory feel that influences the final consequences of your journey, you are now at the limits of the multi(uni)verse but not beyond the space of this stream”
Noone heard that.. what does that prove .. that people do not listen and either they are deaf (like in the film) or they don’t want to pay so much attention.. it creates the same situation as in the film.. this film was my angst and now mirrors my life.. only difference being i know what’s happening .. it was expected and i have learnt from it.. will be more accessible next time.. i swear everyone, even the infant will understand what i am trying to say in HANUMAN RETURNS.. i need that to survive, and survivor i am..
OK so getting back to explaining what i intended, admitting i wasn’t so successful at it.. from the point K falls into the water in the police station(there is a voice over there too- jin jin logon ne poore paise nahi bhare hain etc,that connects it with the last scene), it is the journey of the soul, by which i mean the internal agony of the man, trying to make a choice, trying to decipher what did he do to deserve this, is this the price one pays for his ego, to choose between the cigarette and the bathtub, and when he chooses the bathtub he is choosing to negate himself hence being completely owned by the baba..
it is not just the body that looses soul, it’s also the soul(read idealism, belief, spirit) loosing a body.. that gets evaporated while it is watching.. the idea is lost..
Now where that comes from.. i wrote a poem on my wall years ago when i was doped out.. my idea of an ego, my interpretation of selfishness..
A big drop of sperm was falling from the sky
Mother (earth ) quaked for it and conceived it
and I bloomed out
That is how the idea was born..
I do not want to bore anyone, but that explains it ,my POV, ego comes from I and I is when you have an idea of self.. and selfishness is not that shallow definition of what you can take or gain from others.. to me
“Selfishness is the ferocity with which you protect the I”
, hence the “Idea” and to the world “your Ego”..and arrogance is just a defence mechanism that the selfish man has against the enemy..
And the fact that i have the need to defend myself proves that i have yet not perfected selfishness or maybe i am too clever and know exactly what i am doing.. my argument is should a man be punished for his arrogance.. yes if he harms others by doing the act.. but what if his arrogance is aloof.. who is he harming except himself..
there are many interpretations floating around of the film.. well i lost my authority over the film the day it released.. it was open to interpretation like any work of art or anything pretending as a work of art.. but various interpretations do provoke a thought in my subconscious.. did i really intend that, i don’t know.. the whole film was stewed over in my head over last eight years, years ago it was a straight story from quitters inc ( the first half of it, because that is how much ramu told me) , but it kept changing with my life.. i don’t even know when and how it became my story, i only realised it after writing it.. i wrote it in one flow like everyother script over two days or three..it was a stream of subconscious.. i just wrote..
and now i have learnt.. that success is important.. and i have learnt that the audienca needs to be served and i will.. but i would rather provoke them than please them, i would rather force them to go back to the world they came from than provide an escape route, i would rather unsettle them than to put a smile on there face, i would rather make them feel impotent than to make them feel virile, i would rather show them the mirror than show them a photograph of their best selves, i would rather make their nightmare come true than realise their dreams..but this time they would know what’s happening.. they will know it while they are getting raped.. they will understand every bit of it.. none are going to lose their modesty without knowing it..
I have learnt my lesson..and with that i try to say goodbye to no smoking and apologise once and for all to all those who wasted their time and money over it.. Better luck next time..
you’ve killed a part of all that’s resonated with you by saying this
and here we were, thinking we had a chance
i did. i did it all..left the safety of the regular employment, the saftety net of the parents, the family, one year into marriage..asked her to take care of the rent, the house, the life…and took the plunge.
made a lousy looking film with a concept i believed in with 10 grand..
but i did it…am still proud of it. and only because of you anurag.
since then have made two more. each with increasing budgets. am being paid for what i wanna do.
and again i repeat..its cause of u.
today im at a crossroad, am being offered what my peers want the most, a commercial film…can i do it? i want to..so bad.
but the dilemnas never end. creativity vs commercial returns. if i make a 0.1% of no smoking, ill die a happy man..but if i do that,,my producer backs out..if i make what he wants me to make…i cant sleep at night.
questions, answers and conscience.
i salute u sir.
Well..finally..good write up…ths could satiate a lot of queries floated since the release of NS.Quite deep..good!!
PRP we still have a chance.. you are the chance.. think about that.. and when you do it i will stand up and applaud you..
I am still me.. just would be more accesible
People want the safe confines of there homes,their regular jobs , marriege kids and all those sort of normal things in life.But all this is a somewat boring and tiresome for few men, who dare to think different and wana enjoy the teen patti of life and the big risks attached to it.
You dont have to defend wat u have done with this movie or any other thing in life , you just did wat u felt.How many people have the guts to do wat they really wana do without caring about wat others will think.You are the only judge of u r own creations.
Anurag- As I have requested in another place, please have your commentary on the DVD when it releases.
And maybe just like Vishal Bhardwaj tries to make a children’s movie every couple of films, maybe you can too. Make your kind of movie whenever you can. Have the cake and eat it.
Why do you have to apologise..even to the people who could not quite connect with you? You want to be mass accessible..would not that manifest into selling outto an extent and lose your arrogance? It is the individual arrogance which helps to survive..personally in my case too!
Dazed, Hanuman is my childrens movie.. Vishal’s children films are more mature than the adult hits which is why he is a great filmmaker.. my children’s film is entertainment and nothing else and it is called Hanuman returns..
as far as the DVD is concerned i don’t know, i have put across my intention to do a commentary, and now it’s upto them..
Errata..do it
Anurag,
When I first butted heads with you on PFC I became angry with you and then decided to watch BF and I wrote a comment about it, but you must have not read it, because I told you that besides being a great movie I had learned about an event I had never heard of. Your movie to me was like a history class and it did bother me to know innocent lives were lost, so I thank you for that history lesson.
Even though I loved NS I think it would be interesting to see what you do with straight forward storytelling and then maybe you will find your success in India or you might have to set your sites to somewhere beyond India.
….BUT, if it wasn’t for you I wouldn’t have ventured beyond my masala Bollywood films. I wouldn’t have gone from BF to NS to Manorama and eventually even opening up to older Indian cinema like Sholay which Tony Mera advised me to watch. If it wasn’t for you I would have said “I don’t want to watch that old fashioned stuff”, but I opened up to Tony’s suggestion because I had my mind opened up by you.
Anyway, I doubt if my words will mean a lot to you,but I felt moved to write them after reading this new blog…..and I hope in the future someone will eventually apologise to you.
Saurav.. i tried hard to stay off PFc before i realised it is my life.. I am here.. more so because i have not finished either talking or doing..
My apology is to people who paid money to see the film after seeing the bipasha song, which was a mistake, a con to get an opening, and wasn’t the film.. the apology is not for the movie.. but for the deciet of which i became a part..
Hey Anurag,
Even though i still haven’t seen no smoking,
Well if you didn’t quit while making it i don’t think i will after watching it.
i can understand your predicament and believe that you are truly gifted(not just as a film maker but also as a human being)and also ahead of time.you are not arrogant you are a stand alone army trying to hold on to ur slice of land and fighting a brigade of the spineless s’BUT THE FUCK UP is that everyone wants everything instant-solutions,results,sex,noodles and also entertainment(not neccessarily in that order).Nowadays they want to leave their brains behind and spend their hard earned money on senseless flicks..how the hell will they understand No smoking my friend??!! Some of my friends who has seen the film,loved it n told me i’ll quit smoking after watching it(i wonder)
;)cheers.
and not sleep at night? lose face to an extent where i cant face myself? face u?
on the other hand…can i run my house doing what i want to do…the way i want to?
on one side is a chance to make something with my name..which may just turn out to be an outlandish comedy…an alan smithee film anyone?
on the other hand i may never get this kind of a chance again?
it tears me every day..and as d day approaches…i hate to keep lying about my sensiblities for work.
HEy Anurag glad to have you back.. I haven’t posted much- as of yet- but I know its never to late to start. Btw can you send me your email address at yatra55@gmail.com. I had written something the day I watched “no smoking”. I would rather you read it first and if you feel fit you can repost it on PFC. thanks man. Keep on reinventing indian cinema and open the floodgates for us aspiring directors
Novadz i really just want to slowly find an audience like everyone else and a large one.. and i read everything on PFC.. it is my world.. i belong here.. and i really appreciate you for being open and i regret my meanness to you..
NoVaDJ- Sholay will never become ‘Older Indian Cinema’. It is evergreen like Rekha and good Scotch
Errata.. do it .. do them both.. one for the money and other for the road.. did i not do shaka laka and main aisa hi hoon and lot’s more.. do one for your yourself and one for the way to do it for yourself..lie.. cheat..kill for it..
devil’s check your mail..
It may well be impossible to be entirely true to one’s self and one’s vision while ensuring a good reception at the hands of the audience. Limitations brought about by budgets and consequences do inevitably weigh us down. I made a short film called
Madhav..balance can be anywhere.. but i think one should strike balance in life but not in individual piece of work.. one dish can not and should not try to cater to everyone.. it can wish it but not do it.. make two dishes to strike the balance and more if need be, but each individual dish should be true to itself..
thx for this and more.
you gave me a boost in morale when i was at my lowest in life. u gave me a new lease in life. so please forgive me if i come across the way i do.
ill do it..i just hope my conscience allows me too.
ill do this for the money, but the one for the road..is the one which you’ll do..or at least i hope so.
I failed to do it.. because i made the film i wanted to but used the bipasha song to advertise it.. and that is what i am paying for.. that was a mistake..
No apologies necessary, as far as I’m concerned. I haven’t seen Black Friday (I don’t think it released here in Dubai), and I wasn’t planning on going to see No Smoking, but then the overwhelmingly negative reviews started pouring in from the usual suspects, and that told me it had to be good!
I enjoyed every second of it. I know a lot of people will tell you that it is a profound film, a work of art etc. etc. (and don’t get me wrong, it is all that) but let me tell you that I was *entertained* for two hours. There haven’t been many movies this year — Hindi especially — that have done that (the last one was Honeymoon Travels).
Like you say, once the film was released it was out of your hands, but I’m glad to read your take on some of the themes and elements in there. Yes, I did notice the English voice over in phoonk de. No, I didn’t find any part of the film confusing (but then, I didn’t find MF Hussain’s Meenaxi confusing either). It’s been a long time since a big, juicy and sumptuously intelligent movie has come along, and you delivered. And how.
Any issues I had with the film were miniscule. Okay, okay, so the English subtitles were’t great (they never are in Hindi films, always full of Indian grammar), mostly because of the dozens of swear words that just seemed to be thrown in there even when they weren’t any in the spoken dialogue. As a graphic designer I also had a few issues with the comic speech bubbles, but that’s just my own pet peeve.
Believe it or not, the short bits of nudity when the gas chamber bit is on tv actually made it past the Dubai censors. Don’t take this the wrong way, but I don’t think they were paying attention :P
Whatever your next project is, I hope you approach it with the same intelligence, passion and finesse that you brought to No Smoking.
You now officially have one more fan, and are guaranteed at least two people will see your next movie (me and whoever I drag along).
V
Yea..that makes sense…apology justified to an extent…the movie was dangerously niche..too niche..with your post..the puzzlepieces which was slightly loose at the end..with minor gaps..are tightened. Very brave atempt..Dont know how you managed the transition from sript to screen…half the people always lose the insight in transit.
thanks mate… I am at work right now so expect something within a few hours… glad to see a prompt reply though… I agree slowly but surely PFC is becoming my life… I find myself on it more so than work work!!! I am glad I am taking some time off to visit India and perhaps get inundated with the fim business first hand… a long winding road ahead but wouldn’t have it any other way!!!
Errata.. You know No Smoking i think was necessary.. because this one film taught me more about the world than my thirteen years in the industry.. we all learn more from our failures..
What is important is how you protect your baby and not how the world judges you in the process of doing so..
@Anurag
Thank you for that ,because I was feeling down today and you made me feel better….
@Dazed&Confused
I almost wrote the word classic, but I wasn’t sure what it was considered…..all I know is watching it was an experience and I’ll be showing Sholay to all my friends! I also recently saw “The Burning Train”, which except for a few unfortunate obvious model train shots was still suspensful.
Thanks Anurag, for your quick response.
I’m new to PFC and recently made a submission for the one minute film contest.
I write regularly and have a few screenplays worked out. Do drop me a line at madhav@bad-alliteration.com if you have the time or inclination to take a look at some of them.
i agree. that one baby of mine is what has had me going on till now. cant get it out of my head…
i hope it makes that one person proud because of whom it has reached where it has today.
no smoking was necessary.. i agree..it may have been too ahead of its times…
when i wrote that one script and made it into a film…the ridicule, the humiliation taught me a lot..and today when i am at this stage..i dunno whether to rejoice or not.
failure has made me take everything with a pinch of salt. to a point where its difficult to be anything but a pessimist.
but that had changed when i saw NS.
i paid for my entire friend circle to see the film. and i wasnt disappointed. me and my wife spoke about it on the bike on the way home, at home over dinner, at breakfast, post work..and we were still not finished.
ditto for a few of my friends.
but with that one film, anurag you may not have gained commercial gains…what you have given is hope…tothe industry (though they may not realize it now), to people like me and to those who would see this is as not an arrogant piece of work, but one of true angst and desire for change
Anurag,
I’m sure you learned a lot about visual effects on NS ,so that was worth it also. My favorite was the heat effect that sometimes moved about the frame.
Anurag,
every one has their insecurities and very few get beyond it….ppl like me are dieing to make films and make it accessible to the world….but there is other world in which we live..we need to support our family….earn our bread (paying emi’s)…and our conscience doesn’t allow to be selfish to chase our dreams….may be some years later when we are financially secure we can go ahead…but then will it be late ?….definetly not late to chase our dreams but about acheiving them , i dont know….
Anand.. you know it but you are scared to addrees it..
TO DO IS TO BE
TO BE IS TO DO
DO BE DO BE DO
it defines all of us .
what you want to do is not necessarily what you do.. but what you do becomes you in the way u are perceived..
i have paid my EMI’s and my rent regularly and have learnt to seperate what i do for myself and for others to be able to do it for myself..
Vishal K Bharadwaj.. just one word.. thanks
Sorry for the multiple posts, but all thoughts are coming to me at once….
When will the NS DVD be released? I used to hate EROS DVD’s because they were mastered all wrong, but now that they have merged with Ayngaryn their last few releases were great. They now master in HD and picture quality is excellent and they put lots of extras on them. It would be cool to have a Director’s Cut and you could do it anyway you want.
It’s funny about the merger because I wrote EROS a long email explaining how awful their quality was and that they should find out how and where Ayngaryn master’s their DVD’s and a few months later they merged!:o
Anurag if you remember I wrote some time back about how important for it is to find commercial success and stability before even attempting anything unconventional as these fuckers in the industry will dabao you down? We all pinned our hopes on Ramu at one point of time…He had it all..He had the market eating right out of his hand, he had the power to change and encourage a new wave, instead, he took a different route and we all became discouraged.
First show these fuckers the mirror before giving them a painting, that’s what they deserve now…later on…you can slowly make your move…you can’t shock these people suddenly….
Anurag,
That is exactly what i am trying to learn…to balance your needs and your dreams… i will be glad enough to chase my dreams..even if i dont achieve them(hoping to achieve them though)…..
BTW No smoking rocked for me…i have already seen it thrice..and now hoping to catch it on dvd whenever it is out….my wife hated it but i dragged her to view it with me all the times….
anuraag sir i might be too young and inferior to comment on any film for that matter, atleast for now but i never understood why you talked so much about your failure and short comings, ur apologies
BUT, you never said anuthing about the marketing strategy for the film which if you ask anyone was far below the standard, why didnt you market the film properly?? push hard to make it a success, get people in just for curiosity. it seemed to me that you were done just by making the film.
AND WHY WHY WHY? do you apologise to the people who came in after watching the bipasha song, i thought you believed that one has to do everything in his power to get success, and if you can get people into the theatre by showing a song, then WHY NOT!!!
to me that is just intelligent marketing not cheating the audience.
P.S- love ur film, hopefully you will follow this up with another shocker.
thank you for the experience.
Saw No Smoking yesterday and I loved it better than most of the movies this year ! Still thinking about the movie :-? . I don’t understand how anyone can’t appreciate this movie ! I liked Black Friday but NS was even better.
I think the critics have been completely dumbed down by the quality of the Hindi movies they watch and review all the time. To hell with their opinions ! I just hope that after getting slammed by these “critics” , AK won’t change his style of movie making and start trying to cater to the so called commercial movie public.
hmmmm….well,money isn’t everythin….
my parents have been divorced for quite some time…dn’t remember even,but it hurts…n it still does…
my point here is…eventhough i’m financially secured…i dn’t have anyone with me…my mom,dad n bro.all live separately…my bro thinks tht whatever he has achieved till now is thnkfully due to my parents separation….but i’m still mum about my opinions,cos i’m still directionless….i dn’t know if i should be thankful like my brother,cos i’m gettin the opportunity to live on my own…make my own decisions…i have no one to answer anythin…if i want i could just go around fulfillin my pleasure with any tom,dick n harry…but i won’t…there’s still somethin tht i’m lookin forward to….i still miss somethin tht we all four of us had in the past…
i dn’t even know what i’m complaining about…stayin in this city(sorry,i don’t want to reveal certian information),for the last 5 years…from one place to another…shift,move out and thrown out too(well, the third one was because i refused to go with my owner’s nasty agreement…dn’t mind his nasty remarks than agree with somethin tht will make me lose myself completely…
mom n dad call me everyday….tht’s really nice of them…but i know deep within tht they want to know if i’m being a brat takin advantage of the situation…whereas,it’s the opposite…i can’t even think of doin it cos of it….
kashyap…i like callin u this….i dn’t know exactly what i’m tryin imply here by writting all this…i just felt,after readin u post,tht i could write somethin…eventhough it’s random n probably mindless too…u just gave me the opportunity to write it…
i dn’t expect a reply from u for this,cos i’m pretty sure u havn’t got most of what i have written…i’m being open here,but it’s not completely open yet…i have forgotten how to be candid with my feelings…u r really good with tht…i’ve lost in touch with it….
they say tht men are the most difficult beings..as in,a lot has been potrayed in the films..for instance,no smokin…but i think i’m one of the kinds too…n i refuse to mellow down…y is it necessary tht women remain the most calm on?….i wish there was a character like this too in our films….a mystery tht refuses to be solved…
sorry about the whole nonsense stuff tht i have written….but i thnk u for the moment,cos i have felt somethin….n also somethin missin…
Arey Anurag ji kahe maafi maang rahe ho.Aapne no smoking banaai,logon ne paisa lagaya kyonki unhen aap pe vishvaas tha..aab agar har film banane se pehle ya phir banane ke duraan iss baat ka pata chal jaye ki film hit hai ya miss to in bechhare critics ka to dhanda hi baand ho jayega!!Aapne ek imandar film banaye thodi over the top hone ki vajay se aap imandaari se maafi maang rahe ho yeh aap ki sharafat hai…lekin kuch aise bhi hain jo itna bhi nahi karte.
Kal maine ek’blue film’ dekhi…arey wahi saawariya..bahut se sawaal mann mein uthe
1.yeh kaun sa neela shahar hain hamare desh mein?
jahan sab kuch hi neela aur unreal hai.
2.yahan kissi bhi raat ki subah nahi.where people stay indoors during the day and are the creatures of the blue nights.
3.is shahar mein basne wali auratein ya to zyada umer ke hain(begum para and amazing zohra sehgal)with exception being sonam kapoor ya phir prostitutes hain..i thought they should paint the town red instead they painted it blue!
4.A town which is called the old town,but has everything from a local darzi to carpet weaver,meena bazar,a moulin rouge.Where every god every faith exists,-A huge buddha sculpture,mother mary in the background,a mosque..a blessed town indeed but houses only whores.
I don’t look for logic in all the films lekin itna surreal,Kya kahe isse??…Indulgence in the name of cinema.People walked out of the theatre after 30mins..of course i sat thru the blues of saawariya…that too without an apology!!
How do I explain what I am feeling now after this post,today in the office I was sitting on my desk and was thinking majority of the people hate me…………………….
They look at me with disgust,distaste, and why? because I don’t interact much with them,I just don’t feel like,I remain within myself,that leaves them with an inferiority complex that how can he be so aloof how can he be so arrogant,he shows airs………………………
They try to gain my attention in all possible ways,doing shitty things,mocking,some day could even reach the point of dancing naked in front of me and then I close my eyes and think of Howard Roark,I get broken down within and try to be 1% like him,that gives me strength,power to fight…………..
I feel I go through a nervous beakdown everyday,for people whom I am not concerned with try to barge in my life for no reason at all,call me arrogant but I haven’t hurt them but since I am not a complete Howard Roark I get hurt too and most of the times arrogance only increases,fire increases,passion increases……………….
I wish the world had more of people who would do rather than screw……………
No Smoking is my story,it is the story of every struggling man who thrives in this world of Tooheys’ and I hope I dont end up being a Toohey,even a Steven Mallory would do for me…..
Kalakar.. neela shahar Jodhpur.. maine nahi dekhi par dekhunga jaroor..
666.. man do not give up and i know you won’t and don’t stop expecting..call me kashyap or whatever do not lose yourself..let all the confusion and angst drive you to express.. people who are no good at articulating often create better,,
UMA thanks but btw which city and theatre did you see it at yesterday.. can’t find any place it is still running at..
abhishek just be and they hate you for you can be yourself.. you can laugh at them..
@triplesix
you say money isn’t everything and I feel bad for what you are going thru, but try it without having the money….like me. I’m jaded these days, but money is everything. I tried to end it all last Nov because I couldn’t pay my bills, I hated my job, and my best friends left town and I had no parents .. The doctors that saved me than wanted their money….the only thing that made me feel a little better was watching my Indian movies.
…so be happy that’s one problem you don’t have.
machhar.. i will do that
Anurag,
I won’t say I liked your film, but it did make me think….so in it it was succesful.
About the philospohical questions raised by the movie…the world is not really dark as you potray it. People are indeed preoccupied with their own survival, but there is a kinder gentler side to people too.
The journey for I is to go from dependence on people, to independence, and then realize it is really not independent, but interdependent on the world. Whenver in your career you become a big shot – you will start to support other people. The fact that there are no strong people to support budding cinema in India is just a reflection of the current state our society is in. It is not the nature of the world.
“I” and the world have an interdependent relationship. “I” has a debt to the world for its mere existance. Nature supports a person to the extent to which a person is useful to it. If your message/work is useful to the world, the world will support it. Individual is not seperate from nature, it is part of it. Nature is compassionate and very forgiving – its not a dictator as you potray. If there is a devil then there is also a god.
It makes for engaging drama, but it is only a partial truth.
You’re most welcome, Anurag.
Re: Commentary track
I’d love to see one on the DVD, but if they don’t want to spring for studio time to record one then you could always do one like the Battlestar Galactica people do. They record a rough commentary themselves and put it online as a podcast, so people can play it on their computer or iPod or whatever while they watch the episodes.
The nice side effect of this is that you can be completely candid and uncensored
V
u bum!! apology sucks. more u will apologise more people will make u apologise. u should be proud of NO SMOKING. dont let us down who are supporting u and who r inspired by ur so called disaster. if u want to find audience for films like no smoking, help me with what i proposed in
Rome…”independant cinema house”…how to go about it?…. what do we need?…etc. if u bother to reply, then do so on my email as i am leaving PFC in protest of ur apology..cant believe this nonsense from u..STOP APOLOGISING. after NO SMOKING something has changed in the air….have some patience and u will see the fruits of ur effort in the cinema which india is gearing up to make in the future. u r the pioneer…no smoking is the inspiration..so stop being selfish and apologetic. stop sucking the media. be “K”.
doctor sahab like i said earlier apology is not for the film.. for the film is exactly what i wanted to make..
I agree with tushar… dont apologize anurag. Saala saare kiye dhare par paani fir gaya…. eagerly waiting for gulal. I hope you are not tampering with it. if you do, make sure you let us know that dvd will have the original director’s cut…
Anurag,
Any creative art is like a journey which has no end and perfection point. But definately this journey is unique in its own kind… Ups, downs hit, miss, excitement, ideas & theories. That’s why you are in this game. Its not about always winning but its about playing with whole heart and I did see you playing with passion and whole heart in NS.
I watched No Smoking, didn’t like it much but could see the enthusiasm of giving new dimensions to our cinema. That’s what matters.
There is no set formula to create a masterpiece in any form of art. The only thing in our hands is to just keep making what you want to make…One day you will create something which you will not like but people will know you from it…Is it not irony to be in a creative sphere…!
Any how still waiting for more flicks from you .
Sanjay
AK, you are good are expressing and generating this buzz around your film (or your friend’s films, for that matter) ;)
BF and NS rocked. Making wise, did you have all your scenes penned out in sequence before you started shooting for NS? (is that what they call a “bound” script?). While watching, I couldn’t help wonder, how hard it would be for all the actors and crew to keep track of the story and know the purpose of most of the scenes (which are left to audience interpretation). How did you explain to them? How did you get the right emotions and expressions from the actor?
Sorry to break the tread of super intelligent cinema discussion with my mundane filmmaking questions :d
No smoking was quite an experience. One of the funniest and saddest movies I have seen. Made me feel empty and desolate afterwards. And then angry about wasting away. Anger is better than feeling nothing. Sign of life.
Thank you for making this, Anurag.
This is what makes you a genius. You come here and apologize for a film that did not pan out the way you calculated it would- get international acclaim, good reviews in the festival circuit….. Now you have all these people stroking your ego and saying -”sirjee… you are such a genius.” Why can’t you just make your films and talk about films as a creative form here instead of going on this “I” trip. It is your accessibility that has all these guys lapping up everything you say and not your creative genius. PFC should not be identified as your blog as it increasingly is, because of this drawing of lines over NS.
hey anurag
I think that the indian audience is not matured enough to accept ur kind of films. There is nothing wrong in the films u’ve made except NS but something has to done to change the mindset of a regular movie buff..A film like swades which is a brilliant example of a socially relevant topic becomes a flop,while a mindless flick like OSO is a supersucess….though srk’s performance in swades was brilliant….people like pankaj kapoor who according to me is the best actor we have today are not commercially acceptable.. Only vishal bhardwaj makes exceptional films with brilliant actors……..Someday i want you to make films like shawshank redemption with pankaj,naseer and co
Anurag,
Its good that you accepted it. It’s good that you wants to move on. Didn’t enjoyed your previous blog of thrashing TA and others. Every good moviegoer knows about what they are. Its good that you think about failure of No Smoking. Indian Cinema needs you and you are one person who can make it proud and change it for better.
And yes, philosophy is great but cinema is not always about philosophy.
Nik
Anurag, you’ve written something important at the top of your article that no one is discussing here, but is on my mind currently.
So many movies make you “feel” something during the time you are in the theater and then it’s forgotten when the lights turn on. It’s as relevant to real life as a roller coaster ride. The movie’s topic is just a means to an emotional release — outrage, tears, laughter — and then you move on. I think Michael Moore’s movies often have that effect, for example.
A movie that provokes and agitates may actually have a real impact.
For me, Black Friday is not a movie without a real effect. It gives me courage to make a documentary about a topic that potentially will piss some people off and hopefully motivate many others to do better. If a few people are not pissed off, then I won’t consider the documentary engaging enough to draw in a broad audience.
But even then, I wonder, is a person who makes movies that expose the truth doing as much good as someone who actually becomes an activist and fights a good fight? It takes a lot of courage to sign your name to your honest thoughts. But are the truly courageous people doing something even greater by going out in the world? Or is there some real satisfaction in setting things in motion with your movies?
And also, you may see yourself as selfish, but your writing here is generous.
P.S. I felt Bipasha was placed at the end of NS because you had sold tickets with her image and then she didn’t fit in the middle anymore, so you still had to deliver her. True?
Hi Anurag
Its great to see your post on PFC again! For once, I’d thought you wouldn’t write again (dunno y i thought that). Amazing post..it would have been better if you hadn’t given more details about No Smoking. It took me two viewings (and reading posts on PFC) to get some understanding and I was looking forward to more. The film did not release here, watched it on the net…am looking forward to buying it from Eros website when its uploaded. Any idea when the DVD is releasing?
Am looking forward to more of your films…and thanks for No Smoking.
Saurabh
what the hell… i now feel cheated… why are you apologizing man… ??
Anurag… u made a brilliant movie ! I m glad to see someone daring not to make usual bollywood crap where ladka meet ladkee, sing-sing song-song lots of them n in the end get married (recent e.g. jab we met).
I wud say movie is for intellectuals… for class nt for mass. Dont appologize for makin sth brilliant.Keep doin the good job. Be proud of ‘I’.
U started the movie with quote from Socrates. Lets
not forget…
“I think therefore I am” !
K.
Evelyn tu- true about bips
gaurav- NS is past, need to make my next.. apology is for Guru and others..you missed the point of the post..
Kunal again apology is for cheating the audience into believing that the film is about the bipasha john song..i am incredibly proud of my film..
Guru sir sorry, am not going to go away..
“I think, therefore I am”
Je pense, donc je suis
[ cogito ergo sum ]- Descartes [ 1637 ]
not Socrates.
Anurag,
Most everyone seems to be missing the point of your post, just like they did with NS:-?
It has been almost a month since I
Anurag,
I watched NS on pirated DVD because it will never release in my small town. Let me first admit that I am an average viewer. I feel that the movie started brilliantly. I was able to understand everything till last 20-25 minutes. After that I lost it. I was confused and thinking for atleast for next 3 days. My wife asked me about the story. I started narrating her the the story. After five minutes of narration she was really interested. But after that I was just not able to put the point.
Then I realized that NS is an experience. You can never judge NS by reading reviews or WOM. No one except you can narrate or explain NS verbally.
In spite of all the confusion it stayed with me.. and is still with me. Waiting for the DVD with Dir’s Commentary. Overall a great film.
I hope that next time you will keep it little simple.
Had sent you an email on the 27th of Oct. Wanted to know whether you have received it.
hi sir,
Had mailed you…a major production house frm Hyderabad wants to make their company profile presentation for you..they r getting into live action feature films and desire to meet you for the same..kindly mail me hw we can take this forward..
thnx…
Success sells but quality isnt always. One thing I learnt from NS is that if u quit “smoking” ur like will become a hellish experience. Please dont quit “smoking”. We all love it. I know its hard. Govind Nilhani once said in an interview “I have accepted the fact that star sell movie”. An honest confession by a honest person. Something that we cannot change at this moment. But still make the movie u want irrespective of what audience think about it. We are all here to love it.
@ Anurag
Hi. Introspection is evolution in disguise.
The apology to your audiences doesnt apply simply because of the mental stimulation that you offered through NS. Dont worry, the OSO brigade didnt bother to purchase tickets to your film anyway !
What makes me really happy is the evolution part. Though there remains a lot of work to do, it warms my heart to see that you will be among the front-liners of a new breed in India which will speak to the world through cinema.
PS : Keeping PFC as a broader base, I believe, creating a more focussed core club which meets up weekly / bi-monthly might be a good idea.
Anurag,
I have seen your your movies.I feel that you are a very normal person with some creativity.If you work hard you can make some interesting movies.Its sad to see you crying all over to create new wave,self proclaiming genius through your posts.Stop talking nonsense please.And wake up from these pages of PFC.World is different.
Foe me NS is nothing but stupid.No justification can help it or any movie for that matter.My little advise to you is to try and shed this thought that you are above the rest/howard roark/ saviour of inidan cinema.Indian cinema will remain with or without you or anyone.You need cinema.You are just an ordinary talent from the movies you have made so far.Even among the contemporaries you are far below a vishal bharatwaj or raju hirani or Rakesh mehra.If you feel cinema is your medium do your talk through it than through pfc.
Good luck to you.
Anurag,
It seems that since you are accessible through this website, people are venting out their years of frustration of watching senseless movies. Atleast, this is true for me. And it was very kind of you to apoligise – that is the least a film maker can do, if he/she gives us a product like NS in lieu of our hard earned money. And I didn’t go to watch your movie because of Bipasha’s gyration but because you have proved yourself time and again as a director as well as a writer. See, either you can go on a egoistic trip and make movies like NS and build a genre of yourself (in that case, there will be a certain intellect of people only, watching your movies and thats perfectly fine) or make movies where people do not feel cheated after leaving the theatre. You cannot mix the two – because what has happened is that you have pulled the crowd for NS, on the backing of a super movie BF. As you tell me now, NS was all about freedom but what about the responsibilty that comes with that freedom? what about the responsibilty towards the viewers? I am sounding a bit harsh but I really felt let down by you. I know you will bounce back, eagerly waiting for that.
kashyap….tht was really nice of u to reply…
articulating my views isn’t the problem…i have been expressin through my blog,though not really expressing it candidly…it’s somethin more than tht n i dn’t know wat…i havn’t been able to figure it out…just clueless!
anyhow,there’s also a slight misunderstanding,which actually made me laugh…i’m not a guy….
thnk u again!
Looking forward to your next movie. In fact the only Animation that I have loved till date is Grave of the fireflies, and to some extent the animated portions of KILL BILL. rest all are cartoons for me. Hope your animated movie, Hanuman Returns falls into the animation category
666 sorry for being so presumptious..
Azad checkout persepolis, princess, my neighbour totoros, tokyo godfathers, and manymore from europe and japan..
@novadj…
i felt really dorry after readin ur opinion which opposed to mine…yes,i agree,to an extent,tht money is essential….but i didn’t mean it in tht fashion tht money isn’t everythin…
it’s just loneliness….i’m not sayin tht i’m some rich girl havin a great time…my dad really worked hard for it…n i’m just secured bcos of it…i thank god for tht….but what do i do with it….
it’s just BLANK…like fill in the blanks…i dn’t know what to fill in those…with moeny,relationship or whatever….my life is just like tht…too many options, a lot left out….and those big blanks….i’m not regrettin or feeling sorry for myself…but i only wish i could feel somethin…n tht’s exactly what is absent now….
i wish u good luck with ur profession n life…take care
Hi Anurag,
I liked the ending. I got it the first time I watched the movie. Because before I watched the movie , I read articles on pfc that the movie is not really about smoking :-) that helped me look beyond….
I can think of a few comments. Ignore it as trash if u find it invalid :-)
smoking is so common that it is easy for people to star thinking that the movie is about quitting smoking. And when the viewer gets blocked in that mind set, there was always the risk that people might just consider it as a thriller.And then the end comes as a complete surprise and the user would feel disconnected to the story. Maybe you could have given clues in the first half (go back and forth in the story like eternal sunshine of spotless mind) to let the user know that this is not really about smoking. You had that initial scene set in siberia. But I dont think it conveyed what it still gave a feel that the movie is like a thriller
The whole baba bangali setting had been more surreal like that in devils advocate.
Instead of setting it in dharavi it could have been more fantastic setting. Baba bangali is evil and is well aware of his power. But he could also have been shown as very charismatic. why are the people around baba sad and grumpy? They have given in to baba and they should be indulged in what baba throws at them. They should be sedated with the indulgence. Not feeling sad or happy…
Abbas can do anything to get his fingers back. Almost anything. He sends his friend to baba to get the fingers back. But you have to show that even after getting his finger back, abbas does not get back his freedom of expression. He just cant do it anymore because there is no longer any soul/true self that would express anything.What comes out of his pen is trash. Eventually he goes back to baba bangali…
I think the last 20 minutes were brilliant. awesome work….
ok,kashyap..tht was quick,n i know u r online…lol…
plez dn’t apologise,i literally felt embarassed…lol
i really look up to u…to me u r inspiring….n i wish to respect u in tht manner…
i wish i could get a chance to work with u…but tht’s a long mile to walk on…take care
KJ you are spot on..
and yes i do tend to live in extremes..
Amit i overestimated my audience, or may be you can say i was blinded by my own vanity..
The father in Tibet fulfills his responsibility towards his son by making him selfdependent..i expected the audience to be that.. i was wrong..
666 what do you do.. or where do you work, what you aspire to be
Hey Anurag!
Contrary to your own belief, some of us did get much of what you were trying to say in the movie. But I was really disappointed that instead of sharing our interpretations of no smoking everyone who did not understand it labeled it abstract. For my part, i would rather break my balls deciphering an interesting puzzle and not getting it in the end than live in ignorance bcoz of the thought process that goes with it, once u’ve gained that, it permanently adds dimensions to ur to thought.
I want every cinematic experience of mine to be unique, no matter how experimental. NS provided me that. You don’t realize that for ppl like me who have been breaking their heads over seeing the same movies rehashed, recut, remixed every friday losing interest in cinema, films like NS rekindle the faith that not every piece of work is done keeping the market in mind but remains what it needs to remain, pure art, pure cinema.
Sure you lost money, but you gave ppl an experience to remember forever.
You do live in extremes. First you tried to pass off NS as commercial cinema hoping ppl would get it(Entirely your fault), now you say nobody got it.
Give your viewers a chance.
I did post a very hard worked interpretation but it got lost among the myriad of opinions of others on your last post.
American comic book artist once said in relation to his passion for collecting obscure jazz records that everyone listens to the usual herbie hancock stuff you’ll get in every nook and corner of the city, but u look in places where others have shunned, you find real gems that others see as stone and it really whets your appetite because finally you possess that only u understand, something which makes you feel like yourself, you want to say ‘I am’.
so many great artists were eluded by fame, they never gave up. joseph conrad, f. scott fitzgerald, velvet underground. your work will speak for urself somewhere down the timeline.
The way you have taken to the failure of your movie makes me wish you watch NS again and see the last 20 min. of it again. See how K gives up. Then look in the mirror. See how K’s story has become your story, even more so now…..
Meanwhile here’s what i got from the movie, please correct me if i interpreted it the wrong way.
On second thoughts, maybe don’t. maybe i got more out of it than you intended to. for me, you’ve already reached your creative peak. so thanks for giving me NS before selling out to save ur marriage to the film industry……
sorry for posting again i lost electricity in b/w i thought i did not get posted….
This is how i interpreted it…….
The opening scene sets the tone of the movie by quoting an existential quote of Sinatra, thereby making us aware that much of what happens might be happening in K
anurag, with all due respect, any comment on comment no. 68 and 69.
i think they have few valid points. infact they are some points which i feel too. give it a thought.
it hurts to be loved and not respected.
but what u said was a sordid fact.
I am trying
Hi Anurag… I am a engineer, MBA and a businessman and left the comforts of my job 14 years back and started business in Jaipur with my friends. We have made some money since then. The interest in making films was there always but for last one year, I have started pursuing it seriously. Once I started doing it, I now feel this is something I can do 24×7. I learn by making films and PFCone has given me a great opportunity to show case myself. I have already submitted 6 films and would submit more if time extends because nothing now excites me more than making films.
Coming to the POV of a film maker, I see your view but cannot agree with it in whole. I strongly believe that every person on this earth knows his weeknesses or inner devil. But if he chooses to ignore it or doesn’t want to see it, then some one else trying to strip him would not make much difference. So why not show the hope that one could change. Why try to put some one’s kachra in his drawing room instead of believing that one day he would dispose it properly. At least that would encourage few ot hers to follow the suit. My POV is that cinema must be realistic but to the extent of bringing about some positive change. Not emphasizing the negativity.
I was a fervent tobacco chewer for 14 years, seven years back. Rajnigandha double zero you know. Even today, when I sometimes visit a panwala, the smell of the tobacco pan just blows my mind. But I have learnt to supress my urge now. Its difficult but not impossible.
And finally just out of curiosity; Whether you still smoke?
KJ i don’t know what to say.. but my respects and regards and thanks..:)
Hey Anurag, have you seen the new David Lynch movie Inland Empire… what do you think about it?
yo! metropolis has some of the most awesome animation I’ve ever seen. although i think akira still remains the most spectacular one even after 20 yrs!
anurag, do let us know the film making process that went into making hanuman returns in one of ur future posts. what softwares u used, and the whole creative aspect of it in one of ur future posts. it will also help in taking further the quality of the next pfc one film festival by enabling ppl to break free of money, equipment and dimensional constraints……
Gajendra i do smoke..
sumit u r doing your bit in the theatre..
a little more will go a lot more
Anurag,
Is there a Miyazaki homage somewhere! I’m all eager..
Travis just got the film and haven’t seen it yet
KJ will do so soon..
Please bear me with this small comment
in a philosophy class I saw a masterpiece that was just a bucketful of color splashed on a canvas, i asked my prof “sir even i can do it, so y is this a masterpice” the reply was “the artist has already proved to the world that he can paint as aesthetically beautiful painting as any one else has but now he has painted this”: so now the aam junta asks “what the heck he could have painted most beautiful paintings (hardcore masala) but chooses to paint this , what does he want to say ???
So repected kashyap sir we (PFC ki aam junta)see your film and ask y has he painted this when he could have painted XYZ but to others outside, you have to prove that u can paint the most beautiful bullshit we can think of (sorry for fundeybaazi…but loved ur blog and was compelled to comment)
Anurag..man..we live and die by our creations. Creators have egos. Egos are good. Egos spell that he is capable. “I” is important to all human beings. A collection of “I” is “we”. The society..samaj..world. If the “I” does not do enough, his place in the world is lost. Forever. Also, the “I” has to have his roti, kapda and makaan..so, he does a few things that are necessary..not good or bad…but necessary.
We all do it..you do it too..But you create too. Your creations have beholders. They wonder, reflect and then get angry (in NS case)..cool, that is what you wanted them to do, serving up their curiousity for your future offerings..very Michelangelo..
I do that all day..my directors are unhappy with me..my colleagues too..but my customers find the solutions for me..then all realise..and its cool!!
So, “K” then has not lost his soul..has he??!!
what i loved most about the movie is that the form follows the function. K is a man not easily understood by anyone around him. so it makes sense to make a movie like this. i guess anurag is right in saying it would not have compelled us to think and discuss so much had the movie been easily accessible. this was one of the biggest grouses i had against the fountainhead. the book’s construction does not follow the function(the idea) it set out to convey. i felt cheated. this is the major reason why i loved this movie…
thanks anurag for resurfacing ….
all the best ….
Waiting for Hanuman and DevD
TO DO IS TO BE
TO BE IS TO DO
DO BE DO BE DO
Wow!! I can’t sleep now….no more dreams..only
DO BE DO BE DO
@Anurag Kashyap
I am a normal audience and watch movies every Friday. I was dying to see No Smoking
Anurag a friend of mine has read quitter inc and she says that it is the same story.is there any credit to quitters inc in the film?. i dont remember seeing it.for me no smoking as different a film to quitter’s inc as some poeple compare ikiru to anand.
You’re right Kashyap,
we do not listen.
there is too much of noise
screaming at us
I escape this and have
started escaping even the meaning that comes with it
you confront
and you are too honest
your honesty troubles
NS lingers and worries at my understanding of it
on the fifth day after seeing it two scenes fell in place all of a sudden. The rest still eluded. Now that you mention here on this blog few things make further sense and many things still elude. NS is not over. It might never be…
2. the soul loosing its body.. is a mind- blowing concept.
3. lastly, because of you and your brutal honesty many are learning not to stop. i, for one. you have awakened something. the only detriment is to be free from you (as a role model)
And I wonder if this is how legends are made… don’t know have to wait and watch.
Dear Anurag,
I was quite angry when i saw NS, i believed it was as self indulgent as it could get. However, i believe that every film should be a story told by the maker with total conviction in himself and his script by staying true to himself, i hence commend you on having the ‘testicles’ to do so.
Being an avid Marketer i cannot help wondering, what if you had not taken commercial stars in NS and what if you had a limited release like a late night show only at the multiplexes; maybe you would have had a chance to hit the niche audiences better and probably generate better WOM thus leading to the movie actually being appreciated by a larger crowd.
Do comment on this.
S
I enjoy watching “No Smoking”,
aisa Type ka aur film hona mangata,.
(3 baar dekha allready):)
was wondering if its no blogging after no smoking. thank god its not. gt my blood check up done recnly,report said red blood cells,white blodd cells n pfc cells. yes now its impossible.
so,k has lost if finally ? then what was the point ? so dummies guide to no smoking is still rolling ? so if the intention was to discuss n dissect, why simplify it now ? so if bipasha number was con, the bigger con job was in having john abraham(the actor with only 2 expressions on his face..smile with dimples, frown with six lines on his forehead)to make it more commercial or maybe to con the producer or may be filmmaking is con job?
yes,those rebel friends (read rock music,long hairs,charas..all togther or one of it)who hate bollywood loved it n think cz of pfc m somehow part of ns. they come n tell me wow, i love that dude,man. i say ya.
but i hate “i” when it comes to film n cinema. i is just in bewteen c and n or between f and l. why should it become bigger? why should it stand out in cInema or fIlm ? it looks odd, bizarre. i love “i” otherwise. in shool when virendra saxena tells manoj bajapyee…duniya tumhare tarike se nahi chaltiiiiiii. everytime i c it, i feel like turning around n slap that guy n tell him…duniya mere tarike se hi chalegi ya nahi chalegi. personaly hav alwys lived like that so far. dad said its ur life. do what u want. u enjoy it,u regret it…u gt nobdy to blame except u. i told them dont come for any parents teachers meetings. i will handle everything. n hav been doing so since i remember. but hav also learnt that when it involves u,we n all,then there is no “i”. And film is all about “i” but for “u”. otherwise like om prakash makhija pray that in next birth u r born with ambani, roshan or johar surname.
hey anurag, i had left a post abt how much i luvd watching NS in ur earlier blog entry
i too aspire to b a filmmaker, m 18 nd doin BMM(bachelor if mass media)…but i don kno where to start frm
i kno i hav 1 story in me(m dyin to tell it!)…which is as close to me as NS is to u
i desperately want to tell tht story for self-indulgent purposes and i don’t mind doin any amount of commercial bullshit(i secretly enjoy conceptualising commercially viable stuff too)
a word of advice wud do me a world of good…i’m currently directionless
phoenixnu uncle Raakh hone ke baad bhi baar baar uth khade hote ho ya yunhi phoenix ho.. bhaiya i se hi to sab shuru hota hai.. i nahi hoga to we kaise hoga.. NS se mujhe zyaada mere type log mile hain.. thoda intezaar karo duniya bhi badlenge..
NS itni bhi simplify nahi kee hai.. bahas to chalti rahegi, uska kaam hai chalna.. ek wahi to cheez hai jo chal rahi hai apni speed se.. baaki to sab bhaag rahe hain ya thame huey hain..
S without the commercial stars it wouldn’t have been made..
and to release like that you need a super strong distributor.
in this country the whole thing has sadly become about the first three days
ronny quitter’s inc was just a departure point and it has no credit in the film..
Dileep your questions are too many and the answer to them is probably baba bengali had supernatural powers, he was omnipresent.. all those things were used to symbolise the constant surveillance that we live under..or you can simply call it paranoia.. you see most what you fear most..
as to why k signs after put in that magic box, i don’t know..maybe something so terrible happens down there that he is scared.. may be the first time he goes down , he goes into a dream and the second time he wakes up is actuall when he wakes up.. maybe when he goes down he sees a crystal ball in which he seees his future mauled by baba bengali or he sees his wife is actually abbas’s wife and he himself doesn’t exist..i don’t know
shreyas kurukshetra mein kood jaao.. chakravyooh mein khudbakhud phans jaaoge
poetess do not admire someone so much that you won’t be able to take it when they make their human mistake.. you have to be accomodating enough to allow your rolemodel his fall from grace.. trust me the one rolemodel that definitely works is the vision of “the future you”.. let that future you define your journey.. and when you become that..try to jump off it..
Anurag, why explain? Why not allow your inferences, your private anger, your personal angst that was poured into the script and the writing remain cloaked in the film.Those that get it, understand it can feel a sense of unmitigated gle at having got the joke, maybe different ones in each instance, understood the idioms. But this explanation makes it all so redundant. Like Beckett stepping on stage to explain the real meaning of ‘Waiting for Godot’. What works there is the same thing… Everyone takes something very personal and individual away… I wish you hadn’t launched into ‘look, did you get how deep I was being?’. Defeats the purpose of depth. And I’m one of those guys who really loved NS, warts and all.
gatsby you have a valid argument here.. but for me NS is gone and i need to make more films and in this country after being jinxed for eight years i don’t want to lose myself to obscurity caused by incomprehensibility..
hum to philhaal bus wannabe phoenix hain, shayad raakh me mitne ke baad pata chalega. umid,hope aur pray karta hoon ki aap zarur is raakh se phir se uthein. bina zyada cheezon ko analyse kar,bina zyada sochein,bina khalid aur taran ko seriously liye. besabri se intezaar rahega. pehle bhi kaha tha,abhi bhi kah raha hoon,ns ke liye apni dictionary me se ek shabd zaroor chun ka rakha hoon..cult. bus dar hai ki ye “i” ko aur ego massage na de. behad kahatrnak sabit ho sakta hai. aur kuch bhi ho bus woh nahi chahunga. waise bhi gine chune hi hain jinse umeed liye bhaithe hain.
Hey Anurag,
Tell me for my peace of mind and people like me…
How do you lose freedom by losing two fingers… If that’s just what it takes to lose freedom , I’ve lost mine by being born …. I want to get it..tell us..
travis losing fingers was just a metaphor.. if you take everything literally then nothing has meaning.. it’s all meaningless.. even you asking, me answering and all that surrounds the angst of our existence..
But isn’t freedom a state of mind… The rest that happens around me the absurdity of existence..
Meaning is truth … and I want to know your truth..as an artist
Everything is meaningless by itself unless we give it meaning … Anyway i think you should make a movie around a single meaning .. like the meaning of the life of Travis Bickel…
Anurag sir …. i can see that you have truly moved past No Smokingg… no comments on ur Classic M blog after a while… Well not sure if u might have read this…. but this is wht i wrote abt No Smoking… No point in going and talking abt tht issue again and again… but if possible …have a read.. !
Picture this – for eg : David Lynch
I wanted to be a part of Dev D..thru PFC 1 min movie… too bad…for me..as my film…got stuck due to bad internet connnections !! but these things happen i guess… !! Soo hope to meet you sometime in the future..!!!
All the best sir…. for ur DEV D…!
The fact tht we derived our own interpretation from No Smoking…was a great thing !!…. after a point ..we do tend to realise…tht its metaphor for many thing… !! Soul for our identity in this world , Fingers for the things ur feel , Ears for the arrogance we have and which makes us deaf….and well….the pain of our loved ones,…wen we go on a dark path !!….
travis i lose my freedom if i am not allowed to express.. my mind is free.. but to translat that i need a medium.. to a writer it is writing, which is why abbas tyrewala loses his fingers and then K
neeraj the deadline to PFCone has extended..have you tried sending it again
Anurag bhai,
you are the man we all aspiring film makers look upto… your apologies were for the people who you think you fooled to watch the movie by the bips song. such people must have nothing to do with what you write. but people like me are affected by what u write. we dont need ur apologies. though my friends slept through NS, i loved it. i was convinced them to watch it again and then they loved it. i know thats how its going to be for you. you wont be just a survivor for the sake of it, u will have a mark of ur own. every hanuman return will have a NS.
So Anurag, you want the freedom to express your freedomlessness to express your freedom … am i right :-?
Glad to hear that post NS u still have ur fingers un-chopped (though u can bargain on hearing device).
Many of my frnds didn’t even notice those smoky (or blurry) screen when u tried to show the world visualized by ‘atma’ .. e.g the very first scene when K went to that “kolkata carpet centre” or whatever it was .. there screen get smoky for few seconds. Little more effects cud have done for many guys.
I have seen few movies of Lynch, Arnofosky (not Kaufman though) .. and as people pointing these guys as the reference for NS .. i was bit afraid initially for getting alienated .. but unlikely i found NS very “Indian” … though i may not get every references u have put there in ur movie.
But to the core NS is very Indian .. and for that i take bit of pride.
Anurag,… Its sad but I suspect u are evolving into a self centered spoilt brat resting on the spoils of fragile foundations !
Pls dont do this if u can ! IF u cant ,….just go ahead and lose ur fingers ! We will forget u !
Amen
Anurag,
We saw we heard but we were unmoved . We understood what you were trying to convey , we really did . Gulzar saab’s lyrics had a quality which your film lacked . they were more sucessful in conveying the gist and sprit of your film than your film itself .
Iam glad that you have decided to look beyond ‘No smoking’. Looking forward to your next movie . All the best for the future.
Glad to hear that next time you’ll keep audience in mind. I don’t mind seeing a mirror, but the image should not be frosty, blurred and shapeless. Eagerly awaiting your next…..All the Bestest
“A big drop of sperm was falling from the sky
Mother (earth ) quaked for it and conceived it
and I bloomed out
That is how the idea was born..”
idhu allava kavidhay… pramadham pramadham!!!
tanglish (this is know poem… wonderful wonderful)
Anurag,
Having seen the same industry you’re now an inadvertent part of, from close quarters, all I’d say is, just do what you have to and voice your opinions if you have to. But I can promise you that no one here is going to take a non-conformist seriously, because it’s too scary for them to acknowledge a different point-of-view. You need a remarkable sense of security to deal with different perspectives, and not many in Bollywood have it.
I haven’t watched No Smoking yet, purely because of work pressure. But have been reading the posts on this site, and all the flak that’s been flying around in the media.
My question to you is not about No Smoking, but about Guru. Why did you write that film at all?
Regards,
Deepa
deepa i wrote the first two drafts,, final version was not mine..
i wrote it because i loved the story of that man’s journey.. alas my version was not agreed upon..
Alright…
this may be a spoiler..like i said may be
Anurag,
I wanted to duscuss this with you but no other medium than this open web platform so here it is
my interpretation – K gets cured as his stubborn, egoist subconscious is captured by baba…
From the point K is thrown inside a hole for refusing to accept treatment(before he signs the contract) is his subconcious that we see on the screen until the end when he talks to himself…
Confusion?
2 fingers getting chopped off – was that the real punishment?
why was there a mat on the top of his car??
Your movie was like The shining, I could get some but not others. Fortunately I can discuss it with you whereas stanley kubrick was long gone before I watched his movie..
anurag
welcome back. uve made a movie and the ppl who have not liked it (including me) can go fuck themselves. Did u put a gun on my head or kidnap my wife and demanded an audience as ransom? dude dont worry abt it. uve writen and directed stuff that is recorded in golden words of indian film history. u can make a dozen NS but no one can take away ur satya, ur BF. so come back and hit it hard and u know how ….
Abhra
Anurag, Ketan Mehta made a Fellini-esque romp through the underbelly of Bombay…’Oh Darling Yeh Hai India’…also was deemed incomprehensible by people. That film was probably way ahead of it’s time.
In any case, referring to the ‘Fountainhead’ comparison, this blog has given you what Roark could never have…. hundreds of supporters…!
8 years of ‘jinxes’ maybe, but hey, everybody loves a martyr eh?
May the force be with you.
Bom Bom !
Dhirendra..the carpet is what he gets billed for each time he issues a cheque..Kalkatta karpets is the front of what baba does underneath in his labyrinth.. ‘things we don’t want to deal with we sweep them under the carpet”,,as for rest of your interpretation that’s your own and i am not going to argue with that.. am glad atleast you took something
Abhra thanks
qwerty with 300 someone won a war and they made a film on it.. well i love PFC
Anurag,
Next time give us a flick,where we don’t have to disscuss it, in order to understand it. Film is an audio visual medium with so many characters,music and many more things in It so it should speak by itself.
Regards!
Sanjay
Anuraag Bhai –
very well, now that you’ve completed the cycle for NS by providing an explanation,or shd I say, a justification. Ab ek baat pate ki – genius to aap ho hi is mein kisi ko koi doubt nahi hai, and at least cos of NS you’ve decided to make your ingenuity more accessible; but why do you have this attempt to always prove that you are ‘different’ ? Yes you are, and so is your cinema, your writing, your thoughts and opinions, but sir, different hone ke chakkar mein indifferent mat ho jaana. Turn the commercial format on its head, change the way our stories are told,plot the points as u want, do something entirely novel, but please – remain deferent even when you are trying to be different. Not just for your producers and the audience at large, but for our cinema in particular and those of us who have extreme faith on your abilities. A lot of us here will like to be into filmmaking, but can’t due to ghar and family chalana hai.. don’t have the guts to leave the security or in my case love my wife too much to make her insecure by insane decisions.. and for a small lot out of this group, we depend on you and your kind of cinema. Make us proud man. Make it different if you want, but make it work. You know how. You’ve showed us your signature, now fill the page with your name. All the best !
btw, I loved the ripple effect(like, throwing a stone in the pond effect) you had in some of the scenes. Very original technical act. that kind of gave a feeling that these scenes are different from rest…
I have this fantastic script about overlapping realities induced by an experimental test drug, on a group of unconnected people in their twentiesmost of it takes place in an enclosed area, a totally mind altering experience. It’s set in France, for a French network…..at the end of it, you dont know which is which…quite intriguing, and a page turner….wonder if that would work in a Bombay milieu, sort of like ‘12 Monkeys’ meets ‘Jacob’s Ladder’ – ( u must see those if you havent already)
Anurag can you share the script of NS on PFC?
:d/ I loved Jacobs ladder and 12 monkeys.. precisely because I was left scratching my head for a day or so.. It made me think and rethink untill I got it. But I ultimately question the point of “getting it” or is it the act of participating intellectually and making your own accesments that is more important and rewarding. But then again, one shouldn’t be pondering major plot lapses, but rather be undercovering the hermeneutics behind the underlining meaning.
i love them too..
Hey Anurag, when you setting forth with Dev D? and whats the premise for it? I have a question regarding screenwriting in India? do you guys start with English and then get dialouges written in hindi or does the standard format consist of purely hindi. I really think if you make a partial script available from any of your past movies, It would be a great learning curve. Btw have you seen no country for old men yet?
never mind i just started reading your ” trying to make my film in the big bad bollywood” post.. I will save you the time. Please thank Vishal Bharadwaj and Gulzhar sahbib from my side for that great soundtrack… i have been listening to it non stop ever since I first heard it. Phoonk de is my favourite track along with ash tray.
my script should be up soon..
@qwerty
and a lil bit of “A Clockwork Orange”
@ AK
Don’t you think with a film like “Hanuman Returns”,
you might just target the wrong audience for your next baby, another backlash.
instead I’d like to see your next baby proclaim ‘from the makers of No Smoking..’
anurag,
aap inhe padhen…kuchh log samajh rahe hain aap ko…maloom nahi aap unhe samajh rahe hain ya nahi?
http://chavannichap.blogspot.com/2007/10/blog-post_30.html
http://chavannichap.blogspot.com/2007/10/blog-post_6921.html
Anurag,
Like many others I have been following all the posts written for NS. Thought I will drop a line too but then thought what the hell, I enjoyed it why do I need security in numbers. I saw a pirated print of NS as that is the only way I can see in Connecticut. Even on such a bad print I could understand it was full of style and lots of gripping moments. First reaction I had was it is like the movie Big Fish then I thought may be not it was more like Eternal Sunshine of spotless mind, but I think it was better than any of them. Anurag I did see the point of Baba enjoying his power over underprivileged. I could not hear the lyrics from the song very clearly, but loved the music. I thought it was more of an experience rather than a movie. I loved lots of moments especially when K forces Abbas to smoke a cigg just to prove that whatever he does is right. And then there was this other ass licking guy next to him who would have licked Abbas ass if K was the one who would have walked out first
@Kamlesh
A Clockwork Orange ?? nothing similar with that. It’s a movie that becomes boring after 30 mins.
One more thing on your poem you wrote when you were doped…. next time put it in some movie with in jim morrison’s stype and the doors music in background….. it would be fun
Shit man!
You are apologising for ‘Phoonk De’ here and there I was planning to take pictures from the net and spread xeroxed B/W A4 posters with John & Bips splashed on them before the release.
Kya karte ho boss… marwaoge kya?
But really, why this post… the explanation… Agreed, it’s a bit easier to comprehend but we need to do that ourselves to grow up, don’t we?
Another point… people (the handful there were) mocked you while watching NS, but noo one walked out.
Anurag,
This is my first post here. I saw Black Friday only recently, felt it was outstanding and honest film. I am also seeing the kind of interest your articles generate among people who are looking for good cinema.
I am not sure how many Telugu/Tamil/Malayalam films you see or have seen. I always felt an urge to tell as many people possible about some wonderful movies I have seen in these languages.
I would like to suggest one movie in Telugu and would like to get some feedback on what you and other people felt about that.
Move name: Anukokunda Oka Roju (Unexpectedly, one day)
Language: Telugu
Director: ChandraShekhar Yeleti (he is the same guy who remade his superb ‘aithe’(telugu) as 50 lakhs in Hindi)
Premise: A girl/singer who attends a party gets drugged and wakes up 3 days later. The movie travels back to figure out what she missed and why people are trying to kill her later.
This film will take you into unexpected territories and unexpected places. At the end it will also make you think that yes, there are far more and larger/dangerous addictions than just drugs.
Don’t want to give away more.
Will wait to hear people’s comments once they see the film.
Kesavan
@ Holden great comments, where is this poem you refer to? and riders on the storm is the best background score for any poem!!!
@Devils Advocate
A big drop of sperm was falling from the sky
Mother (earth ) quaked for it and conceived it
and I bloomed out
That is how the idea was born..
by AK
kesavan they are making that film in hindi as sunday, by my producers of NS
@ Dhirendra
“It
oh that… i didn’t know it was AK’s. It alluded to the greek myth of aphrodite and how the world was created: For those who haven’t heard about it goes something like this~ Gaia(mother earth) is fed up that Uranus comes and screws her whenever he pleases. Not being able to bear the pain she asks CHRONOS her youngest song to casterate URANUS!!! and from the bleeding gue of sperm that falls into the ocean arises APHRODITE, the) most beautiful creature alive(methaphor for creation). Thats why you see the frothy nature when the ocean touches the beach lol..
Watching Paanch..And the Last antara of “main khuda” explains why i made no smoking..
Fuck that’s a discovery for me too.. didn’t know i haven’t evolved
Wow, thats quick. I am exicted that my views are reaching someone. There are many more in my list, let me suggest 3 more.
My all time fav. film by K. Vishwanath, whose movies I appreciate the most.
Swathikiranam in Telugu. Explores the emotion of – Jealousy superbly. The director also had the conviction to have a very unpopular climax. Mamooty and Radhika are outstanding in this film.
2. Iruvar in Tamil – (Directed by Maniratnam) Saw this film last week. Loved it.
3. Virumandi in Tamil. Same story told from two people’s views. Kamalhassan is just superb. I think he also directed the film.
Thanks for reading.
Kesavan
Chavanni sir.. i appreciate it.. read them.. this post is actually not for ones who see through it..
Kesavan-have seen iruvar and virumandi.. the first one how can i source it.. why don’t you write a post on the films you like..send it for iview
Here is the lyrics of the song I
I am anger
Under pressure
Lost it cages
A prisoner
The first to escape
I am wicked
I am legion
Strength in numbers
A lie
The number is one
[Chorus:]
I – I – I
Everything that I see is for me
Yes, I am giant
I’m a monster
Breaking windows
In houses
Buildings of glass
Rebel rebel
Holy outlaw
Ride together
Don’t try it
The power’s in one
[Chorus:]
I – I – I
I am standing alone
But I can rock you
I – I – I
On the edge of the blade
But the knife can’t cut the hero down
I am virgin
I’m a whore
Giving nothing
The taker
The maker of war
I’ll smash your face in
But with a smile
All together
You’ll never
Be stronger than me
[Chorus:]
I – I – I
Right here on my own
But I still rock you
I – I – I
Don’t follow behind
Just leave me on the outside
I – I – I
I am standing alone
But I can shock you
I – I – I
On the edge of the blade
But no one makes the hero bleed
( No, no , no )
I am hunger
Feed my head
All together
You’ll never
Never make the hero bleed
( No, no, no )
———
Here is another song by Sabbath
Sins of the Father
7. Sins Of The Father
I am the crazy man
Who lives inside your head
But I think I’m breaking through the wall
You are the innocent
Convicted of the crime
No one was ever there
To catch you when you fall
I see the diamonds
But you only see the rock
I need to run
But you only crawl
It’s time to open up
All the doors that you keep locked
Nobody gives without a take
Let’s take it all
[Chorus:]
You’ve been twisted into pieces
By the hands of your emotions
How much longer are you gonna pay
For yesterday
Sins of the father
One more crucifixion
One more cross to bear
You’re a hole in a photograph
Go on – lose it in the city
The city can feel no shame
See the world with electric eye
They call it mystery
But any fool could see
You thought he walked on the water
And if the pain was gone
And you were free to run away
And get out
Would you get out of there
Or do you really care
It’s not safe or easy
And maybe when you’re gone
You just won’t belong at all
[Chorus:]
You’re the only witness
To the murder of an angel
How much longer are you gonna pay
For yesterday
Sins of the father
It’s just another crucifixion
One more cross to bear
Go on lose it in the city
Take a look at the world
You’ve got electric eyes
Any reference is purely coincidental
Blog ke baare mai baad mai likhenge
Great, now that I have an avenue, I shall write a post during the weekend. Otherwise it is my poor wife who, I am sure got bored of hearing me raving about my fav films and also angry at the number of times I showed the movies to her by translating every word (she does not understand any south Indian languages). I am used to writing music reviews/articles for websites so that may help too.
I have Swathikiranam DVD but unfortunately no subtitles, if you understand Telugu, i can post the DVD to you. Else, I shall hunt for a DVD with subtitles when I am next in India and send it across. If you are in touch with telugu guys (like say Ramu) they may just have it.
I have some rules for myself towards online sources for movies (Piracy I mean), for good films (like say Black Friday) I will only buy original DVDs or rent it from council library. I never downloaded movies from internet yet. Hence, I may not be that helpful to provide you with online sources if you are looking for one.
Other K. Vishwanath greats In descending order of my preference are:
1. SwathiKiranam
2. SaagaraSangamam
3. SwarnaKamalam
4. ShankarAbharanam
5. Sirivennala
6. SwayamKrushi
7. SwathiMutyam
8. ShubhaSankalpam
Shall write about other fav. directors of mine later like (Bapu, Balachandar etc).
Kesavan
yeh sahi hai
yeh galat
meri mano
socho mat
yeh na pehno
yeh na bolo
meri mano muh na kholo
yeh padho mat yeh suno mat
main chununga tum chuno mat
kat te jaoo….mit te….jaoo….
BAAS….aab aur nahi
saans lo…..dum bharo…chilla kar sabse kaho….
I guess that was the first Bollywood metal song…
Dont knw if this fact was ever discussed before.. or is there any other song which takes that crown.
1. SwathiKiranam
2. SaagaraSangamam
3. SwarnaKamalam
4. ShankarAbharanam
all 4 exploring the guru-shishya relationship. Loved Shankarabharanam…one of the few Telugu films I have seen….need to see the other three…..
Vasant –
Well not exactly exploring Guru-Sishya relationship, but that is what is used as a base to communicate a different message.
1. Swathikiranam – Guru and Sishya, where Guru is jealous of Sishya’s talent. The movie explores how jealousy can bring a great man (guru) to stoop (adhogati) to very low levels. You will hate Mamooty (the character) in this film but love his acting.
2. SaagaraSangamam – Also called Selangai Oli (dubbed in Tamil). – This story is about a loser and how he finds salvation in imparting his talent to a sishya. Ilayaraja best, K Vishwanath’s best, SPB best and KamalHassan’s best movie ever.
3. SwarnaKamalam – This is about one realising ones innerself and talent. Sirivennala Seetharamasashtry (Lyricist) shines in every word written.
4. ShankaraBharanam – Guru Sishya yes. Since you have seen it, great. No need to comment
.
Kesavan
hey have seen Selangai Oli as well…Kamal…and Jaya Prada and Sarad Babu…..wowowowo…Kamal rocks in this…..
hey ANAURAG ,
what I use to feel before reading ur blog was that I am one of those who wasted there time and money over NOSMOKING , but after going through ur blog my soul is insisting me to go through it once again and I will.
thanxx and m waiting for getting raped by u as u said u will in ur future projects ..
wish u luck for them .
hey we guys have done our best in PFCONE comp.. now lets see..
GOD BLESS U .
@Kamlesh
That’s just my opinion..I didn’t like it..just like I liked “no smoking” which many didn’t..
btw, I didn’t like “north by northwest” as well, which is again one of the best and highly rated movies.
Another cliched comparison..
1408, Joun cusak enters a room and then weird events start…
No Smoking, K enters baba’s den and then weird events start…
Similarity – Quitter’s Inc and 1408 are both written by Stephen King
Thanx a ton man… i was really tiered of fighting with all my frens to whom i had recommended NS… I have sent this article’s link to all those… n i am dead sure that after reading this they’ll once again watch the movie…. had this article come lil sooner, that might have made some difference(as even KM visits PFC ;) )
After reading this I was really happy coz I did get/notice many(and definitely not all)things which u have mentioned / clarified…
Thanx for such a good movie… after reading this I fixed my date for this evening… “Khoob jamega rang jab ,il baitenge 3 yaar.. me, mera old monk aur NS”…yes i m gonna watch it again today
I watched NO SMOKING in the hall ALL ALONE. i was the only audience in a theatre that seats 200.I was determined from the very beginning to watch it ..much like the determination exemlified by baba bangali. I LUVD IT.
Mr.Kashyap ur film was like a breeze that we cannot touch or taste or smell but feel n derive pleasure from its abstractness but by explaining every sequence arent you turning that breeze into a puff of cigarette smoke that has a definite smell..definte colour..definte taste but is liked by none?
I request you to keep going. Tagore said that if people dont respond to your call then walk alone. We need the Howard Roarks…what did Orson Welles do after Citizen Kane?? We trulu appreciate you.
@sircar
Someone just asked me how come the size of window didn’t change even after camera zooms in to the window in Citizen Kane when they show the guy shaving..?
Any ideas anybody?
I liked ur poem sir..
its new..sumthing we call original..
you know things well..13 years are big.
Actually..u know what?
there shud be things here..which cud bother you..
when ppl like you come up with that..
they say..its crap..
you cud make censor ppl watch your film..and know hows it goin to do at the box office.
im a music composer..
wheneva i write a new tune..
i play it to a few close friends..
if its intellectual..something which is thought provoking..they”ll reject it..
if its a catchy thing..which will eventually fade away after 2 times..to my surprise they like it.
I adore you..
want to wrok with you..
who wud not want to do that?
i dunno how to get in touch with you..
these 7 mnths in mumbai have taught me somuch..
thers someone i know called rucha mam..she said she wud introduce me to you..utv se kuch link.
nothing like that happened..
:((
im here..writing to you..
in hope..
you”ll reply..sumday.
I love ur wurk sir..
take care.
hey Anurag,
If u read this..can you pls elobarate the concept behind the zero min and its significance….
Anurag,
Have u seen “No county for Old Men”, new movie from Coen brothers. All the choots that whine about your movie will similarly not get this classic. You shouldn’t bother explaining shit to ppl who watch OSO and Sawariya and then complain that your movie doesn’t make sense. I believe that in order to appreciate great cinema, one should be qualified (meaning they should have seen some classics from world cinema not just MI-1,2,3 and Jurassic park).
Hehe.
There are so many Abhisheks who post on this website that it leaves me uncomfortable to post with the name “Abhishek” because for a neutral reader it would give the impression of a Multiple Personality Disorder.
The reason I am writing this because I read comment no. 39 posted by “Abhishek” which makes a reference to Howard Roark and then I saw Anurag reply to it.
So it amuses me that people refer to her as if she is some great scholar or an important reference point.
Here is my “Contra Rand”
Let me begin by saying that I have read 4 of Rand’s books – ‘We the Living’, ‘Fountain head’, ‘Atlas Shrugged’ and ‘For the New Intellectual’.
There was a time when I was an impressionable 15 year old and was enamored by her firebrand rhetoric and her never-say-die creative-constructive heroes.
Here’s why I think Rand is a bullshitter
Philosophy: To call Objectivism a philosophy is like shitting all over the word philosophy. It is just a strong backlash to Marxist Communism. If Marxist politics leads to lack of “individual’s right for enterprise” then pure capitalism leads to “consumer fetishism” – You have to live in US for a few years to get a feel for “consumer fetishism”. Sure, any modern student of philosophy can find problems with Kant or Hegel. But, to criticize David Hume, Karl Marx and Friedrich Nietzsche – even the most post-modern student of philosophy must have some depth. And Rand is as shallow as her Hollywood engagements.
Literature: Oh my god. What can be a good cure for bad taste? To call her novels a “drag” would be to calling Manjrekar’s batting at its slowest as “slow”. Although she criticizes Romanticism, she is herself a Romantic. No wait a second. Not just a Romantic – she is a hero worshipper. She worships her idols – Roark and Galt – and wants her reader to do the same. All her characters are 1-dimensional and don’t change with time. Toohey born a bad guy remains that way all his life. Roark born an orphan – always aloof and intellectual – remains that way. According to her, you are a born Howard Roark or a born Toohey. Wow! Gail Wynand changes – and she makes him fall from grace – why – because she believes that people who assume power through wrong means MUST fall – Contrived? Wishful thinking? Madam – Have you ever witnessed the life of Stalin – So, did you ever see him fall? And both her “good guys” and “bad guys” are as unrealistic, unattainable and unachievable as “Fountain of Youth” and “Holy Grail” – the Judeo-Christian references she keeps making all the way. Dominique Francon breaks a statue because she thinks it is too good for human beings to enjoy it. Writes unjust bad reviews for Howard Roark? Howard Roark rapes Dominique Francon in kinky BDSM style – she enjoys it without knowing his identity! The whole world misses their “John Galt”. Who is John Galt? Where is he? Well people missed Evariste Galois, Alexandre Grothendieck and Guru Dutt. But, they move on. The world is not carried on the shoulders of one man called Atlas – which BTW is a wrong version of the Greek myth. Here use of language is banal. Her command over English language is as much as most of my friends had by the time they were out of high school. And worst of all, her writing is despicably misanthropic – but she wants her “heroes” to construct a “temple to worship human spirit”.
Now I have wondered why is such bad philosophy and bad literature so popular? I think a lot of Ayn Rand books are sold in pirated version on roadside for 50 bucks – just like the Chicken soup books, ‘You can win’ books and “7 1/2 habits that will make you great.” Popularity breeds popularity. Bad taste breeds bad taste. People watch ‘Heyy Baby’ and ‘Main Hoon Na’. People read ‘You can win’ and Ayn Rand. And then we complain about decadence of culture. Why not?
BTW, I really liked ‘No smoking’! Someday I will write a good review!
Errr…Some typos. Sorry about that.
@The Real Abhishek… ahem!
Dude, if that’s what u derived from Rand, then God help ur shallowness. Its much more than that… a lot more.
Rand is an ideology, a single minded thought process… a philosophy, and like all, works for some and does not for some. BTW, its like all philosophy. So if you are out to prove that one particular phil is wrong, then your basic understanding of philosophy is at fault.
Dude, plzz… let Rand be Rand, if you don’t like her, move on… but don’t malign her man.
Dude ravptor – I have studied philosophy and studied it at Stanford University – A mecca for philosophy students- if we ever have a face to face debate, I will rip you apart – with words only. If you have a counter-criticism – make it – don’t pass a shallow judgment on my understanding or interpretation.
@ravptor
Every philosophy has some problems – true. That is called the post-modern style of doing philosophy – read Lyotard, Delueze, Foucoult and Derrida – particlarly Lyotard for his clarity.
Rand is not a coherent ideology – it is bombastic rhetoric
hey anurag
Can you suggest me five great movies of alltime (according to u)which i can see?
@Real Abhishek
Dude, I did not study philosophy nor do I know any of the names that you mouthed off and if stanford is at the top of the list of grad schools, then I am in one of the lowest ranked grad schools in the US so I don’t question ur pedigree.
All i know is as the same impressionable 15yr old, Rand worked for me. It worked for me then and at some level it works for me now. The only other philosophy I dabbled in is Russel and I still have two thoughts about it.
Coming back to the point, what has Stanford taught you? To name ur self “the real” one? Pointing to someone and say “I will rip you off?”. Sorry dude, I won’t come in ur way. Rip them all off but keep coming back to PFC as often as you can. You never know, someday our paths may cross…
BTW, hope to read ur own philosophy someday and hopefully I will make my movie by then. Am sure my philosophy will spill into my work… then you can rip all that you want of me… BTW, looking foward to ur understanding of NS. I you can, pass it on to Iview @ PFC…
First time poster here.
Anurag,
Excited about you directing Hanuman Returns.
I was thrilled that the first Hanuman was a wide release and was viewed by a lot of people. I am not very thrilled about the quality of animation. It was so simple and basic, that I was just not going to show it to anyone as the “latest” animated Indian movie.
Please do insist on raising the currently very low bar. Don’t take a no for an answer.
I am working on Spielberg’s current film and have been doing visual fx in Hollywood for a while.
Feel free to email me, if you want to chat further.
thanks !
Dev
@ravptor
Sorry for the “will rip you apart” phrase!
I didn’t mean it. I take it back.
I got personal because you got personal by calling my understanding “shallow” when actually I am pretty much aware that it is not. I guess we should all be more careful when writing posts to not get personal.
I am studying math and philosophy and I am a cinema addict.(just like everyone here at PFC)
Russell is a very important philosopher – he influenced Wittgenstein – one of the most admired philosophers in modern times. But, Russell overestimated his importance in philosophy of mathematics – He influenced the creation of Zermelo-Fraenkel Set Theory and Von Neumann Set Theory. But, his Principia was almost ignored by future generations of mathematicians. Mathematicians can not work like logicians. He was also a moral relativist – always a good thing – not the first one though – Mahavira had professed Anakentavada and Syadvada much before any of the ancient or modern philosopher did that. The Greco-Buddhist era was a great time for India – the golden age of India. That is why I say that modern India is a decadent India.
Best of luck for your movie making! If I ever criticize it I will be fair towards it – not a Khalid Mohammed to it! Hehe.
Naming myself the Real Abhishek – was just a joke – I had read some guy post as “RGV impersonator”. So I guessed if RGV were to post himself he would post as “Real RGV” – Hehe. SO I posted as “Real Abhishek”
And I will write a ‘No Smoking’ review on iView – when all the heat and dust over it settles down and people who love it and hate it are less agitated.
Cheerio
Dude, used to it esp from Stanford Grads. Have a few friends there, some i guess of ur own batch so no apologies needed…
All the best!
My problem with Russel is his dualist approach to problems – this and that. It bothered me for a while but then i have to go back again… philosophy for me always grew with practice, something you no doubt know, hence the defense of Rand.
This is precisely the answer I have to your point of she glorifying the unchanged one and failing the one who changed. Practice of one path, without questions, as I understand is when philosophy can truly be experienced. Any other way is just a pretense. Right or Wrong is debatable but only when you understand the profoundity of the philosophy is when you can decide for yourself. Russel at that level seemed too liner for me, too… A to Z kinda thing. I will have to revisit him though.
Write the review… AK is here anyways…
I haven’t read Russell’s book on epistemology. But, I have read articles about it. So, on the face of it, I am sympathetic to his viewpoint. To make a quick argument about it – I will like to point out the manner in which modern physicists go about doing their physics. Like for example Dirac “hypothesized” that a positron must exist because the equation say so – which is “knowledge” by description and not by acquaintance. Similarly, John Higgs proposed that a “Higgs boson” must exist. Positron has been detected since Dirac hypothesized it. But, Higgs is yet elusive. You must read the plenary paper “Hunting Higgs” by Edward Witten – Edward Witten is hailed as the Newton of our times! So read everything written by him. Hehe. Knowledge by acquaintance sounds similar to the way Newton went about doing his physics – making only “backward predictions” and no “forward predictions”. Modern physicists make both forward and backward predictions. and of course lot of physical intution that they gather is by experiencing it. Similarly you can say that Ramanujan did his math mostly by acquaintance while someone as grand as Grothendieck did it by increasingly abstract descriptions. You may want to read ‘The Road to Reality’ by Roger Penrose – the first chapter will perhaps make you feel sympathetic to Russell’s views. ‘The Particle Garden’ by Gordon Kane is also a beautiful book on modern particle physics. And yes, all these books are very accessible to the lay audience.
“The man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.” – Mohammed Ali the boxer
I adore this man – his arrogance and his personality.
“A casual stroll through the lunatic asylum shows that faith does not prove anything.” – Nietzsche
My own philosophy (and that of most of the post 1950 philosophers) is very influenced by Nietzsche.
Change is very important. And a positive change comes in a person’s personality when he can “deconstuct” “meaning” and “knowledge”, “essence” and “existence” into simplest forms. “Abstract forms”, in fact, is a principal device towards understanding almost any branch – this is called structuralism. The Bourbaki movement in mathematics is parallel to the Levi Strauss’s Structuralism movement in philosophy. I am very skeptical when people call themselves post-structuralists – because the word “post-structural” has no definition really!
Every philosophical movement (and in fact every other human endeavor) stems from psychological needs. So when a man’s understanding of his own psychology and that of people around him increases
his philosophy becomes more and more profound. Also science is a huge counter-check for philosophers. Nietzsche was well-versed with human physiology, Darwin’s theory of evolution and human biology in general. He also read Dostoevsky. His understanding of psychology was so profound that Freud (the great-grandfather of psychology) commented that no human being who lived or will ever live will ever understand his own psychology as well as Nietzsche did. People who criticize Freud don’t really understand that he was a product of his times. Even modern neuroscientists like Eric Kandal have nothing but praise for Freud. Psychotherapy is a derived branch of Freud’s psychoanalysis. Freud couldn’t have predicted psychiatry because the technology wasn’t there.
These people form a large part of my world-view. And there is more to come. Maybe later.
I saw No Smoking once. Liked it. To review it I have to concentrate on details. So must see it againg in order to review it.
You said “AK is here anyways”. Here meaning where?
Hehe
It reminds me of that scene in Good Will Hunting dude… but anyways, I will let it pass…
Maybe i can sound more knowledgeable if I scan through Durant’s book on the story of philosophy and keep arguing but that would be under the belt so i rest my case… cheers!
My solemn request – don’t read American philosophers. American movement Pragmatism is probably the most shabby philosophical movement – it is like the “Christian philosophy” for the “Republic Party” people. There are some good American philosopher though – like John Rawls…
If your are into political philosophy – you must read Hannah Arendt and John Rawls.
Cheers! Hehe.
Real Abhishek and ravptor should get a room soon…to discuss philosophy..what else?
If we ever get this room you should join the room, Amar. No one here is an elitist or exclusivist.
@ravptor
Also, I forgot to say that reading interpreters is OK. But, it is always good to read the original. For example, Heidegger criticized Sartre for misinterpreting his philosophy. While most people (including myself) disagree with Heidegger’s interpretation of Nietzsche. But, IMHO Lyotard is a good interpreter. Delueze is also reasonably good.
Real Abhishek,
Good to see a practising philosopher here,
I did Philosophy for two years before moving on…….
Your list is fascinating and am excited about revisiting that world.
Whats ur take on Kant? From a personal perspective liked him of all the Western lot
and THEN fell in love with Advaita so after Aham Brahmasmi stopped reading Philosophy, trying to live it!!
It was good seeing so many philosophers quoted in NS, after years have I actually seen any homage being paid to THINKERS.
K-3
IMHO, Kant was also a product of his times. He was good for his times. But, his work feels dated, particularly in light of new knowledge about the world gained in 19th and 20th century.
Since I am a “hardcore atheist”, I don’t agree with his views on morality which pretty much falls under the umbrella of Christianity.
Philosophy of mathematics is a complicated field. But, I am not very close to Brouwer’s Intutionism (inspired by Kant).
Many of his ideas have become common folklore. So, Kant, Hume and Hegel are definitely important. If you skip them you can not understand modern philosophy. That said, he is definitely not my favorite philosopher.
I have mixed views on Hindu philosophy. I like Hindu philosophy because it is one of the most optimistic philosophies (even when it is blatantly wrong) of ancient times. I also like the pragmatic viewpoints expressed in different portions of Hindu philosophy. I am fond of Bhagavad Gita (I have in fact “sieved” a 100 passages out of it that I like.) There are portions where Bhagavad Gita is megalomaniac – portions that I dislike. I am not fond of Upanishads or Brahma Sutras because of their “mystical” nature.
“Mystical explanations are thought to be deep; the truth is that they are not even shallow.” – Nietzsche
You must be careful in studying Hindu philosophy because you can not understand it without understanding the politics and anthropology of the times. Carvaka and Kapila were original thinkers who got sidelined by the mainstream Vedic influence. The ‘Manu Smriti’ is the most tragic text in the history of Hinduism (also written under the socio-political pressures of the times). The Tantric age of Hinduism was the final blow – the ultimate decadence where nothing but mysticism prevailed. But, I am an admirer of Hindu philosophy “as a decent lifestyle for its times” because it is very pan-theistic, accommodating and relatively non-violent. Do you know that the Zoroastrians and Jews who migrated to a Hindu India were never persecuted. This is the generosity of Hindu culture – something that is getting lost in today’s violent and intolerant avatars of Hindutva like BJP, Bajrang Dal, Shiv Sena and VHP. Shame on them!
What happened in Gujarat is a real shame.
http://www.tehelka.com/
It is the ultimate unbecoming of a Hindu.
These are my views. You may choose to disagree.
@Kavita
Thanks for reading my post and responding to it.
Hi Anurag, read ur long, tiring, convincing thought behind your NS…well dude i have a point here as a film maker if you have to xplain people abt ur product…then you are not a film maker.
your film should speak for itself.
don’t try hard..
@guns
AK is a great filmmaker! It’s shocking when you say ‘…then you are not a film maker’
Let me remind you something about simplicity and enunciation.
“Things should be made as simple as possible, but not any simpler.” – Albert Einstein.
By your twisted logic you will have to certainly discount Godard or Mrinal Sen as a film maker.
For the sake of audience, AK should have given a hint in the end that “There is in fact something to understand.” like ‘The Usual Suspects’ gives a hint in the end which is the key piece of the jigsaw puzzle. The audience loved it and rewatched it multiple times because they had the sense that there was something to understand. When I watched ‘No Smoking’ I was left with the feeling that there was nothing to understand – like in some of the short stories of Kafka… But it is the filmmmaker’s choice whether or not he wants to leave a hint. The Indian audience is definitely not mature to feel “joy” and “confusion” at the same time.
AK,
Apology accepted (for Main Aisa kyon Hoon (omg), Shakalaka Boom Boom). Guru was not ‘that’ bad – and the fact that the final draft wasn’t entirely yours is enough to redeem you.
No apologies for NS please! Even the Bipasha song does not require apologies. Am sure there were people who would have come to watch the movie anyway, and if it weren’t for the Bipasha song, they would have left 100% disappointed instead of 99.9%.
Most film-makers try and hoodwink with the use of promos and trailers. How many films are as good or half as good as the trailers are? At the end of the day it is a business and marketing matters! There is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ about leading or misleading people to come and watch your movie.
NS is splendid. It shall always remain so. NS is not just an ‘attempt’ as many people call it but is ‘accomplished’. I saw it as many as 3 times in the theatre with 3 sets of people of varying nationalities. A Czech colleague who I dragged along wondered if it released in Prague and wrote to her friends back home asking if it did.
I am your average number-cruncher employed with the big 4 here in Sydney. Unfortunately, I am not in film-making and have nothing to do with it. Yet, I have seen every movie mentioned by everyone here. I can understand, admire and have ‘assumably’ learnt the intricacies of film-making just by virtue of having read books and watched almost every brilliant movie made.
Yet it is not possible for everyone to make a film and express what they want to. I love cinema and have written short stories, rubbish scripts and have created corny background scores for some movie I’d want to make myself or finance someday. However, I don’t think I’d let go off my security blanket and make a movie because its my passion – plainly because I know I wont do it justice entirely.
I sincerely hope that you get a chance to make another No Smoking. Honestly, even Hanuman or Dev D will not make you accessible to everyone. There would be people who won’t watch those movies. Similarly, not everyone can be expected to watch No Smoking. Take 5-6 years and appease the masses but please give us one more DVD for our collection (and for those in Prague).
To each his own.
‘K’eep it up. Cheers.