With a solid track-record of experimental cinema behind him, such as Taxi 9211 and Kabul Express, John Abraham is this time seen as K, an addicted smoker who is so obsessed with the cancer sticks he actually has nightmares of not smoking one! Seeking help to quit, K discovers his life is no longer in danger from cigarettes, but from something else altogether. The sole purpose of this film is to scare people out of smoking. Sounds corny? So is the film.
We don't know much about K, who he is or what he does, but we do know he's crazy about smoking. Nothing is more important to him than a couple of drags in the morning, in the bathroom or even lying in the snow. When his wife Anjali (Ayesha Takia) finally convinces him to get help, he ends up getting more than he bargained for in Baba Bengali (Paresh Rawal), a mysterious man who guarantees results 鈥 but at a price. Here the film turns into an Indian version of the Saw films, but only worse (if you can imagine that).
"IT JUST DOESN'T LIGHT UP IN THE END"
No Smoking is a surprisingly sincere effort, but shouldn't make your life feel any more fulfilled, even if you are a smoker. The shoddy screenplay is stale, and its situations laughable, and though the actors' give it their all, it just doesn't light up in the end. No smoke, and no fire, in what is ultimately a bit of a drag.
No Smoking is out in the UK on 26th Oct 2007.