No smoking - SHUT UP AND WORK or WHAT NOT TO DO
Exactly !!!
I’ve been blogging abt no smoking and visiting the sets … ive had the pleasure of intertacting with the team and the cast crew during and after the shooting. I loved the process. I was lucky enough to read the script, be a pat of the shooting, and watch the rough cut as well (with othe pfc waalas and mr sudhir mishra as company)…
I loved the rough cut despite the abscence of special effects… bad sound quality….
What’s more, i was there for a flash 2 sec cameo in the film too…. (yeah yeah mom and dad. im there in the final edit)
I will be always greatful to Mr kashyap for such a wonderful experience.
After watching no smoking last nite …. few things i learnt …. what to do and what not to do .. for US .. for ME .. for all those wannabe directors … (not to sound condescending)
1. EDITING is a very very very very important and underrated process oif a film. It can kill a film if not handled properly. Never ever ever ever take it for granted.
2. Film doesn’t get over till it not been released and marketed properly. Till the moment of screening, everything is a part of the process of filmaking.
3. Great Ideas/Scripts do not make “Great Cinema”. They need someone (a relentless director) to make that transition.
4.Never ever ever take the audience for granted. Audience doesnt care what pain u go through from conceptualising to scripting to pre production to shooting to post production editing sfx effects…. Audience just watches the films… not the process…. They do not care about anything else.
5. Good performance… good special effects… great art direction do not get your film noticed if you OVER INDULGE yourself. Never over indulge yourself … or if you want to …. keep it to minimum ….
6. It’s not OVER till it’s OVER. It’s not COMPLETE till its COMPLETE.
7. shut up and work …
8. shut up and work harder
9. shut up and work even harder …
10. never be satisfied/complacent
11. Emotional connect is very important. When Micheal douglas suffers in The Game, it is not him, it is you and i. When Sean Penn suffers in U Turn .. it is not him, but you who is transported to the mad arizona desert setting.
12. I cannot understand the matrix/memento/fightclub/eternal sunshine at the first watch .. nevertheless i enjoyed them the first time …. and of course repeat viewings followed…
13. I can never understand a no smoking/om dar b dar / amit dutta’s award winning Kshtragya/ Kramasha etc despite 100 times of viewings…
Besides, i dont want to watch them beyond once
14. The biggest criticism is not “the film is bad” … but it is “i dnt care about the film.” Beyond a point I really do not care what is happening in the film, or to K, or to mr Kashyap.
15. Don’t over do the spoon feeding…. dnt be too implicit either. Try to maintain a balance…
16. Let your film talk more than you ….
17. Channelise your energies and passion into work ….
Just got some feedback from my bro in delhi .. he saw it in Regal theater and there the audience CLAPPED once the film got over …. Not because of “WOW” .. but because “finally!!! the torture has ended”
Mr kashyap …. whatever happend to the film after we guys saw the lovely first rough cut at your house in bandra ????
Forgive me sir …. but it missed the mark compleltly for me …. Critics are tearing it apart … audience is walking off a good 15 mins before the end … (and at times in the interval) …
Sample the Ranveer- John flashback to the loo…. Why have the crazes sound TOINNG and the false laughter .. and when it comes back to present .. why is there the song E Ajnabi from Dil Se playing ???
I repeat .. whatever happend to the film after we guys saw the lovely first rough cut at your house in bandra ????
A brave effort no doubt …. but seriously dissappointing …
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i liked the movie very much. but you say the rough cut is better than the final one. and you also said you didn’t understand the movie - the final edit that is - so how different was the rough cut?? what did it have that the final edit didn’t?
Beta, Tune Apna Sar Sher ke muh Mein Dala Hai. Ab bhute ga… Ram naam satya hai =))
Seriously, itni boori hai kya? Maine socha KM aur baki sab khunas nikal rahein hai…lekin tera review padhke mujhe roona aa raha hai:((
Kal film dekhke sms karoonga…
Main Khalid Mohammad ka fan nai hoon, lekin main anurag Kashyap ka fan zaroor THA. main is film ki wait kai dinoun se kar raha tha, kal dekhne ko mili. Anurag Bhaai…… aap ram gopal verma kyoun ban gaye eak hee film ke baad? agar bananee hee thee ye film tho mere paise kyoun watse karae? DV Cam per home video banake khud ko aur apne chaploosoun ko entertain karte….. khair, black friday itni badhiya film thee ki main apne paise wapas nahin mangoonga…. main GULAAL ka wait kaafee dinoun se kar raha tha, ab nahin karoonga…. aab aap per performance pressure nai hai bhaaisahab, aap jo man kare banao……
waise apnee language ke liye maafi chaunga baaki sabse, lekin aaj kal Anurag Kahsyap “THE GOD” ko shayad yahee bhasha samjh aatee hai ki “CHOOTIYE YE KYA TATTI FILM BANAYEE HAI…..”
Dhanyawaad!!!!
Bang on target… I too could not understand Fight Club/Memento/Matrix completely in first viewing. But I enjoyed their first viewing and hence went back to watch them. Sadly, this is not the case with NO Smoking
sorry anurag bhaai eak aur baat kehni thee (salaah hai, fenk dena, muft ki hai)
sir ye jo aapka obsession hai Mumbai ki sadken dikhate hue aap peeche “KHAWAJA ki kawaali” bajaate ho… apni har film main…… Agli film main avoid karna….. hansi aatee hai. lekin aap tho GOD hain,khuda hain sab jaante hee hain….
:-@ JAB LOG TUMHARE KHILAF BOLNE LAGE SAMAJHLO TARRAKKI KAR RAHE HO o:-) (seriously)
Akshay thoda sa correct karoonga tumhen….
“JAB LOG TUMHAARE KHILAAF BOLNE LAGE THO KABHI KABHI YE BHI SAMJH LENA CHAHIYE KI TUMSE UMEED BADH GAYEE HAI” (seriously)
Kartik…
Nice post…everything put aside for a moment, I think I noticed u in the movie… were u not the one that stares into the camera for a sec when john visits the prayogshala for the first time:-? (all this after watching your short and a couple of your pictures in PFC)
I might watch the movie for a second time soon just hoping that I might understand a bit more on what the movie is all about atleast in this viewing…
But being privy to the script and having watched the rough cut, could you just throw some light into what was on AK’s mind when he started out..
I was completely lost after 10 minutes into the second half…I left the theatre wondering what was the second half all about?
May be a post mortem from you or some one from the team might clear a couple of doubts and also would justify the points u mentioned in your post…
In case you feel doing a postmortem is a spoiler of sorts, it would be great if you can drop me a mail personally…Thanks.
Bravo. Brutally honest. Keep it up Karthik.
KK….cud not understnd this…rought cut worked but now its not working. hwo n why ?
KK I somehow agree with your post but am also sure that your were not the audience for this film …neither a common man or a critic who is trashing it as you…I know more than dozen of my friends who loved it too…and man we cant teach film making to Anurag…I think the only issue is, he made it for himself without giving any shit to the audience, so thats his wish with his own film…his team had faith on his film and they financed/supported it!!
Great stuff Kartik. It takes balls to write what u did. this is exactly what was going inside my mind. Feels like a page out of my diary.
“Audience doesnt care what pain u go through from conceptualising to scripting to pre production to shooting to post production editing sfx effects
[...] Original post by Some Rights Reserved [...]
@ Sameer/Phonix/mindtentative - Rough cut had more scenes of annie .. was slightly longer … gave me the time to “digest” the surrealism … gave me time to think … didnt have the thought bubbles … and the corny special effects…
the final cut didnt .. moved tooooo fast for me to understand.
@ Gattu- All the best maan .. and let me know … awaiting ur thoughts
@ Azad - BINGO
@mindtentative - I was the guy who gets slapped in the loo … when john orders that his office be no smoking zone …
I dnt know about AK’s mind .. but the script felt more into K’s mind … felt more personal … when i read it .. i was excited to watch the fillm ….
The final cut detaches me from K … becomes more indulgent …
Many people i know left the film 10 minutes after the 2nd half …
@ Ashish - “am also sure that your were not the audience for this film” - Fair enough
“and man we cant teach film making to Anurag ” - Agree completely …
But we can’t teach filmaking to RGV as well can we ???
Boss .. this was EXACTLY WHAT I FELT AFTER WATCHING THE FILM … EXACTLY WHAT I FELT … and im being completly honest here…. “Kya hai yeh .. Kyun hai yeh” was my reaction ..
You know very well how much i love and respect the man …. but … completely dissappointed man …
We expect a lot from him ….
@kartik…do you have any idea if those longer since with annie would be included in the DVD version
@ sameer- anurag would be the best person to answer that…. Normally DVDs come with deleted scenes
hello karthik or oz or anurag whoeever has time pls do make sure that this site named
[comment edited by admin -
Thanks for the info fakename .. we've immideately informed anurag and the concerned authorities ..
Really really appreciated. Thanks a lot again. Pls do not publish the site name anywhere else.]
admin ashould be contacted immediately.. or else it will affect No smoking collection IN US .i cnt be more specific here
pls do check
regards
Hey KK - sorry, dude, but I have some questions about this post.
First, I want to address your numbered list. You state broad generalization - tell us what you think instead… The reason I ask you the questions below is that you state these points on this particular post on NS and so I presume in reference to No Smoking. If it has no reference to No Smoking, then my questions are meaningless.
#1 - Yes, of course editing is important. But do you mean the movie was not well edited? Why? Where?
#2 - Ok, yes. That is true. Marketing is important. But do you mean that it was poorly released and marketed? Yes, you probably mean that, but if it is part of the “process of filmmaking” are you suggesting that Anurag should have done something differently or…?
#3 - Again, somewhat a truism, no? Of course the director has to be relentless. Are you saying Anurag was not a relentless director?
And so on…
And #6-10 and #17 - Of course one has to work hard. People almost die just finishing a short film, so this is, of course, true. So again - did he not work hard enough? Did he not pour his soul into it? Did he take things easy? Did you see him slacking off? IF you did see him slacking off, did you tell him to get his butt in gear and work harder? (It is a big if, but you make *seven* points on this topic of working harder and I am curious why)
#16 - Did Anurag talk too much in your opinion? Why didn’t you tell him to STFU, stop posting on PFC (or wherever else he was talking) and get back to work?
And for a the points #11 - 15 - You saw the rough cut. The major changes you said were deleted scenes of Annie. How can deleted scenes of Annie cause all those problems? Those are major problems!! How can those cut scenes suddenly cause you not to “care about the film” any more or to just not even understand it any more? Am I missing something?
This is not a rant - it is merely a desire to understand this better. I have no idea of the details of how you were involved in the process. I have no idea IF you had the opportunity to tell him these things during the process or the intricacies of your relationship. But I think the best thing a director can have is someone who states their mind while there is still a chance to change things… And I know you are someone who is very direct and is very comfortable stating his mind… so what am I missing?
I guess at the end of the day, I say this as someone who saw the film and understood the film (or most of it anyway). So I am lost as to how someone who read the script, was involved in the process and saw the rough cut could not understand/care…
To anyone else who reads this comment - please don’t jump on KK or on me. I want to have a civilized conversation with him to understand his thinking better. There is no right and wrong - it is just a discussion. And PFC exists to facilitate discussion
The points were specifically for us .. to learn from what i felt had gone wrong with the film…
I may or may not be correct wrt the film … but ideally i would like to follow these points …
#1 - Movie was not edited appropriately. the first half seemed too water tight. I didnt get into K’s mind … the second half was slow …
All the prayoghsala scenes were well handled .. the preceeding scenes were too fast for me to ‘digest’ ….
#2 - exactly. The onus should also be on the filmaker to ensure that the fiilm is markete well. Not just as an awareness film but as a mindfuck. Something like whoever is able to solve the film contest or something …. or may be rather than everyone saying it is an anti smoking film .. it shldve been a mindfuck film.
From what i saw no smoking seems to promote smoking to me… Because john was the hero and paresh was the villan.. somewhat silly points but releavent.
#3 - relentless comes wrt point #2 above. When u can not let go of ur brainchild .. then why should you market ur brain child so improperly. Conceiving an idea alone isnt the end all and be all of the film. Marketing is as well.
# 6-10, 17 - i feel anurag shouldve worked harder on the post production. The special effects and the bubbles didnt exactly set my heart ringing. i felt he slacked off towards the end of the process.
Well so did i while my short film … that is not justified … and thats the point…
#16 - I wish i had done that…. i wish rather than criticising every one, he had stuck his head down and channelised his energies… this is very arrogant of me to say.. but this what i honestly felt.
I aint asking him not to post on PFC. But i honestly feel had he not criticised everyone (the big guns) as much as he did and stuck more to his idea and spirit .. he mightve made a better film. Again im being quite arrogant when i say this .. i know .. but its not out of irreverence/hatred/ animosity that im saying all this
#11 - 15 - i saw the rough cut sometime in july i guess… 3-4 months before. annie was more in them.. the scenes were longer… i could think in between what was happening.
The final cut … i didnt have the chance to sort the puzzle that the film became. the rough cut was less ‘crisper’ or slightly longer if i may say. and it gave me time to think and be with the film.
As vasan says, the final film abandoned me completely… thats why beyond a point, i don’t really care what K feels…
Unfortunately, for some reasons may be i couldnt state what i was feeling .. because uptill that point the film worked for me. I wasnt a part of the post production. I might have requested anurag to do away with the bad finger-being-attached-back-to-ranvir scene…. i mightve said its faster and unnecessaryily crisp/too tight.
Besides the fault is also mine … Perhaps i shouldve been more verbal and upfront.
Great for you if you understood and liked the film. I didnt … unfortunately. I felt couldve been much much better…
and that’s the sad part. I was myself surprised/shocked with my reaction in the hall.
KK - Promotion of a film is like education.the promo director is the teacher & the audience are it’s student.what went wrong big time with no smoking was the promotion.(according to me). the promos did not prepare the audience for such a radical experience. kk you are right boss. director jab poori film direct kar sakta hai toh promotion ke time pe film se alag kyun ho jaata hai? Anurag, any answers?
KK - thanks for your detailed explanation. Much appreciated and helps me understand your original post better.
I felt I understood it but to me that does not equate to like. Did I like it? I liked parts of it. I liked what he was trying to do with it overall. I think he succeeded in some ways and failed in others. I actually feel he didn’t go far enough with some things. I felt the first half was tight but “usual”, the second half was unusual but somewhat derivative from cinema he admires. I didn’t feel the pace lagged though…
But the overall “what I think” is longer. Maybe I should do a post, or maybe not considering we’ve had so many reviews here already.
But you know it made me think. It’s been two days and I’m still thinking about it. To me, that’s success in many ways.
I agree with you on two pieces. I definiteIly agree there were parts of post where the “finish” didn’t keep up to the rest of the film. The digital wipes were interesting and well-done, but the finger re-attaching CGI was just weird and shoddy. There were other ways to get around it if budget couldn’t pay for good CGI.
I also agree with you on the marketing. This film has nothing to do with smoking or not smoking. That’s merely an analogy - a device used to convey a bigger meaning. I didn’t see the promos, but if they made them out to be anti-smoking film, they should be slapped.
As always, thanks for the conversation!
Hey kartik, first off, good post. It mirrors my thoughts post the film. I might not have had a lot of interaction with the team/pre prod/production of the film, but news of it was always around. Needless to say, it was much anticipated. And sorely disappointing. I still wont say i hated the whole film, but it lost me in the 2nd half.. almost completely.
Its true, the most positive way to look at this, would be to learn from this film, and to avoid its mistakes in ours.
I have one point, that sort of irked me, like a toothache, Why cant anyone tell Anurag anything about film making? Let me Quote - Why cant “we” tell Anurag about film making?
Is this sarcasm, or blind adulation?
AT this point, i should add, its a saying somewhere or something, that the master never ceases to learn, improve, evolve. So it just seemed funny, thats all. Thanks.