Cast: John Abraham, Ayesha Takia, Paresh Rawal, Ranvir Sheorey.
Direction: Anurag Kashyap
A movie coming from Anurag Kashyap, the director of Black Friday is always something to look forward to. And despite major opposition from the Shahid- Kareena starrer Jab We Met , No Smoking seemed to have had its own niche. But alas, sometimes the urge of a writer-director to satisfy his own creativity can take the movie completely off balance. And that is exactly what happens in this case... A unique plot which goes topsy-turvy because of a pseudo-intellectual screenplay!.
K (John Abraham) is a chain smoker with an attitude problem. His wife Anjali (Ayesha Takia) threatens to leave him if he does not change his habits. His mysterious friend Abbas Tyrewala (Ranvir Sheorey) recommends him to a rehabilitation centre. When K arrives there he finds out that the place is no ordinary centre which uses standard methods of making you quit smoking. It’s run by Baba Bengali (Paresh Rawal) who forcefully makes K sign on an agreement where the former will abide by Baba’s conditions in order to quit smoking or else will have to face dire consequences.
The film begins really well in Siberia and the curiosity builds up instantly. In fact the first half is really gripping. Baba Bengali’s run-down institute is really imaginatively done and is a delight to watch. Some things are really out of the world and if you follow foreign cinema you will be able to associate with them.
But it’s the last 40 minutes of the film which leaves you confused completely. I might be a dimwit not to understand the ending but then again there are very few who would. In simpler words this film is not for the masses. But then if your target audience is niche then why do you promote your film with an item number Mr. Anurag?
Anurag the writer fails while Anurag the director does well. Clearly, this film is technically superior to his prior film but Black Friday had a screenplay which people could understand. Was it really necessary in not going the conventional way towards the end rather than doing something which cannot be digested even if one were to take laxatives?
There are quite a few in-house jokes like Ranvir being named Abbas Tyrewala – Anurag’s friend and screenplay writer. In fact there was a line where Ranvir says “ Main Hoon Na Maqbool.” Main Hoon Na and Maqbool were both written by Abbas.
John Abraham is getting better by the day and this is one of his better roles. He is the star of the show and John is definitely headed towards the top. Ayesha Takia does a fair job though the role did not require any histrionics. She seems to be a miscast and looks like John’s younger sister rather than his wife. Paresh Rawal is the rock star. It’s really difficult to imagine another actor enacting the part with such conviction. Ranvir is good but the best of him probably comes out through comedy.
There was enormous potential in this imaginative story line (which was first loosely seen in Darna Mana Hai ) but the filmmaker seemed to have track of ground reality towards the end. If smokers think that this is a remedy for you to quit smoking then think again. The social message is just not there. Fans of Anurag Kashyap will have to do some serious rethinking after watching this film.
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