No Smoking : Body and soul are interdependent in this world to function
No Smoking was rejected and ridiculed by film industry when it was released. But it had material to affect the filmmakers.
Last Sunday I got to see Drona and it reminded me of No Smoking. Drona suggests that yes it has affected or has started affecting the film makers.
The moment Abhishek Bachchan steps into the imaginary world (some nagar) and meets with a dwarf and Akhilendra Mishra, treatment of the scene seems to find its inspiration in NO Smoking’s Baba Bengali and his underground world. Perhaps this feeling was more intense because dwarf was played by the same actor in both the films.
* * * *
No Smoking makes comments/statements on present day’s society and relationships prevailing in the contemporary society. Characters, representing people, are utterly selfish. Here people, claiming to be friends, can bring their friends in to the problems because they will be rewarded for doing so. People don’t care anymore about honesty. Society has become hypocrite.
Husband may welcome his wife with a smile on his face but inside his mind he addresses her as a Bitch. It is about declining relationship between husband and wife and among friends and among people in general.
They say a thing to each other but they think entirely opposite thing in their minds about each other. They may be saying, “I love you” but inside they may be thinking to get rid of the same person.
Wife may show off to her husband that she cares a lot about him but she does not mind ridiculing him when she is with her friends. She may reveal that she has religious differences with him. They are not handling their issues between themselves only and outsiders have been brought in to discuss their private matters.
So called friends are looking for the opportunities when they can make their friends corrupt like themselves. If they have gone through some problems, they want their friends should also pass through those troubles because this way they will be rewarded by the corrupt system.
When they are working in coal mines then they can not bear any of their friends having a snow white dress. His clothes have to be stigmatized otherwise his whiteness will make them looking more black.
* * * * * * * * *
“K” (just “K”) says to his friends,” My parents took divorce and then I was born and my parents married again but later my father realized that I was born one year after their divorce so my father again divorced my mother and one year after that second divorce my brother was born”.
K’s friends try to understand how K and his brother could be real brothers in such a case?
K and his brothers are real brothers but it’s not said directly and it is presented as a puzzle and whole film is presented in this puzzling way only and one has to be quite alert to get everything in a proper manner.
New concepts satisfy many good needs.
New concepts break the inertia in that field.
New concepts demand new approaches to convert them in to the visual mode.
New technical approaches are also needed and these things bring a challenge before the team making the film and they get an opportunity to reinvent their crafts.
Films based on new concepts make alert the marketing people also as they have to search new and innovative ways to market the experimental film.
And films based on new concepts educate audiences also as they have to follow the concept as film will not come naturally to their routine understanding. They will have to do the efforts. Many may hate this idea as they are surrounded by only one notion that film should be such thing where they don’t have to apply any mind but many may be interested in watching new and tough things also.
If No Smoking has to be categorized then it can be placed at a place situated somewhere in between Mani Kaul’s The Gaze (on experimental level in Hindi cinema) and David Fincher’s The Game.
No Smoking is less experimental in its treatment than The Gaze but its biggest weakness lies in the fact that its not continuously as interesting as The Game is, though they share similar premises to some extent.
If one has come across the graphic novel of David Mairowitz and Chantal Montellier which is based on Kafka’s The Trial then one can see some similarities between the treatment of some features of No Smoking and The Trial. If watcher is alert since beginning then he can see a person present at every event happening in the life of K, like a ghost is always present where ever K goes in the graphic novel.
And like this person, many hints are present in the film since beginning. Shri Shri Gurudev Baba Bengali’s existence is visible everywhere in a subtle way. Advertisement of his rehabilitation centre is shining at many places in the city.
Meritorious thing which comes across an audience is this that a film having a look of international standard can actually be made with such a meager budget. Rather its budget could have been further reduced if it did not have two stars, John Abraham and Paresh Rawal. After all their presence did not earn any extra amount of money on B.O.
Don’t know if shooting in Russia was cheaper than doing it in India as same thing could have been done in India also.
* * * * * * *
“K” is utterly selfish and self centered man and he does not bear or want to bear any kind of control, emotional or social on his life. He wants to live entirely on his own terms. He does not care for his wife and always takes her existence in his life for granted. Being narcissist he thinks that she has to like, love and accept him and it should not matter to her what he does. There is a limit to anything and it comes and she decides to leave him.
She had to shake him to make him realize about her presence and existence.
He thinks people around him are trying to change him and system is putting pressure on him.
No Smoking is ethereal, flowing in many directions without taking a proper shape. But it’s still like a gas, expanding inside a big glass chamber. If one is watching from the top of the chamber he can see the pattern of expansion of the gas but if same person enters in to the chamber he can not see the pattern and may feel uneasiness. Watching from inside the chamber and watching with a detachment and a distance will make a difference in getting the film.
No Smoking can be a journey of thoughts passing through a person’s mind in his conscious, subconscious and unconscious states.
Distinction between reality and sub conscious state is blurred.
In No Smoking, Director falls for few things which usually films belonging to big banners have.
K’s mother works in German embassy.
We don’t know what business K does but he is obscenely rich and he lives a king size life.
K is not protagonist in ideal sense and he is wrong most of the times. He is a cruel, selfish, egoist and self centered person to some extent. One can not have sympathy with him. Considering this approach of the film in establishing the character of K in the beginning of the film, director seems to be sitting above all the characters and happenings and he is not residing inside any of the character but somehow in between film takes a turn and it becomes a character driven film and brings in some confusion and in the end it again detaches itself from the character of K as he is now part of the crowd.
Film presents good promises and philosophy but it does not follow them continuously. Like woman in veil at Baba Bengali’s den. She is used to represent something and even in telephone scene she is wearing the veil on her face but it’s not maintained later and she is shown without veil also.
Film was made somehow as there was no star ready to accept the role of K and thus no body was ready to put money on it and such situations bring compromises in when director can not have the cast which he wants and settles for saleable star who may fetch some audience initially but who may not perform at that level which is required.
John Abraham was the star and he should be praised that he took up this project but then if his presence could not bring audiences in then it was better if film was made with original cast which Anurag Kashyap had in mind. With KK playing K, film could have got more depth in the acting department and important scenes like one where K is standing before the mirror and says,”Nobody tells me what to do” could have brought heights in representing ego and narcissism. Now it leaves no impression. Rather Ayesha Takia’s expressions do the work which should have been done by John Abraham’s actions.
Or in another scene in front of a restaurant which was totally ruined by John where Ranveer pushes him and John falls down and shouts,”What smoking has got to do with loving your wife”.
A better actor could have made it far more pleasurable experience.
Gajraj Rao did amazing act in 2 minutes role but John missed the chance.
It still will be counted as John Abraham’s one of the best performances in his entire career but if we care about much higher level as far as film is concerned then it can not be said that he played in it at that level where we can not imagine any other actor playing the role. In comparison to the big promise of the film and his character, he remained average.
Paresh Rawal tried to do better but in few scenes only. In his first entry scene when he comes out of his so called operation room and washes his hands and raises them above his head and then lowers them down and jerks the water away before wiping with towel and walks towards his bed to sit and without looking at John, instructs him to sit down by his hand gesture only, his body language, facial expressions all are interesting but same interesting take has not been maintained all through the film. As soon as he starts speaking his dialogues in Bihari tone, his impact starts deteriorating. It appears as repetitive.
Again he was quite capable in keeping distinction from his Baba Bengali avtar when he comes in the get up of a doctor but over all a great satisfaction could not be obtained from his performance.
Now it’s only an imagination that what wonderful things Naseeruddin Shah and Pankaj Kapur could have done in this role.
“Hitler naam ka ek aadami hua tha dusre vishwayudh ke samay, ye chhoti see moonch wala, hamara dost tha“, this kind of dialogue looks far more befitting on Pankaj Kapur like actor who can bring psychological depth to the character simply by his gestures. In a new concept he brings in a similar kind of performance which he has been doing for quite sometime. He brings in the feelings of familiarity in a new kind of film and that is a drawback.
It was not a refreshing performance where audiences remain in awe for a long time after the film is finished.
If Ayesha Takia could perform at quite high level by her gestures only in a scene where she says,”Yes Sir” to the John when after scolding her, he asks,”Anjali Breakfast karein”, then John and Paresh Rawal also could have done but they did not opt any subtle manners to act and relied more on dialogue delivery based performances.
While so many wonderful things are present in the film and they look interconnected in a rhythmic manner, several things look oddly imposed, like weak joke of Vishaal desh mein …… gulzar, K and Abbas’s WC scene shown through a flash back. Scene showing Ayesha sitting on commode also looks fake as her hands, while she stands up and tries to pull up her payjama, don’t support the action for which she was sitting there. Just for the effect it was kept there. Her Hanky Panky or honky ponky act also looked irrelevant.
Soul needs a body to function in the world and film’s soul also gets separated from a moving body when “K” falls back into the water inside the prison. Before that, things were moving in an appropriate manner.
Things were set according to the mood and nature of the characters. For example man at carpet shop is the only person who is not restless and who is relaxing and listening some dadra or thumri (cant recall properly, what it was). Everything is perfectly in sync there and there is a strange calmness inside his room. Man is the Gateway to the underground world of Baba Bengali and he has to be strong inside and he has to be like any other person living outside in the normal world.
No Smoking has wonderful music. Imagery is stunning. Technical competency brightly shines. Dialogues are crispy and film should be known for its one liners also.
Atma hai to sharir ishwar hai warna nashwar hai
yahan khade rehne se tumharee lambai nahin badh jayegee
baar baar 21 lakh kehne se wo bees lakh nahin ho jayenge etc etc.
Like many and rather all experimental films, it’s a material to be owned on DVD where watcher can enjoy the watching as per his understanding and can take time if something has struck his mind so strongly that he needs some time to meditate on this point and can watch again whenever feels like.
Watching No Smoking will definitely bring solid material to the curious learners of filmmaking. Their watching will be improved. Both Strengths and weaknesses of the film will teach something significant to define what to do and what not to do.
It’s an interesting film and will achieve its proper place in hindi cinema in coming years. It’s not going to be slide in to the black hole of oblivion.
Tags: Anurag Kashyap, Ayesha Takia, Bipasha Basu, David Fincher, Gajraj rao, john abraham, mani kaul, No Smoking, Paresh Rawal, Ranveer Shoury, The Game, The Gaze, Vishal Bhardwaj
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
@ Rk: good insight into the abstract world of “K”. i watched it only once, and honestly, didnt make much of it. read a lot abt it on PFC, and at times from the horse’s mouth (AK) as well. felt there must b something in the movie that i was not able to comprehend. recently bought the DVD to have a repeat viewing as and when it pleases / suits me, to understand it better. your suggestion of owning a DVD of this movie was spot on.
im still at a loss to understand the movie in its entirety. maybe someday i will… till then.. i take solace in the fact that since its an AK movie, it cant be single layered, and it cant b a straight narrative, and it definitely cant be sub-standard.
@Satyendra Jha,
You are in better position as you own the DVD and can watch it in solitude when you are completely relaxed and can maintain an uninterrupted curiosity till the film is finished. Posts and even interviews and views of filmmakers dont help in real sense. Films have to make a direct connection with the watcher. Film falls in that category where mood of the watcher becomes important. Its seen When mood is not suitable then even best of the ghazals cant be listened by a listener. A happy and calm person can enjoy extremely sad song also and can enjoy the poetry in the song but it happens so many times that a genuinely sad person can not listen happy or hulla gulla song. Initial energy has to be given by watcher to propel the curiosity in such experimental films.
Rk- very well written.Makes me want to see the movie once again.There are quite a few dimensions which I am yet to soak in, maybe another viewing would help.
@Sethumadhavan,
Second watching may bring you at that stage where you see how things are connected since begining inspite of impression swimming on the surface that things are happening in a random order.
No Smoking was bad film.Drona was even worst.If you think replacing actors would have made it a better film.
I would say script should have changed then it would have been better film.
@cinemausher,
Bad is the word which can/should be used very carefully. Even below average films can have few moments which are good. Good actor in John’s role could have brought feelings of pain with which his character is suffering. Better actor in Baba Bengali’s role could have made it one of the memorable character of hindi cinema.
and as mentioned in the post, selection of better actors who are not considered as commercially big stars could have brought down the cost of the film also. In experimental cinema, recovery of the cost is important factor. John, Paresh Rawal and Bipasha Basu, three might have consumed good sum of money out of the over all budget of the film. When a film recovers the cost then behaviour of critics, producers, distributers, and subsequently audiences is changed towards the product and they sing different song.
Improvements can always be made in every department of a film. On introspection Retrofitting in the script can surely be done by writer and director.
Drona : It should be asked from 10 and less than 10 years old kids what they felt about it, because for them things appear differently than what adults see. There are certainly films for kids which adults also like and Drona is certainly does not qualify in that category. Somethings still may be satisfactory in Drona.
Nice observations…
everyone in India hated this film…
people were criticizing it for being abstract…but it was supposed to be abstract in the first place…
You are right in saying that it would find the place it deserves in the future….
@jitaditya,
It will not be lost. Not everyone might have hated the film but people on an average felt they were in strange and awkward situation.
Many critics and many people in film industry settled the personal score with the director.
Somewhere mistake was there on the part of director, producer and marketing team also. Dozens of posts were devoted to No Somking while it was still under the making process but not before the first day of preview or its release anybody got a clue about its true nature. A film is made on Picasso and its fine but if its said that a film is made on Picassoian art then its bound to create confusion among mass audiences in India as they can be familiar with Picasso but this term Picassoin art is confusing and more over it was not a murder msytery that such a secrecy was required.
Right from the begining film should have been moved ahead as a film which w’d attack understanding of audience. Audiences should have been challenged by marketting campaign only that they are going to get a puzzling form of cinema and if they have guts then they should go ahead. They were allured by marketing team by different elements and in cinema hall they found entirely different things. Majority of people in the crowd might have got anger and frustration within 30 minutes only and in such condition mind can not follow such film.
If they were challenged and warned before hands then story of the No Smoking could have been different and word of mouth could have changed the beahviour of audience towards it. Audience turned hostile because they were expecting something different and they got entirely different thing.
Honest approach could have brought better results.
Audiences who dont deserve the film went there under wrong impression and felt cheated and abused the film.
If we can have data then perhaps we can see a strange profile that first day first show pulled many people inside the theatre and they ceated scene against the film for other audiences.
Crowd follow sheep like behaviour. Hardly people apply own mind.
Times change. whatever reasons can be behind this change but same critics could be seen accepting, praising, abstract and abusrd kind of moments in Dev D while hey had abused harshly such moments in No Smoking.
Critics fighting over violence in Satya and Haasil are praising Gulaal so people change as time change.
Many people can be there who followed the crowd and cursed No Smoking at the time of its release but now they can see the merits of the film and can like it for its merits.
hello. interesting dissection of the film. whatever people may think about the film, i still believe it was a film worth making. i was a part of it and will always be proud of it. rather have a failure like “No Smoking” than a success like “Welcome”.
@gautam kishanchandani,
Good to know about your association with the film. Girate hain shahsawar hi maidani jung mein …… is quite true in such cases. Momentary Box Office failure of a new and experimental film where something new has been tried is better than mediocre successof rotten formula based repetitive film. Had seen No Smoking more than 1 year ago but can recall about it and at same time I cant recal which film was Welcome. I have idea of seeing it but cant recall which film it was. If I check IMDB or somebody reminds its star cast and bit of the story then can recall.
Dividends may come bit late but new efforts bring sweet fruits at some point of life.
Reading this, I dont even remember what I came out with after I saw the film…Have to go back…
@Arthi V,
Hope you enjoy it more this time.
No smoking was a breathtaking experience. I saw it in the theater and I was awestruck. I didn’t leave me for days. I kept seeing it again and again. If it had been made by some westerner and if it came to India from the west, we would have catapulted it to exalted status. Such is our “Indian” value system, we can’t appreciate ground breaking stuff done by our own people. At times I feel, the better the film maker You are, in India it’s that much more difficult for You to succeed. A country and its people basically get the cinema they deserve and I don’t think we deserve AK’s cinema.
@Subhasish Chakraborty,
Re. success of talented filmmakers in India: Thats not true. We can see same director who made No Smoking enjoying success of Dev D and to some extent Gulaal also. and apart from Box office success praise is coming on the merits of his craft.
Way of Presentation of No Smoking was also culprit. Planning to raise different kind of curiosity was also responsible.
Star cast, John, Presh, Bipasha, Ayesha might have generated different kind of cursiosity among audiences.
If it was having ACTORS and not famous stars then people could have focussed on its merits and now in present format they gave stress on the factor that their expectations were not fulfilled and merits of the film could not be watched even.
When people go without any special kind of expectations and find a different quality based product which is decorated well by the high class acting also then they come out with a good if not great feeling and recommend the product to other people also.
Somebody again back with the ghost of No Smoking. People will not let it die in peace.
I have been able to understand other abstract movies or plays or stories. And if I dont understand (and hence enjoy) a movie at all, its suddenly not a fault of me. There must be something wrong with the movie. Why the hell I need to read a number of posts, including yours, on PFC to understand a movie. Should the movie be released with a list of pre-requisit e.g read kafka or watch so and so film to understand this highly-intellectual movie?
I will say one thing about “Its an interesting film and will achieve its proper place in hindi cinema in coming years.” The same was said by Raj Kumar Santoshi about China gate. “My film will be treated as classic after 10 years” he said after it was rejected by public. More than 10 years has passed whats the status of china gate? You will find No Smoking at the same place. Please stop declaring it a classic or path-breaking or any such thing. Please. Please let this episode end.
@Abhishek Dwivedi,
To each is his own. Nobody asks you to read number of posts on the topic which you dont like. I completely agree with you that why should one read a post to understand a film. Either watcher makes a connection with the film or its absent. If watcher is ineterested in self education then its not needed for him to read anything.
No Smoking was released more than a year time ago. Nothing is going to help its commercial prospects.
What is done inside a class room at an educational place? do they discuss all kind of matters or not?
What happens in hostels or in groups when friends meet, they discuss some matter or not. This is same trial.
Its bit uncivilized for anyone to come to the group and abuse the topic. He may have different views about the topic but what is the manner to try to stop the discussion on the very topic. Many may be interested in talking about that topic.
Classics are not made so easily and rather they are not made, they simply happen when one is fully ready to deliver one. If Director of No Smoking remains successful in continuously modifying his craft and remains curious in creating new things then one day he may become a tool to create a classic also. Why to opt a pessimistic approach.
Mr Santoshi has his own merits as far as direction is concerned.
RK – you’re spot on when you say that this is one movie which needs to be watched by/as an outsider, in a detached mode. took me a while to get that camus wallah gyan
and your post has brought back those memories… the fun of watching NS thrice in the same week and all that 
perhaps i am ready for a rerun.
@Wb,
.
hopefully this time Freudian territories are also revealed
Joking apart, that story (regarding seeds) of Upanishad ( perhaps Kathopnishad or Mandukya upnishad) and concept of soul in Hindu mythology may come on surface.
Meditate over one thing this time, If Baba Bengali is not having con nature and is a rishi then can he say that punch line, atma hai to sharir ishwar hai…….. .?
You are in to the Upanishads on deep level so it will be an interesting point to think upon.
was it deliberate because he is a con man?
It was a wonderful film. I have seen it in the cinema a few times and on DVD atlaest 10 times (mostly bcos am forcing friends to watch it).
But I still can not understand the relevance of all the symbols and metaphors. I still can not figure out how everything ties back. And even though I’ve read countless articles on it including one from AK himself, I still cant fully understand the underlying message.
I would like it if someone would dissect each and every symbol/metaphor and explain the relevance. I have to say though, reading the script is better than repeated watching even. It helps understand much more.
@Azazel,
Thats an interesting scenario. You forcing friends to watch No Smoking. what they say later, how they react?
and which symbols and metaphors?
Could you please mention them?
I watched this movie with one of my friends and instantly loved it. We are so much into abstract movies. However I’ve watched it only once and that was not sufficient to grasp everything. May be I’ll give it another try sometime but I want AK to make more movies like this. Anytime, I’ll prefer this movie over any other movie of AK because these movies feel different in different viewings.
BTW, I think NS also deserves a place in here. :D
http://www.classreal.com/
@Jahanpanah,
as cine lovers, To discuss what we like is in our hands. to categorize and give proper place etc is job of historians and appropriate people. Let them do boring text book job and we should enjoy the juicy tales.
@ Rk: i second your thoughts abt the pleasure of any artistic work being enjoyed in a proper environment. they also have to have a context in which it is expected to be relished.
i watched this movie yesterday, simply coz i had the DVD and i read this post. i was all alone, and i wanted to understand the nuanced metaphors of AK’s creation. cant say im any the wiser, but i cud comprehend it slightly more than what i had when i watched it in theatre upon its release.
these kind of movies leave me drained out, so an immediate repeat viewing is not my way of understanding it better. i wud rather soak in the insights gained after the recent viewing, chew over it, maybe discuss it with someone, realise a few more facts abt the intepretation from someone else’s POV, and with that benefit of hindsight, wud try to decipher those specific sequences in particular to see why i cudnt get that drift in the previous viewing.
i may not b able to still comprehend it, but then i give the benefit of doubt to AK, and know that if he wants to say something his way, the least i can do is to try to understand what exactly he wants to say. and in the process, if i burn out, thts my loss, coz AK has said what he wanted to. Period.
@Satyendra Jha,
Thats good. I guess dissection of one character at a time may work. I cant recall everything at present but did you feel something in your fresh and second watching when Ranveer Shauri contacts the man in black goggles in the restaurant after taking excuses from Ayesha Takia and when he calls at call cenre of Baba Bengali, requesting to get back his lost thing.
was it not premature delivery of Mystery baby? I can imagine that what significant impact it could have made if this point was revealed in the last frame only and before that Baba Bengali and his group could have been shown busy in packing the materials in the box as its shown now.
No Smoking has a cult following. Like all cults, majority would disagree that this is a brilliant movie.
Loved to see the mention of The Game, but it was more like Mullholland drive. You know the kind of film that creeps under the skin and stays there.
Your post was greatly analytical, but very detailed and long, but worth a read.
Cheers!
~uh~
Drona,
The only kids who liked Drona was i think SRK’S kid, that is goldie last heard he was threatning to bring the sequel.
If kids liked the movie, then it would not been a huge hit because i think normally below age of ten would be normally accompanied by parents.
See the movie is a piece of communication a story narrated in visual form.
I think NS fails big time, if a director need blogs to communicate through his blog to explain what his movie his.
@cinemausher,
Re. Drona, I have no data whether kids liked it or not. Point was, you should ask kids of that age if they liked it or not after watching it. small Kids were crazy about , raja aur rencho, Shaktiman etc while adults hardly could bear those serials. Appealing factors are different.
Kids laugh on actress rolling over the ground in disheveled or less clothes, adults see something else.
—-
“Movie is a piece of communication a story narrated in visual form”,
Not always true, film can be a medium to transfer the feelings. Story is heavily dependent on language and hence words while a film in motion form or in still form may communicate the feelings to the watcher. Visual senses are not dependent on the story and hence language and words.
No story in a good film does not make audience realise its absence and good films can have good stories also. defective stories produce more hurdles before the audience.
Director’s need to blog about his film is an individual’s act and if you have not liked it then its a matter between you and director and his film does not come in between.
It may not be true but you may be having less problems with the film and more with its director.
Film should be given a fair watch, it does/should not matter who has made it.
After releasing its not director’s film, if its released with the purpose that audiences should watch it. Directors may enjoy the praises but often same product does not go before the audience which director had created, or in other words audiences dont recieve the film with same meaning which was incorporated by the director because such creations are seen by different kind of people and they search association based on their own experience and understanding. Sometimes it may happen that many people get same meaning in a scene or in a film.
Film can not be failed because director had written a blog on it after its release. As a human being one may do anything under the effect of emotions and that too at a time which can be so stressful when his film has been released.
People become restless if their views are opposed in comment section and considering the fact that they are almost without a known identity and image is not on stake, we can guess the conditions of people whose creations are released to be judged by every kind of people, many of whom may not be educated in that area but who may declare the judgement.
People can/should not judge the creations based on the behaviour of their creators.
Flexible mode helps almost always. This is not necessary that a film will be liked by all and sundry but people can be less egoistic and more flexible in accepting whatever merits are present in a film and can discuss what are the demerits in a detailed manner.
If a product is bad for you then why to waste time on discussing this? Why to try to bring more people on your side?
Better way is to explain why you find it bad?. and they should be cinematic points.
“It did not appeal me” can be said only once and that too as a last statement about any topic in a group or on a forum. If its repeated so many times on different occasions without giving explainations then its more like a personal problem and not problem of the product or the topic.
@~uh~,
Thanks for the comment.
Khajurs are also obtained after climbing a great height
Though people searching shadow in summer may be disappointed
short and dense Khajur tress, under which workers take lunch and do rest can be found in Abu Dhabi etc.
all of the above are true within their own contexts
RK –
i am not too sure. garnished with so many possible references (possible being the key word) ranging from the mandukyopanishad to dean martin… and so many inside jokes (main hoon na, maqbool?! and K and aye ajnabee, etc.), i sometimes feel as if anurag has hoodwinked us all with his subterfuge. not unlike some mamet movies where an elaborate set up fizzles out into a whoa! moment, 5 minutes before the end. only K can tell. and yes, i need to watch it again. only this time, i won’t try to interpret or get lost in the labyrinthine deception.
@Wb,
I meant to say, Baba Bengali’s punch line fits in views contained in upanishads and propagated by hindu mythology in spiritual terms.
Rishis can not say it as its half truth. No spiritually awakened person ever will say it.
So my point was, Baba Bengali is a con man, so was it deliberate to give him such a line. or this was the line which was thought and nothing beyond it was thought?
@Rk: whoa…another detailed write-up, great. i loved the movie in the first veiwing itself, was almost like kafka’s ‘the trial’
@crazyrals,
Thanks for comment. Good to see many people, loving it through the first viewing, coming out.
Rk, I see your point and understand it. But I have my fundamental doubts on the honesty of the system here when I hear Mr. Rajeev Masand declare it the worst film of 2007. I have a problem when I see the so called shapers of public opinion, the news channel movie gurus and trade analyst film reviewers promptly pronounce it’s such a bad film.
The whole point I was trying to make was, a product of a certain amount of evolution and refinement needs a critical mass of the audience and reviewers belonging to the same plane. Thanks to the vendetta reviews everywhere, that critical mass in the audience didn’t go close to the halls.
I think the Film reviewers in India – be it the press folks or the ones in the TV or electronic media, that community has a responsibility as well.They’ve not only forgotten their responsibility, they’ve also taken the liberty to use their profession as a platform to settle petty scores. Film reviewers often forget, even they can contribute to cinema and it’s part of their job description.
Gulaal gets 3 stars and the same reviewer gives 4 stars to some B grade products and still manages to be a shaper of public opinion. Well, I think the well wishers of cinema have to think about it.
I see pseudo intellectual reviewers in TV talking about Gulaal. Saying this is not right with Gulaal and music is just okay and stuff. Hell, in the first place what right do they have to even see Gulaal? Forget judging it.
Basically, in my opinion, No Smoking died due to two reasons and in the same order -
1. Really bad reviwes given out by “reviewers”
2. The inability to reach the intended audience.
@Subhasish Chakraborty,
Its difficult to find objective film analysts. First because they are not in to it because of their passion for cinema. Most of the time it happens that They can write and they have to select an area and cinema comes as an easy option. After sometime some of them start cherishing idea or dream to be filmmaker and then starts biased approach because they start giving preferences to certain production houses and its also seen if things dont go well they become against that production system.
Its difficult to remain objective in film world because filmmaking is not rested only in director’s hands and he has to tie up with stars, producers etc.
Nobody is without biased there.
A director can not be objective on others work, if asked on public platform as he will fear he has to maintain relationship with that person also so he takes politically corect route or starts praising spirit in making and this and that.
Then there are groups of friends at all levels atleast in hindi cinema and they have to support films of their friends. So biasedness is existing at every stage.
If some one starts saying clear truth then he will be sidelined and will be termed as cynical.
Proper analysis of films may be find in the lectures given by learned people in the classrooms of film school because their motive is to emphasise good things in a film and to point out weaknesses in an objective terms.
Rest in media and among filmmakers its a biased circus, completely wet by vested interests or emotions.
artists are touchy and they take everything on heart so its not easy to be objective.
more than pseudo intellectualism its biased attitude which defines the behaviour of reviwers, critics and filmmakers and its true for all.
There are groups existing at all levels be it a group of struggling or established filmmakers. They all are biased.
Its opposite to political leaders who critcise each other when speaking in public but join hands in private. In cinema world its other way round.
—–
No Smoking-
Only reviewers can not kill any film, its true that they can affect it to some extent in the early few days.
Not the inability to reach the suitable audience but eagerness to knock every possible door which went wrong and people turned hostile.
Presence of stars actually went against the film.
their presence pulled audiences for whom film was not suitable. It was not a product where makers can think that first gather audience somehow and then they will appreciate it.
Audiences mind set did not give them time to give a trial to understand the film’s right context.
Every film needs patient watching and such films need more patience.
Diverging could have been a better marketing strategy for this kind of products. Its not suitable to open it for all in very first week.
hey Nice review sir !!
i have to see again .
great analysis .
@mangesh,
sound may be coming from a distant china town:
baar baar dekho hazar baar dekho
ye dekhne kee cheez hai,
Could someone recommend me more movies in Hindi (or Indian cinema) apart from Pyaasa which deals with existentialism etc.?
@Jahanpanah,
Hardly filmmakers can base their films ( In totallity) on philosophical ideas and such things can be included here and there in the dialogues or small events in the entire screen play. First literature has to opt things and films come later. In main stream cinema in the period of 40s, 50s and 60s,when good writers were important parts of the teams of filmmakers then efforts of filmmakers were to associate films with greater social causes which could influence the masses and moreover in such an old civilization very few will go for newely established terminology develped in west as somewhere so many things even children know through the dohas etc of Kabir etc.
Albeit this has always been possible that a filmmaker (and his writer) incorported/ included something without even bothering about existentialism, and its propagators, and other people understanding it through Sartre, Camus etc later take it as taken from that side of philosophy but which may not be true.
Without even knowing the names of Sartre and Bouvier, some writers , which became really big in hindi iterature world, were handling similar issues through their stories and novels which Sartre and D'© Bouvier etc were doing in Europe. Same should be true for writers who were writing in other languages of India.
A writer, a lyricist might have tried to include something on his own but I dont think filmmakers deliberately set their films on such bases. Films have not adapted good literature where philosophies could be find. Once in a while, Roti, Chitralekha, Guide, Awara, Pyassa, Mera Naam Joker, and few films from so called parallel cinema talk about something other than the regular struggle of living day to day life.
Many things are for scholars to discuss otherwise do we people, all over the world even realise that many things followed by us could be defined in a pattern, philosophised by Charvak?
If a filmmaker tries to develop a plot completely devoted to that side of philosophy only then we will be able to say this film has followed a particular ideology residing in a well defined philosophical school. Otherwise many people take many things from here and there and use in the films here and there.
Guru Dutt was consciously or uncnsciously trying to develop a middle path where art and commercial factors could be optimized to create high standard cinema and due to his personal nature elements of dissillusionment may be find in his films especailly in Pyassa and Kaghaj Ke Phhool, but whether Pyassa followed existentialism or not should be asked from Abrar Alvi, the writer, as master creating visual will not care for such things. I think he is alive and he is the most suitable person to know as other people can search any thing in Pyassa as per their own understanding.
So many times things happen in a minute time, Mahesh Bhatt’s spiritual Guru UG Krishnamurthy had advised him the ending of the Arth, especially Shabana’s decision not to go with Raj Kiran and to live on her own. Later people might have tried to associate it with Mahesh Bhatt’s conscious decision to define women liberalization etc etc which is not true, as he had not thought about it while conceptualising the film. UG did not make films and he suggested what he thought was good for a women oriented subject and as he might have thought about women.
We dont see representation of women in same league in other films of Mahesh Bhatt. So Arth did not follow any women liberalization philosophy and it was merely a film which handled a triangle but ending gave it a solid turn. and now people can go on discussing it for women related cases.
Many elements of philosophy will be found in Vijay Anand’s films, here and there but entire films were not based on these philosophies and in between he inserted something if he thought it would suit characters and plot and would satisfy his personal quest at that time.
@ RK :- Extremely well written and analyzed!….I’d wish to compose another post extending some of your arguments, and taking it ahead from where you’ve ended….Need to quote few parts from your article, thus seek your permission…
@Nimish Atra,
Thanks for your comment. I guess, to use something on PFC for PFC, is Khula Khel Farrukhabadi.
Moreover it will be the film (the topic) which would propel your imagination power. Looking forward to your piece.
RK, thanks for comment 36. Yes I agree to Your point.
@ RK
Thanks a ton for writing about it n helping us to ‘decode’ No Smoking… it helped a looot!
keep it up… thanks once again! :-)
@Abhijet Kamble,
Thanks for the comment. Please be around and we shall meet time and again.
@RK, sir
Thanks for the comment. You provided me a good insight.
Ak seems to make mistakes as far as lead roles in his films are concerned,definitely John Abraham was a bad choice for no smoking and Raja Choudhary for Gulaal..
@ RK saab!!
Thanks a lot! Really loved post. Saw NS recently (once again!)at friends place on DVD. Loved more! :D
Just one query, When K’s wife leaves him, he calls her & says ” NO BODY leaves me.” I felt like he said “NO BODY” & not “NOBODY” Can anyone or yourself, if possible elaborate?
@32 (48),
as I mentioned I had seen it some 15-16 months ago, so cant recall the phonetics but can recall the sequence very well and depending on that
If you heard “No Body” and not “Nobody” then it is possible that while dubing John A, took breath in between No and Body, while pronouncing the word and thus divided it in to two seperate words.
If you recall Anjali (Ayesha Takia) says, I am not NOBODY “K” that’s why I left you.
This portion is a simple conversation between husband and wife where she wants him to realise that she is also an alive humanbeing and she exists and she also can think for herself as he remains occupied by himself only all the time and takes care of what he wants, how he wants and expects others should follow his desires only.
Sharath (47),
Bit later on this issue as I have not watched Gulaal
one the best reveiw i hv ever read.great work!!thankyou.
@RK, I didnt read your complete post, rather till now have read only the first few lines about Drona, just wanted to add, Drona, the whole storyline, is lifted off Harry Potter series… if your ve read the books, Drona is a remake with just a few adjustments of kings and queens etc… the underground scene is elaborately described in the book… the bank of grinotts, and the set up was created on the same lines… I dont think No Smoking had anything to do with it..
Now as somebody who has seen No Smoking once every week for a lot of weeks now… on DVD… let me proceed on to read the rest of your review
@PS,
Wow, Once every week for a lots of weeks now…
You must have developed some great insights into the film. Will wait for some great comments and hitherto unknown aspects of No Smoking.
apart from the fact that my friends think i am half mad and half psycho-ed (i do end up switching No smoking or luck by chance every week … never started it intentionally, but definately ended up this way… ) but more often than not I am amazed at the way its made… insights everybody has already spoken about… some time let me see if i can talk something people havent pointed out.
But does somebody share the same uneasiness or eagerness, that when K does not find 1 Re to give it to Baba Bangali till end, he never remembers that the road side hijra throws a lot of chillar at him … every time.. every time i feel as if my this part is missing out …
While Anurag elaborately has already said that he showed cigarette as a metaphor of life…. I found it as not just high life, but a symbol of Masculine Ego… very high testesteroed… the kinds every man… squnit eyes, or fat or drunk wants to live on the high of… till its hammered out of shape
That apart, did anybody feel that at the end, when JA wakes up to realise it was all a dream and then still sees his fingers missing, it might just mean that finally yes the ‘authority’ in life does allow you to redeem most of ur life once you have ‘mended’ your ways, but still with only a heavy penalty??
by any chance does K send his own friend to prayogshala, (in the end when he is seeing things through the glass case, the friend beign the one who is confused how K and his brothers are own brothers) and thats why he might ve been redeemed?
Maybe ll come back with more questions than insights… for sure.. just that I never raised these as I felt No Smoking was a closed issue in PFC… it was drona and harry Potter that intrguied me to write my response up
n then of course No Smoking reads are always interesting
when i say male ego… i am also pointing out why this movie may not create the same feel for a lot of general women… which might have already divided the viewership furhter down..
Prasanna,
(…he never remembers that the road side hijra throws a lot of chillar at him)
Who is this guy, who throws coins at K? Do you see him elsewhere in the film?
Now that is something I’d missed until I was told by AK himself. The hijra is the guy who pops up all through out the movie. Remember the taxi driver that drives John to his work. The guy in the elevator coming for the interview? all of them were the same person.
Oz,
True. He is present everywhere throughout the film like a Ghost in the Kafka’s The Trial. (His very obvious presence, other than taxi and lift scene, is in restuarant, where Ranveer Shauri says excuses to Ayesha Takia after watching this guy and goes to meet him.)
Anurag may have different thing in mind while creating this factor in the film but as an audience it comes to me as a
representative of evilness/negative force which is trying (always) to overpower a man and his conscience. A good amount of energy and encouragement is needed to wake up the strengths and to follow the goodness but weaknesses very easily push a person toward wrong doing/thinking. It is easy to fall than to get up.
It is easy to follow the corruption in today’s time but very difficult to follow the honesty because danger is there that such a honest person will be left alone by all the people living in the society.
@Kathi Mahesh Kumar
May you enjoy the watching.