Nods and winks to other movies/books are the prerogative of any film-maker, but they shouldn't be in-your-face. Very bold attempt at showing Indian cinema a surrealistic part of fiction. Can be compared to other great Kafka adaptations like Orson Welles' 'The Trial', though this is perhaps more accessible than that, and not in a negative way either.
Pros: Direction, Screenplay, Performances Cons: Ayesha Takia
No Smoking is about tobacco addiction in the same way that Murder was about murder. Cigarettes and smoke are present in more or less industrial quantities in the former, and the latter does show one homicide. But the murder in Murder was entirely incidental, just a plot device on which the director could hang Mallika Sherawat’s clothes.
The difference between Murder and No Smoking is that in one, the audience knew exactly what they were getting (Ms. Sherawat), and didn’t have to do any thinking on their own. With their heads, anyway. No Smoking is a very different kettle of ....