NO SMOKING-8 years in the making
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It all started eight years ago when i was shooting for SATYA that Ramu told me a story about a chain smoker who gets into trouble with someone who hates smoking( a variation of which he shot in DARNA MANA HAI)..that sparked off an idea..which Ramu instantly laughed and scoffed at..i thought there was something in there but i didn’t know what..i toyed with it for long..had something roughly there but it was too much like THE GAME..after PAANCH got banned i was desperate to make a film..Paanch had a good buzz..there were producers who wanted me to make films for them..i met Boney Kapoor ,narrated him the incomplete idea which was then called, Cigarette smoking is injurious to health..He point blank, told me ,”Go back to the planet you came from”..every one thought it was weird, but none of them knew irreverence..
Kaykay loved the idea..only thing he said was that it’s incomplete(how much i love that man)..i almost gave up on it, till RAJA CHAUDHARY..my assistant in black friday and my lead actor in GULAL(some body even suggested we were probably sleeping together)..him off all the people, while playing squash said he has written a script for a short film on a chain smoker who wakes up one morning without a smoke and there is a curfew outside..he wanted me to act as the character..what a fantastic idea..i agreed to do the role on the condition that i am going to use his short to complete my incomplete script..we made the short..it didn’t work..Raja was a better actor and a writer than he was the filmmaker..i took his short and completed the treatment..
Six months later i was at mariott with my producer friend nilesh dadhich and vinny mitra the director of MERIDIAN and while showing off how weird one can get i narrated my script..i improvised spontaneously..they loved it ,i loved narrating it ..it felt complete..it was on..but it was costly ,nilesh told me .. we need a star.. i said no one but kaykay..i went to london the following month..we were showing Black Friday at BITE THE MANGO in Bradford..nilesh asked me to look up his partner Angad Paul(LOCK STOCK AND TWO SMOKING BARRELS) and narrate him the script..i did..he said its too weird,needs a star..get shahrukh..i decided to fuck it ..i am not going without kaykay..then the worst period of my life started..Black Friday got stuck..couldn’t get money for gulaal..i started drinking again..nivi (kaykay’s wife) told me stop thinking about everyone..try and get a release first,get a star ,make a movie, kaykay will understand..i went to SRK..
Now there is a history i share with SRK..we went to the same college,we both played for the college hockey team,he was an astounding sportsman,hockey captain..i was the vice captain..but..four years apart from each other..i never went to him for anything using that card..this time i did..he claimed to have known me from delhi..or of me..he wasvery warm and kind and nice..he was growing his hair..Don had not yet started shooting..SRK loved or may be pretended to have loved the idea..he said ..”you are talented,why are you wasting yourself over such absurd films”..he said make this film after you are in a position to experiment..gave me the example of Black..i told him Black according to me was an exercise in vanity and megalomania..but circumstances were such that i was open to mainstream..i mentioned meeting him to Ritesh Sidhwani..i had done the hindi version of dialogues for Reema’s HONEYMOON TRAVELS PVT. LTD. which he was producing..Farhan and Zoya have always been a big support to me..emotionally and morally..one of the scripts written by zoya and reema was optioned by ritesh..he asked me would i like tolook at it..i looked at it..great idea..ritesh then asked me to develop it further with SRK in mind and he will produce it for me..i narrated my smoking story instead..he reacted exactly like others..i was losing confidence..in myself..in my story..i wanted a way out..i didn’t even have the courage to say i don’t want to do Zoya’s story..(haven’t said it till date)i just kept escaping them, kept escaping what started to look like my fate..then out of the blue i found finance for Gulaal..
we went to jaipur to shoot gulaal..meanwhile PAHELI got nominated for the OSCARS from india..i got a call from SRK..he needed help to campaign for paheli in the US..i put him on to CHRISTINA(the greek woman who holds the flag for the indian films in the heart of Hollywood) and NOEL..kept in touch with him(kind of)..then Gulaal was stopped midshoot because the money promised wasn’t realised..ah misery..my motherfucking jinxxx continued..life was being such a bitch..i had an anxiety attack..was flown to bombay..admitted..heart condition..broke..alcoholic..fucked..i called SRK..he said he will get back..i sms’d AAMIR..he said he will get back in march..i called on Jaideep Sahni..he was now with Yashraj..he tried to help..adi was too busy..i could have done anything at that moment..i didn’t know what to do..where to go..before the media found out that gulaal got stopped after finishing 80% of the shoot and the superstitious lot sealed my fate i had to get on to something..that’s when reports on WATER started to filter in..they were praising JOHN..like an oppurtunist of circumstances i called him..it was nine thirty in the morning after i drank all night..he asked me if i could meet him in next half an hour..i said yes..was fifteen minutes late..i knew he too would laugh at my smoking story..so i made up a story on the way to his house..
he heard my made up story and instantly hated it..he said tell me something more intelligent(he really said that)..i took a deep breath and told him the smoking story..he fucking loved it..i told him i have no producer..he said he will find me one..he spoke to UTV..they didn’t like it..too bizzarrre..i told him officially the story was still lying with SRK..he said until and unless SRK doesn’t let go of it ..i will amount to be a double crossing son of a bitch..i called SRK and told him i was going to someone else..he naturally assumed i was going to kaykay..he advised me again..i didn’t want to listen..my arrogance still probably was far greater than theirs..i still believed that if only my films would have come out, it would have been different..but then that arrogance was fucked with,fingered with..kicked out of all production offices inspite of john being unconditionally on board..
then i got a call from Vishal..he had seen my last seven years and still somehow had not lost faith..he asked me that would i like to make a film for him..”neki aur poochh poochh” ..i narrated him cigarette smoking is injurious to health..he loved it..finally..someone who truly loves films..he asked me to come to his set of omkaara the next day and narrate the script to Kumar Mangat..Now here is a man who looks like the most conventional producer in bombay bot he isn’t..he loved it too..his son loved it fucking three..i was on..they offered SAIF..i said JOHN..the man stood by me..i will like hell stand by him..they didn’t even argue..it was just me being defensive..they agreed and asked for a meeting..with john..they met..i waited for things to move..they had omkara to be busy with..negativity abound..i started thinking it won’t happen again..so before they could tell me it was all a mistake..i left the country..escaped to LA..thats when i met OZ..hung out in NEWYORK.. walked the streets..till i got a call from kumar mangat and vishal asking me when am i coming back to india as they have signed john..WHOOOO..it was happening..now everyone wanted the whole script which was only in my head and as a thirty page treatment on paper..
so i wrote for next three days ..met john in NEWYORK..saw united 93 together..came back and found everyone busy with omkara..negativity..when you have been fucked so many times in life,you tend not to believe anyone or anything..that’s how i was..i left again, this time for rishikesh..almost making those lose faith in me who were the only ones in this miserable place to trust me..somehow..good sense prevailed..and the only change they asked me to do was to change its name to NO SMOKING..
thats the story of this film and that’s how i have JOHN ABRAHAM..today we saw BARTON FINK together..and he is going to rock..and the grip is on too..now..whoever said that you are never going to fail unless you try also said that reality is the place where the pizza delivery man comes from..cheers guys..now only if Scorcese could smile on me..
Tags: The No Smoking Diary
Anurag Kashyap
Abhay Deol
Dibakar Banerjee
Hansal Mehta
Khalid Mohamed
Kundan Shah
Anish Kuruvilla
Jaideep Verma
Manish Gupta
Navdeep Singh
Bhavani Iyer
D. Santosh
Onir
Ashvin Kumar
Ramu Ramanathan
Sudhir Mishra
Pankaj Advani
Revathy
Saurabh Shukla
Shilpa Shukla
Sujoy Ghosh
Suparn Verma
Santosh Sivan
Shashank Ghosh
Shivajee
Pavan Kaul
Partho Sen-Gupta
Prroshant Naryannan
Sam Langoria
Satish Kasetty
anurag, scorcese nahin sahi lekin you got PFC smiling at you.. rocking story boss. simply rocking. to say i’m happy for you is an understatement.. am so glad john’s on board.
what a paradox it is though.. mindblowing. struggling actors look to established filmmakers for a break. but here, struggling filmmaker looks to established actor for a break. wow.
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Anurag: Hats off, my man! Regardless of what the “industry” (god damn, thats the fucking cliche that we live with, an “industry” it seems!) sees in you, you do have a loyal fan following in all of us here at PFC and elsewhere. Keep the faith and we shall keep it with you!
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Fucking Fantastically put up Anurag.. Superb. Damn you had the idea in your mind this April when you were in LA..christ..I had said it somewhere that John looked very sicere and honest guy.. now you proved me right… Yaar Anurag.. come what may now i fucking want to see the movie even if i have to travel to india or wherever(visa constraints providing..lol).
Leave the article part.. baap you know what i liked most about all this.. You promised to write back in two hours.. and you had an article in 2 hours.. fuck!!!^:)^
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Honestly, this is the worst goddamned industy to work in. Economically, even creatively. But if you have the bug, you must persist. I wonder why I left the relative safety (money AND LOGIC!!) of technology for this industry where mediocrity prevails and connections prevail too.
Oh well, one must suffer stupidity for love.
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- This is a MOTHERFUCKING GREAT DAY FOR CINEMA FANATICS… I so damn wish I could be a studio executive to bring to life such movies!!! Oh and I forgot to breathe while reading your post. Thanks… now I need to take a quick break and get a quick puff :-”
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- And great to know the grip situation has worked out!!!!!!! :d
Announcement : For anyone in Orange County, CA tonight – all drinks are on me in celebration of No Smoking moving a step ahead to reality!!!
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Anurag, I always thought the same about u “if only your films would have come out, it would have been different”. If you had one commercial hit your next movie would have be sent for OSCAR’s…such hypocrates. I am glad there are some people who appreciate talent and stood by you.
So called “Industry”…I somehow really wonder how people cope with those double standars. Good thing I ran away at the right time:)
It’s going to be an awesome journey with you and NO SMOKING…ROCK ON:d
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Anurag,
I am glad things have finally worked out.
Whatever you do and no matter what happens…just don’t stop making films!!!!!! we Love you
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” Go back to the planet you came from ”
“..try and get a release first,get a star ,make a movie, ”
“you are talented,why are you wasting yourself over such absurd films”
“tell me something more intelligent”
“too bizzarrre”
Your response : my arrogance still probably was far greater than theirs
Brilliant .. simply fucking brilliant !!!! ^:)^
Thank u for sharing this AMAZING ARTCLE with us …. and giving us (cinema fanatics and wannabe film makers) inspiration ….
I don’t know if Scorcese will smile at you for your films …. but he will definitly smile at u for ur FUCKING PERSISTENCE !!!!! =d>
May u get what u deserve !!!!
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Anuraag, I have full faith when NO SMOKING will set the filmdom ablaze, these stories will give hope to the struggling film-makers elsewhere. Will keep my fingers crossed and second Kartik in “May u get what u deserve !!!! ”
Lessons learnt for the day : Stop cribbing about my job life…there are people who’ve seen worse and still have come back.
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i would not say you are arrogant. you are just a man with some good filmi principles. you do what you believe in. there are not that many people out there..
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yeah HG ..
but do u know that principled people …. that too those who’ve been kicked in their asses are usually arrogant …. it’s what u call audacity .. and its good !!!!
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true say kartik.
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This is the kind of news that makes me wanna pump up my fist in the air and scream Yeah.Good to know that Anurag is on his way to getting justice in Bollywood.
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Congratulations to AK.
It must be a great relief. Like a mother feels just after delivering the baby after bearing long hours in pain. To be the stage where only shooting has to be started must give way to a wonderful feeling inside. Hope no fear exist inside now because of the past as past is past it must not cast any shadow on the shining future.
We humanbeing always relive our fears and that creates a host zone for new fears to come.
It should be countered. Its time to re-read lines of Late Raghuveer Sahay:
Aaj Phir Shuru Hua jeevan,
…………
a great poem to celebrate the life.
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Anurag, it’s great to see you writing out here about your struggles and I bow to you for your perseverance! Good things happen to good people…just keep plugging away
~Manoj~
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anurag,glad that NO SMOKING is finally shaping up just as you wanted it to be… .personally looking forward for that flick
just wanted to share this info. with u guys here…. recommend you to watch this movie by JIM JARMUSCH titled COFFEE AND CIGARETTES …. its a wonderful and simple movie… it’a a collection of 11 short films featuring actors like Roberto Benigni,Steve Buscemi and Cate Blanchett.
once again Congratulations to AK…
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good luck Anurag, you are an inspiration!
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you so honestly accept that you cooked up a story on our way to johns house!! doesnt this hurt your ego??
:d
The “running away” part touches me. They all know you as a cynic, but they dont understand your masochism!!
Keep up the good work, we are there
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Hey man!v simply luv u for ur madness.V the fucking beasts of dis planet r impotent ourselvs,unable 2 give d due space 2 d man of caliber,and blaming the brain before us as unfertile.Gay theory says’live dangerously,liv in a state of war.’Keep d fire burning and make it hell in burning..bcz we simply luv u.
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hey anurag,
i had a chance to chance to see one of your films during film festivals BLACK FRIDAY,
i think u rock dude.after a long time i had seen such perfection,u make people think.
great going..could you please send me the link of your personal blog..plz do reply
Regards
kuldeep
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No smokes and a curfew. Sounds like your state of mind in every post you write. Waiting to watch this one.
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Howdy Anurag-
Hey this is Sridhar, Prakash K’s filmmaker friend from the US (writer/ director of “The Killing Moon”)- we met at Mukesh Mills last month. Enjoyed talking to you about ‘mindfuck’ films, and I say we should do more and more of them, if not just to spite people! Hope the “No Smoking” shoot has gone to your satisfaction, and I can’t wait to see what kind of complete skullfuckery you’ve come up with!
If you recall I also asked you how I could go about seeing ‘Black Friday’ and I somehow managed to, through a friend from the IFFLA staff whom I borrowed the screener from (I returned it promptly, although I was very tempted to keep it and say my apartment was sacked).
I can’t tell you how happy I was to see “Black Friday.” A little backstory before I gush, and gush I must. Some time ago, when I was a young lad in Denver, Colorado, my friends and I tried to sneak into the local arthouse theater to see “Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.” Not for the sake of art or Almodovar, but because we heard it had hot naked Spanish women in it, and we were young, horny, and stupid. We were caught by the theater manager and thrown out of the hall, and since none of us had a car, we decided to go see the movie on the next screen over to just kill some time. The movie that was being shown was part of a retrospective of Italian cinema, and they happened to be screening Gillo Pontecorvo’s “Battle of Algiers.” I was blown away, and I didn’t even know it. I’ve been obsessed with duality, journalism, and the quest for truth ever since.
It’s been almost fifteen years since that day, and I’ve since grown older, wiser (maybe), and probably a bit more skeptical of the world and its machinations. But watching “Black Friday” took me back to the wonderment and invigorating spirit of the first time I saw “Battle of Algiers.” I’m not trying to blow smoke up your arse, Anurag- you’ve made a landmark film, and probably one of the most important films to come out of India in its entire cinematic history.
A bold statement? You goddamn right, but it’s for reasons beyond the dramatic and emotional quality of the picture. It’s because this is an INDIAN film in every aspect, something which hasn’t been done properly in quite a while.
A great filmmaker wrote in an essay some time ago about what was wrong with Indian cinema. I managed to find it on my bookshelves and if you allow me to paraphrase it, you’ll see why I think ‘Black Friday’ fits into the archetype of this filmmaker’s vision for credible and important Indian cinema:
“[In Indian cinema] starting a production without adequate planning, sometimes even without a shooting script; a penchant for convolutions of plot and counter-plot rather than the strong, unidirectional narrative; the practice of sandwiching musical numbers in the most unlyrical situations; the habit of shooting indoors in a country which is all landscape, and at a time when all other countries are turning to the documentary for inspiration- all these stand in the way of the evolution of a distinctive style.”
“The raw material of the cinema is life itself. It is incredible that a country which has inspired so much painting and music and poetry should fail to move the film maker. He has only to keep his eyes open, and his ears. Let him do so.” – Satyajit Ray
I think Ray would have been very happy to have seen “Black Friday” and I think he would applaud what you’re trying to accomplish with “No Smoking.” These are films that embrace India in all her beauty and disgust, these films love her for her art and for her festering piles of shit. These are true Indian films, warts and all, a mirror hidden within the silver of film emulsion.
For the sake of not embarrassing you more, I shall desist with my praises of “Black Friday” and provide only best wishes, godspeed, and whatever resources at my disposal to make sure your films get seen, and not banned and tucked away to a shelf. This work is too important to fall under the thumb of those who are too insecure to accept the reality of the human state, and I humbly join you in the struggle and joy of finding the truth through story. I’m more excited than ever to see what my film can do next, and see what all of our films can do collectively. We can really shake shit up, and I know you, myself, Prakash, and an entire young generation of artists are not afraid to stick our necks out and get dirty. Let’s fucking do it.
Well done, mate!
peace and gratitude,
sridhar
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BEST OF LUCK FOR UR BLACK FRIDAY & NO SMOKING.
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This is a very interesting blog post, Anurag. My best wishes to you. I will make it to ‘No Smoking’ – first day, first show. :d/
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sir aap sabke baap hain.
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anurag kashyap
quote _ now only if Scorcese could smile on me..- unquote
in whole of this article. this is the only line i can found.
just curious which one of Scorsese’s is your favorite. tell us, also tell us why and what you like in it.
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@Vishrant, “tell us, also tell us why and what you like in it.”
- Why? it’s a blog driven by what he wants to write… not what you want to make him write. And who’s this “Us”??? It’s your question so be brave enough to stand alone and say “tell me”.
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don g
you miss ‘just curious’ phrase, he is not obliged.
‘tell us’ … well the type of person anurag is it will appeal more to him to answers to ‘us’ rather than just one me, anyway,
correcton – reader is asked to replace ‘tell us’ and read it as ‘tell me’ in my post no. 30
:-b
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