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By
Joginder Tuteja, October 8, 2007 - 11:36 IST
 Anurag Kashyap's love for making dark films with
varied subjects continues. After Black Friday and an
unreleased Paanch, he returns with No Smoking which
perhaps has been his quickest film to travel from
conceptualization to hitting the screens. Touchwood!
Produced by Kumar Mangat and Vishal Bhardwaj who had
also collaborated in last year's release Omkara, No
Smoking has John Abraham and Ayesha Takia in the lead.
With music by Vishal Bhardwaj and lyrics by Gulzar
saab, one expects an unconventional soundtrack in the
offering.
Well, unconventional it is and in at least a couple of
places, exciting too!
This has to be one of the most original tracks ever
written! 'Jab Bhi Cigarette' is the opening song of
the album and may well be termed as the title song of
the album. First to arrive is the 'jazz' version of
the song which obviously creates a jazz mood with all
the right instruments in place as required in a tune
belonging to this musical style.
There is a trademark Vishal Bhardwaj and Gulzar stamp
to this song about the mental and physical state of
this individual who is completely dependent on smoking
in spite of knowing well about its effects on his
health and mind! A difficult song to write and
compose, it is made to look easy due to the way Adnan
Sami goes about rendering the track while making it
absolutely kicking and jazzy. Well, literally. Now
this is what qualifies as an OST, as witnessed in
Hollywood flicks!
 At the very end of the album, Sunidhi Chauhan comes
behind the mike to sing the female version of 'Jab Bhi
Cigarette' which has a different mood and outlook.
While the first track was all jazz, this one is set in
a club mode and has a more hep and cool feel to it.
One would have never expected a song based on
cigarette to be played in a discotheque. Well, 'Jab
Bhi Cigarette' may be the first ever track of it's
kind to find a place in discs, clubs and pubs!
Rekha Bhardwaj, who has sung a sensual-n-rustic 'Namak
Issak Ka' in Omkara returns with 'Phoonk De' which is
so catchy in the very first listening that you can't
help but continue to hum it on hours after you have
heard it just once. The beats (reminding of Bhardwaj's
'Chappa Chappa' - Maachis) are all over the 'club mix'
version of this song which yet another comes with a
rustic feel to it and can easily be counted as a
commercial hit waiting to happen for Rekha Bhardwaj.
She sings in a leisurely style which borders on being
casual and this is where the beauty of the song lies.
Later Sukhwinder Singh gets his own style working into
another version of this song that comes a little
later. The lyrics are different here and especially
haunting is the voiceover by a female which comes in
the middle of the track. The voice does make mention
about the ill effects of smoking and how it could lead
one to his/her death!
Though the song is pacy and has Western arrangements
to pep up its five and a half minutes duration, it
would surely haunt if given a closer hearing as it
plays on along with the narrative of No Smoking. While
the music and rendition hold center stage in this song
choreographed on Bipasha Basu and John Abraham, it is
hard not to notice some deep rooted lyrics by Gulzar
saab!
With the album making an impressive beginning with
'Jab Bhi Cigarette' and 'Phoonk De', 'Kash Laga' which
comes next stabilizes the proceedings while being
third straight song in succession with it's theme
centered on the subject of the film. There are 'sufi'
influences in 'Kash Laga' which is one of the rare
instances of a song having better 'antaras' than a 'mukhda'.
Well, at least musically.
 Sung by the trio of Sukhwinder Singh, Daler Mehndi and
Vishal Bhardwaj, 'Kash Laga' isn't quite as zany as
the songs preceding it but is a fine track to be
included in the album if one strictly keeps in mind
it's situational appeal.
'Ash Tray' is the last track in the album which sees a
newcomer Deva Sen Gupta coming behind the mike. With a
pensive feel to the proceedings, it is a song for a
mood when one is feeling blue. Everything from music
to lyrics and the rendition contributes to creating a
haunting mood when 'Ash Tray' plays. A song about the
days and nights being lost as the protagonist fills
his 'ash tray' with the remains of his cigarettes; it
goes well with the film's subject and the genre that
the soundtrack has adopted.
Anurag Kashyap deserves a pat on his back on two
counts. First and foremost he has ventured into making
a film entirely based on smoking. Secondly, he has
even dared to have an entire soundtrack being created,
courtesy Vishal Bhardwaj and Gulzar saab, when even a
full length film seemed like a challenge in itself.
Hear it for 'Phoonk De' and 'Jab Bhi Cigarette'!
Rating:- ** 1/2
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