Review: ‘Smoke Never Dies’

Introduction: ‘Smoke Never Dies’ is a short film made by a group of engineering students from Ahmedabad. The film is written and directed by Anish Shah and Mikhil Musale, students of Indus Institute of Technology and Engineering.

The movie features Hardeep Pathak, a student of LD College of Engineering (LDCE) in the lead character. Other actors include Ahuto Sema of LDCE and Master Karan. The movie throws light on the menace of smoking in an unusual manner.

‘Smoke Never Dies’ won two short film awards till date at: first one is ‘Paramarsh‘ at MSU and second one is ‘16th Frame’ at IIT-Roorkie making close to 160 other short films bite dust.




Review: ‘Smoke Never Dies’ is a dark narrative of the life of a person who is completely addicted to smoking. He’s a sort of guy who starts his day with a cigarette and ends it with a cigarette.

He is a loner and doesn’t get acceptance from anybody in society. Frankly speaking before hitting ‘play’, I had no idea about how this movie would change me completely. I was spellbound by the magnificence of the entire story.

The measure of the impact that this movie left on my mind can be stated by the fact that I was lost in the thoughts of the protagonist for the next 30 minutes after the movie was over. It’s a professional work all together.

The dark narration reminds me of some of the Ram Gopal Varma flicks. The music blends with the narration perfectly and makes the viewing tense and thrilling. The cinematography was flawless. The use of camera angles was at its creative best and this is the ‘edge’ it has over every other short film that I’ve seen till date.

Much of the impact of the movie on my mind is because of the natural portrayal of the character by Hardeep Pathak. I think it’s hard to find words to explain the sheer brilliance of this guy.

Master Karan’s portrayal of an innocent boy – with lollipop in his hands – watching someone smoke, who had lectured him on ‘no smoking’ a few moments earlier, and Ahuto Sema’s character of a smoking driver were commendable.

‘Smoke Never Dies’ can be a trend setter in the short film cinema. Set with a modest budget of Rs 500 this movie has proved that budget is nothing in comparison to talent. If you have got the talent you can make a big difference.


I watch the movie every time I switch on my computer. It gives me some kind of new found energy to fight against this social evil called ‘smoking’. Come join us in the fight against smoking. Share this movie with your friends, relatives, family members and whomsoever you know in your life. The movie will surely leave a big impact on the minds of people – especially the younger ones.


Nirav Bhagat.