No Smoking (2007)
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50% of critics liked it
(10 reviews) -
61% of users liked it
(1,595 ratings)
A man who wants to give up cigarettes for the sake of his wife discovers quitting is far more hazardous to his health in this bizarre black comedy from India. K (John Abraham) is troubled at night by recurring nightmares that he's trapped inside a Russian concentration camp, and during his waking… More A man who wants to give up cigarettes for the sake of his wife discovers quitting is far more hazardous to his health in this bizarre black comedy from India. K (John Abraham) is troubled at night by recurring nightmares that he's trapped inside a Russian concentration camp, and during his waking hours he's constantly hounded by his wife Anjali (Ayesha Takia) to stop smoking. K loves nicotine and doesn't want to give up tobacco, but when Anjali forces him to choose between her and chain smoking, he decides its time to quit. K's friend Abbas (Ranvir Shorey) persuades him to try an intensive smoking cessation program run by a guru named Baba Bengali (Paresh Rawal), and K signs on for the treatment. However, K fails to notice that Abbas is missing several fingers, and he finds out the hard way that Baba Bengali forces his patients to give up tobacco by any means necessary -- which includes constant verbal abuse and occasional dismemberment. K discovers Baba Bengali has strong fascist leanings and is a big fan of Adolph Hitler, but can he save himself and his fellow smokers before its too late? No Smoking was written and directed by controversial Indian filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, whose first two films, Five and Black Friday, ran into considerable trouble with local censors for their violent content and anti-authoritarian political views. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
- Rating, Runtime
- Unrated, 2 hr. 7 min.
- Directed By
- Anurag Kashyap
- Written By
- Anurag Kashyap
- Genres
- Art House & International, Comedy
- In Theaters
- Oct 26, 2007 Wide
- On DVD
- Jan 1, 2008
- Studio
- Eros Entertainment
Critic Reviews
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Gautaman Bhaskaran, Hollywood Reporter
The film fails to entertain in the conventional sense of the term, and often feels like a documentary.
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Derek Malcolm, This is London
The film swirls about frantically in the effort to entertain, has a terrible Bob Fosse-like dance sequence and generally overstays its welcome.
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Neil Smith, thelondonpaper
You'll be wishing this weirdly uneven tale came with its own government health warning - if only so you come prepared for an assortment of incongruous musical numbers and performances that couldn't be broader if they tried.
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Anthony Quinn, Independent
While intended as a comedy, there's not a scintilla of wit to be found here, let alone an honest-to-goodness laugh, and at over two hours, it goes way beyond a joke.
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Karl French, Financial Times
A real oddity, shifting gear after the first half-hour from whimsical melodrama to morality-tale-cum-psychodrama.
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