Anurag Kashyap is considered one of the most interesting filmmakers in Bollywood. He’s known for his unique style and willingness to work with new talents. His movies are often seen as groundbreaking, but there’s one cult film that made it to everyone’s ‘all-time favourites’ list and that is Gangs Of Wasseypur. Although, the Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Pankaj Tripathi, Tigmanshu Dhulia was a commercial and critical success, Anurag Kashyap had to resort to a lot of tricks to complete his film, including his brother Abhinav Kashyap’s blockbuster Dabangg featuring Salman Khan as his strong suit. Confused? We got you covered!
During an interview with Cyrus Broacha on his podcast, Anurag Kashyap revealed that because his films were not popular in the mainstream circle, it would be hard for people to place him through ‘No Smoking’ or ‘Black Friday’ reference. Hence, he would use Dabangg as a leverage to get shooting locations, “When we were shooting Gangs of Wasseypur, we had to find locations, and nobody knew my films. We were shooting in Banaras, my home town, and nobody knew any of the films I had made. Because they probably never released in Banaras. So, we had to go to the location and go like, ‘Have you seen Dabangg? The one who made Dabangg is his brother. His brother was shooting that film. And then they will be like, ‘Your brother made Dabangg? Come, come.’ That’s how we used to get locations. Dabangg got me a lot of things done,” he shared.
The film-maker and actor also recalled how people reacted when Dabangg emerged as a box office success, while all his films hadn’t gained traction at the box office. He stated, “In the beginning, it was very difficult because people didn’t understand (my films). I got confused because at one point, I remember somebody told me, ‘What are you doing?’ when they saw Black Friday. They said, ‘It’s a little real, it’s fictional. It’s not a film, it’s hybrid.’ My parents would react like that, ‘Why can’t you make films like everybody else? And then the greatest thing that happened in my family also became my largest tragedy. I was this filmmaker who made Paanch and Black Friday that didn’t release. Then, No Smoking, that bombed. And, my brother went and made Dabangg. And he hits a century. Super hit. And then everybody is like, ‘Kuch seekho (learn something).’”
Recently, Kashyap made an appearance as an actor in the crime drama Haddi alongside Nawazuddin Siddiqui. This film is directed by newcomer Akshat Ajay Sharma and explores the criminal underworld of the Delhi NCR region. In addition to his acting pursuits, Kashyap also had his directorial feature “Kennedy” premiered at this year’s Cannes Film Festival, featuring Rahul Bhat and Sunny Leone in the leading roles. However, it’s worth noting that Kashyap’s previous two directorial efforts, Dobaaraa and Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat, failed to perform well at the box office.
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