Handsome
hunk
John
Abraham
will
surely
put
off
some
ladies
when
they
watch
his
forthcoming
film
No
Smoking.
The
Dhoom
hero
is
playing
a
chain
smoker
in
the
film
who
suffers
because
of
his
addiction.
John
apparently
took
up
the
challenging
role
to
push
himself
further
as
an
actor
and
in
the
process
also
took
some
serious
risks.
For
one,
he
had
to
smoke
about
80
to
100
cigarettes
every
day
of
the
shoot.
John
categorizes
No
Smoking
as
a
genre
in
itself,
partly
real
and
partly
fiction.
"It's
not
a
dark
film,
it's
humorous
and
stylized," John
says.
Playing
the
character,
John
found
out,
was
not
a
cakewalk
at
all.
"There
was
this
scene
where
I
had
to
cough
badly.
But
I
was
not
getting
it
right.
Then
Anurag
decided
to
do
the
dubbing
for
me.
Being
a
chain
smoker
he
could
cough
in
that
typical
way.
When
Anurag
started
coughing
for
the
scene
it
put
us
all
off,
it
was
very
ugly.
I
realized
that
a
chain
smoker's
lungs
are
full
of
smoke."
John
continues:
"Smoking
is
banned
but
we
had
to
show
it
in
the
movie
because
it
is
a
story
of
a
chain
smoker." Kumar,
Anurag
and
John
used
to
discuss
how
much
smoking
should
be
shown
in
the
film.
Kumar
then
said
that
the
consolation
for
showing
so
much
smoking
on
screen
was
that
there
would
be
many
in
the
audience
who
would
give
up
the
habit
after
watching
the
movie.
Once
the
shooting
wrapped
up,
John
got
X-Rays
of
his
lungs
done.
"I
found
that
my
lungs
were
looking
smoky
instead
of
the
healthy
grey.
My
teeth
were
getting
stained
because
of
excessive
smoking,"
John
recalls.
Bong
bombshell
Bipasha
Basu
also
had
a
part
to
play
in
the
movie.
It
was
Vishal
who
decided
to
approach
the
actress
for
a
dream
sequence
in
the
film.
After
"Beedi
jalaile",
he
wanted
to
cast
Bipasha
again
in
his
next
film.
The
dusky
beauty
agreed
without
any
hassles.
John
found
coactor
Ayesha
very
professional.
"I
liked
working
with
her.
There
was
a
shoot
for
the
promotion
in
which
I
had
to
blow
smoke
into
her
face.
I
was
feeling
so
embarrassed
that
I
kept
apologizing
to
her
and
she
kept
saying
she
was
okay
with
it."
The
actor
is
also
all
praise
for
Anurag.
"He
is
a
genius.
Right
in
the
middle
of
a
scene,
he
can
change
a
word
or
the
body
language
of
the
actors
and
make
the
shot
extraordinary.
In
the
end
it's
all
well-executed.
He
is
so
good
that
he
can
work
better
without
a
bound
script."
One
of
Anurag's
qualities
that
endeared
him
to
his
actors
was
the
freedom
he
gave
them.
John
recalls:
"He
told
me
'It's
your
block,
do
what
you
want.
I'll
tell
you
if
I
want
any
changes"."
John
got
a
dose
of
Anurag's
novel
approach
to
his
work
right
at
their
first
meeting.
Anurag
called
up
John
one
fine
morning
after
the
release
of
"Water".
He
introduced
himself
as
the
writer
of
the
film
and
asked
if
they
could
meet.
"I
too
was
keen
to
meet
him.
He
told
me
he
stays
on
Carte
Road.
I
asked
him
to
come
over
since
I
stay
in
the
same
area."
Anurag
took
a
rickshaw
and
reached
John's
in
15
minutes.
The
first
script
that
Anurag
narrated
was
titled
"Lapata".
"When
he
asked
me
how
it
was
I
couldn't
help
blurting
out
"horrible".
He
then
narrated
another
script
titled
No
Smoking.
And
I
loved
it.
That's
when
he
revealed
that
he
had
written
"Lapata" on
the
way
to
my
house.
Anurag
is
a
psycho,"
laughs
John,
adding
that
he
took
up
the
offer
because
he
generally
tries
to
do
substantially
meaningful
films
which
are
different
from
one
another.
Hope
his
efforts
in
No
Smoking
don't
go
waste.