Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap can write anywhere, even in a rickshaw. He shared how he once approached John Abraham for a film about a “bad actor.” John declined, saying he wanted a role where he could truly “perform” to change that perception.
Anurag started thinking about No Smoking, a story about a self-obsessed, narcissistic chain smoker who agrees to quit to save his marriage and visits a rehab center, because it felt personal. At the time, people were urging him to quit filmmaking as his movies struggled to get released. With his debut feature “Paanch” unreleased and “Black Friday,” made in 2004 but not released until 2007, Anurag was in a different mindset when he conceived “No Smoking.” He said, “I had three films in the same year: ‘Black Friday,’ ‘No Smoking,’ and ‘Return of Hanuman.’ Back then, I was just looking to make any film,” in an interview with Indian Express’ Creator X Creator.
“Black Friday was banned and Vishal Bhardwaj ji had then made Omkara. He called me and said, ‘See Omkara has worked, I can produce a film. Do you have a script?’ I had No Smoking! John Abraham called me, because he had worked on Water and Deepa Mehta had told him that he must work with Anurag, so he wanted to work with me. I was in such a desperate state, I had no money, nothing. I was in a rickshaw and I told John I am coming right away to meet him.”
The filmmaker said that while heading to John’s residence, he started thinking of a new idea for him. The story of No Smoking was already in his his mind because it mirrored his own life. “It was paralleling my life, so I was writing that but thought who would do this film. In the rickshaw, I was going to meet John Abraham and usko sab log achcha actor nahi bolte the. So, I started thinking of a story in the rickshaw. I had not seen any film of his, but everybody used to say he is not a good actor. The person that I met was amazing! But in my head, I was coming up with a story of a bad actor, who is out of work. I went and met John and he said, ‘Yaar people already think I am a bad actor, why do you want me to do this film? Do you have something else where I can perform?’” he said.
The filmmaker recalled then pitching the idea of No Smoking to John, who surprisingly liked it. John took a chance on me and said, “Let’s do this.” He had the story in my head, not on paper. John gave him money and told him to write it. Anurag flew to the US and wrote No Smoking and Return of Hanuman there.
Anurag recalled that when he returned to India, Vishal came in at the same time and said he could produce a film. “I took No Smoking to him. And the film, about a failed actor, who has not made a career, became Ugly in 2013. So I wrote Ugly in a rickshaw, on my way to John Abraham’s house, in my head,” Anurag said.
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