Music of a really different genre.. Review on No Smoking Songs

A big chunk of dark chocolate. A glass of full bodied vintage red wine. A much fancied yet forbidden dark lane you have been trying to avoid but finally are in - simple pure indulgence.

That’s how I feel about the soundtrack of the movie No smoking. - A seductive combination of the unconventional and exciting. Its amazing how the theme of the movie and soundtrack are so much in sync, how well they are woven together, how each is the easy extension of the other. I mean, we still live in the era of Cinema where boys and girls from the next-door neighborhood just burst into songs to sleek locales of Switzerland! But I would be glad to have misunderstood. Music like this gives me hope and the belief that things are changing and changing with a bang, however occasionally!

Almost all the songs in this movie are contemporary classics in their own way, individual pieces of indulgence. The signature Gulzar lyrics give the songs a body, a personality. The voice talents of Sukhwinder, Adnan sami and Rekha bharadwaj are so fitting and as far as music is concerned – Vishal Bharadwaj excels with this dare-to-be-different offering – jazz, trance, blues, retro, the'sensual and the rustic' – you name it, there is a piece of them all in this soundtrack. Yet this is far from the half hazard attempts to dish out something completely unusual and original. On the contrary, the songs instantly draw you into the world of ‘noir’(the trademark Anurag Kashyap style I guess).(I would seriously recommend hearing these with closed eyes - they draw worlds in themselves and if you are scared of darkness, please stay away from these!

To the songs -

The slow blues number'Ashtray' is sung by an amateur Deva sen, and what a voice this is! He has the perfect modulations the agony and longing of the song calls for. The intensity of Gulzar’s lyrics depicts the dark and grim settings of a chain smoker’s world perfectly. The instruments used for this song bring out the perfect sounds for the mood in sluggish tempo. A must listen, by any means!

'Jab bhi cigarette' is a beautiful jazz rendition(you can’t miss the generous use of saxophone) by the robust and silky voice of Adnan sami. This again is a depiction of the intense helplessness of an addict – his dark and gloomy world. I will call this one of the best jazz songs ever to have surfaced in hindi movies lately. There are different versions of the song – the trance version of it sung by Sunidhi chauhan is equally, well, trancy! Also check out the club trance remix if it’s something of your ‘type’! To me, the original version is the best.

The third one I would like talk about is probably the best and richest of them all.'Kash laga' has just got so much in it! And this actually is something you need to listen to, to know exactly what I mean. This is the most lyrical of the lot. The music is almost peppy, this is the song of someone who has finally given in to the temptation. This acceptance of his addiction gives the song an almost human touch and a vague happy note. The singers are an unusual mix of vishal bharadwaj, sukhwindwr and daler mehendi.

Excerpts from the song –

Zindagi ke kash laga-2

Hasraton ki raakh uda

Yeh jahan pani hai

Bulbula hai pani hai

Bulbulon pe rukna kya

Paniyon mein behta ja behta ja.

There are also some other ‘trance’ numbers like'Phoonk de' with different versions. No wonder many wanted to experiment with the original songs, this was a ‘refreshingly fresh!’ kind of music! Overall, a very offbeat and mature soundtrack. Music of a really different genre!