No Smoking

Plot

K, a confident, narcissistic and arrogant businessman in his 30s, is addicted to smoking. K's friends, Abbas and the doctor, offer to set up an appointment at a rehabilitation centre called Prayogshaala (lit. 'Laboratory'), but K ignores their advice. His addiction strains his relationship with his wife Anjali. After K cannot make love to her without having to stop to light up a cigarette, she leaves him.

Wanting to save his marriage, K decides to check out Prayogshaala, and meets Shri Shri Prakash Guru Ghantal Baba Bangali Sealdah Wale there, the man running the rehabilitation centre. The method Prayogshaala uses to cure their patients is based on fear and psychological manipulation. Each time a patient gives in to their vice, Baba makes sure that they will be punished severely, which includes:

1. Almost killing one of his loved ones, by keeping them in a chamber full of all the cigarette smoke he has smoked in his entire life for five minutes,

2. Cutting off his finger,

3. Killing one of his loved ones,

4. Taking his soul.

K is forced to pay for his treatment by Baba and his disciples. Baba then tells K that he is free to leave, but he must abide by the rules or he will suffer the consequences. K tries to keep to the terms but fails twice, and is punished. He is now conscious about the third time.

After some time, K meets an old friend, Alex, who is now a Cuban cigar seller. At an event, K is forced to place a cigar in his mouth to appease Alex. Seconds later, he receives a phone call from the police, informing him that his wife is missing. He calls Baba, and is told that for smoking, his wife will be killed. He protests that he did not actually light the cigarette. Baba apologizes for the mistake, but says that it is too late. K asks Baba to tell the police about this, but the line is cut, and the phone number is non-existent upon re-dialing. K's protests are ignored and the police believe that he is delusional. Trying to make them believe, he seeks out Abbas, who had lost a finger, only to find that he has all of his fingers intact, with Abbas claiming to have no knowledge of Prayogshaala or Baba Bangali. Mocking him, the police forces K to smoke. Shortly afterwards, K gets a phone call about his brother committing suicide due to his chain-smoking. K raves angrily at the police and is thrown in jail, but is eventually bailed out.

Cast

John Abraham as K: A wealthy, proud, chain-smoking businessman

Ayesha Takia as

Anjali: K's wife, who is fed up of his smoking

Annie: K's secretary

Paresh Rawal as Shri Shri Prakash Guru Ghantal Baba Bangali Sealdah Wale: An all-knowing, suspicious, rugged-looking specialist running a rehabilitation centre

Ranvir Shorey as Abbas Tyrewala: K's friend since childhood

Joy Fernandes as Alex: A friend of K

Kiku Sharda as the doctor: A friend of K

Jesse Randhawa as the dancer in the song "Jab Bhi"

Gajraj Rao as R. K. Dhindra

Rasika Duggal as Suzi

Priyanka Bose as Sarah

Shlok Sharma as an office employee

Vikram Aditya Motwane as the employee who resigns

Bipasha Basu as the dancer in the song "Phoonk De"

Vasan Bala as a man at Alex's cigar launch party (uncredited)

Anurag Kashyap as the man in the elevator (uncredited)

Production

Development

During the making of Satya (1998), its director Ram Gopal Varma pitched a story to its writer Anurag Kashyap, about a chain smoker's encounter with someone who despises smoking. It inspired Kashyap to come up with an idea, which he shared with Varma, who in his turn laughed and dismissed it. Varma later incorporated his own idea of the story as a short segment, No Smoking starring Saif Ali Khan, in his anthology film, Darna Mana Hai (2003). Titling it Cigarette Smoking is Injurious to Health, Kashyap shared his idea with Boney Kapoor, which prompted him to remark "go back to the planet you came from!" Kay Kay Menon, the lead in Kashyap's unreleased Paanch (2003), liked the idea, but found it incomplete. During the shooting of Kashyap's Black Friday (2007), his assistant, Raj Singh Chaudhary, narrated him a different idea for a short film, in which he wanted Kashyap to act, about a chain smoker who wakes up without cigarettes and is unable to get any, because of a curfew. Kashyap agreed on the condition that Chaudhary allow him to combine both of their ideas. Kashyap's producer friends and acquaintances advised him to have a major actor back the idea. After he narrated it to Angad Paul, he suggested Shah Rukh Khan, but Kashyap wanted Menon, as he was interested in it. When Black Friday too couldn't find a release, and no one was ready to back his Gulaal, Kashyap started drinking heavily, and sank into depression. That's when Nivedita Bhattacharya, Menon's wife, told him to make the film by any means necessary, even if it means without Menon's involvement. Kashyap paid a visit to Khan, his college mate, who liked the idea, calling it "fantastic but dark," but advised Kashyap to stay from experimentation until later. Taking inspiration from Stephen King's "Quitters, Inc." (1978), Kashyap decided to take the story forward. As of October 2025, it remains the only King Hindi film adaptation. The film had a personal significance for him as after his first two directorial efforts Paanch and Black Friday went unreleased, people were telling him to "quit." He has stated that people advised him not to make the movie at all. When asked if Cat's Eye (1985), an American anthology horror film that adapted "Quitters, Inc." as one of its segments, was an inspiration, he replied that he hadn't watched it until after the script was complete. Remarking that the film has a universal subject, Kashyap further stated that he had to do a mainstream film. "People were getting wary of me, so it was time. And I needed a box-office hit." The film paid homage to Bob Fosse, a "chain-smoking director-choreographer who went to an early grave," by naming a nighclub after him.

In "Quitters, Inc.", after the chain-smoking protagonist Dick Morrison bumps into an old friend, their conversation leads Morrison to the titular facility in Manhattan. The story also features endless scrutiny, death threats and even a gas chamber. Both K and Morrison finds a patsy for the rehab at the end.

Pre-production

For the dual role of Anjali and Annie, "one a self-respecting woman, another opposite", Kashyap went to actresses he thought could do the role, but they refused as the role was not substantial enough. Ultimately, Ayesha Takia was cast. She was not comfortable with the love scenes and the outfits of her character Annie, though Kashyap refused to make any changes. Despite this, he maintained that she was an "actress" and a "face" too.

Originally, Rajkumar Santoshi was to play the doctor, and Abbas Tyrewala was to play Abbas, that is why Kashyap named the character after him. However, Tyrewala later opted out and the role was given to Ranvir Shorey instead. During a scene, a character says, "Salaam Namaste, MBBS," referencing Tyrewala's films. Furthermore, erroneous reports surfaced that Ali Khan would appear in a cameo, on the request of Mangat Pathak. It was also reported that Bipasha Basu would appear in an item number. When asked what made Kashyap appear in the film, he replied, "only vanity." Kashyap cast well-known actors in the hope of having the film released; he thought that casting "unknown but brilliant" actors had made his prior films unreleased.

Abhishek Pathak, Mangat Pathak's son, served as the first assistant director of the film, while the costumes were designed by Anna Singh. Ashley Lobo joined the film as the choreographer, Tariq Umar Khan was the art director, while Wasiq Khan came on as the production designer for the film.

Filming

With cinematography undertaken by Rajeev Ravi, principal photography took place in Dharavi, Kutch, Bandra, Dongri, Mumbai, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Russia. K's apartment was a set made up on the terrace of a 44th floor apartment in Worli, South Mumbai. Brabourne Stadium could be seen in a scene early in the film. The film also made use of Film City studio. The film was shot keeping in mind to depict the anxiety of an addict. Ravi shot the film using dark colours, using only shades of brown, and muted tones of black. Kashyap gave Abraham freedom to improvise on set. For the film, Abraham had to run as much as 10 kilometers (33,000 ft) a day. During the shooting in Uzbekistan, a Russian actor dressed as a soldier had to chase Abraham. After running 200 meters (660 ft), the man collapsed from oxygen depletion and had to be rushed to a hospital, as the shooting was on a high altitude. Abraham had predicted beforehand that the actor would collapse. There was a rumor of Abraham appearing in a nude scene, but Kashyap clarified that he had not decided how to shoot it. In a later interview, Kashyap claimed that one might see the reflection of Abraham's butt. In a 2011 interview, Kashyap revealed that there were two sequences he would have shot differently if he had been given the liberty. He also admitted that the mid-credit scene should have played before the credits. Since none of his films were released up until that point, he claimed to have shot the movie in "a lot of anger," and that he was "defying the system" by making the film.

Soundtrack

The official soundtrack was composed by Vishal Bhardwaj, while the lyrics were written by Gulzar.

Track listing

Philip French noted how "all the songs are about smoking."

Reception

Finding the soundtrack to be unconventional, and exciting in a couple of places, Joginder Tuteja praised the renditions of Sami and Rekha Bhardwaj, but argued that "Kash Laga" is "fine if one strictly keeps in mind its situational appeal." "Phoonk De" (Club Mix) was publicized extensively, and became popular.

Themes

On the significance of fingers, Kashyap said that fingers could also be used to hold a pen, which symbolises writing, that is freedom of expression; and that K without his fingers represented his body without soul. Kashyap has said that chopping two fingers symbolises Paanch and Black Friday, his first two directorial efforts, that were refused release by the CBFC, India's statutory film certification body. Prejo interpreted the film to be the "director's depiction of this authoritarian regime where even cinema, as an artistic form of expression, is suppressed and restrained." Similarly, Gautaman Bhaskaran stated, "Kashyap must have realized that open confrontation with the authorities does not quite pay, so he plays around with words and actions." Saloni Gajjar interpreted the film as a "journey through hell and back, one in which Kashyap has to fight against a system that controls his output and tries to define what the general public should and shouldn’t consume," a system which, according to Amborish Roychoudhury, also included press—who had labelled Kashyap a jinxed director—and people who didn't want to work with him; "it was almost as if the world had conspired not to let him say what he wanted to

say." However, Raja Sen doubted the claims that K stood for Kashyap, arguing instead that "K is a character with no redeeming qualities whatsoever," so that must not be the director's intention.

Zoeb Matin compared Baba Bangali's all too plausible "pompously philosophic" figure to despots who use false spiritualism as means for their "nefarious ends". Phelim O'Neill called him "Hitler-loving," Prejo called him a friend of Hitler's, and Anil Sinanan called him "a proud Hitler fan." Philip French pointed out that his means of coercion include constant surveillance and loss of privacy. Bhaskaran noted further that, "in using politico-religious methods, including curbing the freedom of his female employees by making them wear veils, the character reflects the state of autocracy and fanaticism, driven by money, politics and religion, which prevails in some sections of Indian society," and how the film is ultimately about manipulating the human being as K loathes the idea of giving up his right. In addition to burqa clad women, Roychoudhury also counted dwarfs and teeka-toting fanatics being used by Baba Bangali. Prejo posited that the film metaphorically depicts an authoritarian regime where the privilege of "free will and freedom of expression" may be granted only to "further the regime's cause." A 'system,' Roychoudhury pointed out, that can 'turn' others like K—for example, Abbas and the doctor.

Release

No Smoking was invited to be screened at the 2nd Rome Film Festival, where the film had its well-received premiere on 24 October 2007, before its general release on 26 October. With Abraham emphasising the social message during promotions, the film was promoted as anti-smoking, so much so that the Health Ministry ended up liking the film. Kashyap later admitted to fool the

censors into believing that the film was anti-smoking in order to release the film without any hurdles.

Reception

Prithviraj Hegde noted that No Smoking could be cheered at film festivals, but that "it sure won't either at a suburban multiplex nor a tent cinema in Tamil Nadu or Bihar." Gautaman Bhaskaran also found it "unlikely to get into the commercial circuit." The film was released in 225 screens in India. It had an opening weekend gross of ₹2.17 crore (equivalent to ₹6.6 crore or US$680,000 in 2023) worldwide. It ultimately bombed at the box-office, grossing ₹3.49 crore (equivalent to ₹11 crore or US$1.1 million in 2023) against a budget of ₹7.50 crore (equivalent to ₹23 crore or US$2.4 million in 2023).

No Smoking received negative reviews from critics, with many dismissing it as self-indulgent and confusing, though international reviews were considerably positive. According to Sudhish Kamath, after watching the film, critics wondered what influence Kashyap was under. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 50% of 12 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.8/10. The film baffled audiences with its abstract storyline. Kashyap himself joked that "only people from the outer universe understood it."

Reviewers noted the film to be influenced by the works of Franz Kafka (particularly The Trial), David Lynch, Lars Von Trier, Neil Gaiman, and graphic novels in general, as well as American conspiracy thriller films (particularly The Game and Seconds), Schindler's List and Being John Malkovich. Critics variously identified it as a black comedy, a film noir, a neo-noir, a surreal film or a thriller film.

The film was criticised for its cryptic storytelling and ambition. Rajeev Masand criticised its "intentionally incohesive screenplay and bizarre dialogue." Phelim O'Neill and Times of India found it illogical. Indu Mirani said that "understanding its plot's many forward and backward movements would be out of the scope of the layman." Khalid Mohamed and Taran Adarsh failed to grasp what was going on in the film. Prithviraj Hegde called it "a bad dream, peopled with strange characters and situations" which "spins into a downward spiral that's unreal, incomprehensible and leaves you dazed." Tajpal Rathore found its "shoddy screenplay stale, and its situations laughable." Jay Weissberg and Manish Gajjar called it confusing.

The cast performances were praised by Rathore. Abraham's performance, praised by Bhaskaran, Mirani, Gajjar and Adarsh (to a lesser extent), was criticised by Sinanan and Mohamed, the latter quipping that he "still has to learn the A B C of acting." Despite finding her attractive, Adarsh, Mirani and Mohamed criticised Takia's performance, saying that she mechanically sleepwalks through her part. In contrast, Gajjar was impressed by her. Bhaskaran and Gajjar found Rawal's performance as brilliantly essayed, with verve. Though, Adarsh and Mirani were less positive, merely noting his "okay" performance. Adarsh and Mirani were disappointed by Shorey, particularly in comparison to his previous roles.