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DIRECTOR Q&A
Anurag Kashyap
India’s iconoclastic helmer discusses epic Cannes entry, challenging
the status quo and his upcoming collaboration with Danny Boyle
By Nyay Bhushan
WHILE HE HAS BEEN RISING
steadily in India with his own
brand of unconventional cinema
— starting out as a writer with the 1993
hit Satya — Anurag Kashyap, 39, is �nally
having a breakout year with two of his �lms
in the o�cial Cannes lineup. As a director,
his two-part drama Gangs of Wasseypur
features in the Directors’ Fortnight, while
Peddlers, which he co-produced via his
AKFPL banner, unspools in the Critics’
Week sidebar. Not bad for someone whose
directorial debut, 2003’s edgy youth drama
Paanch (Five), has still not been released
because of censorship concerns. The director
recently talked with The Hollywood
Reporter about �ghting the establishment.
What is Gangs of Wasseypur about?
It is a �lm spanning six decades, from
1941 to 2009, and set on the lower rungs of
the ma�a (in India’s eastern hinterlands).
Through the (characters) we learn the
history of that place. They are not very
educated and are totally obsessed with
Bollywood stars who inspire their lives. It is
about history, social issues, but it is also a
revenge drama. It was di�cult to �nd funding
since nobody could understand what
I wanted to do and why I wanted to make
such a long �lm. The challenge was to make
it in two parts that are independent of each
other, yet still create a complete story.
How do you see your entries at Cannes
validating what you’ve been striving to
do in India?
If you get validation from outside, then
suddenly everything you do at home is
justi�ed. We are brought up in a way
where we do what our fathers do. You are
not expected to rock the boat, you don’t
change the status quo, especially in �lms,
which have been traditionally controlled by
a handful of people, actually �lm families.
Outsiders are not supposed to change anything.
I can’t complain about that, but now
there is change happening. The young �lmmakers
really don’t give a damn about the
establishment. They want to do their own
thing, they are not star-struck, especially
if you see the other Indian �lms at Cannes
[director Ashim Ahluwalia’s Un Certain
Regard entry Miss Lovely and Vasan Bala’s
Peddlers]. I still have one foot in Bollywood
(the mainstream Hindi industry),
but these guys are totally independent of
that. They worked hard for years to get
their �lms made independently. My �lm is
still funded by a studio [Viacom18 Motion
Pictures]. My responsibility is now only to
Vital Stats
Nationality India
Born September 10, 1972
Film in Cannes Gangs of Wasseypur
Selected Filmography
That Girl in Yellow Boots,
Mumbai Cutting, Udaan
Notable Awards
2011 Filmfare Award for best screenplay: Udaan
21
my kind of cinema, but these new directors
will do more to change Indian cinema since
their �lms are very fearless.
So you don’t think Gangs of Wasseypur is
fearless?
It is fearless only in its cost and casting [as
it has mostly non-marquee but great actors,
like Manoj Bajpai]. In terms of storytelling,
it is entertaining and mainstream, but not
that fearless. It is not a Bollywood �lm, but
about a place that is impacted by Bollywood,
so it makes it commercial. The West
sometimes doesn’t understand Bollywood,
but they can de�nitely understand how Bollywood
in�uences people.
What is your agenda at Cannes?
We want to reach out to as many people
as possible and try and sell our �lms as
widely as possible. We want to expand our
audience — that’s my main agenda. [Parisbased
international sales agent] Elle
Driver has taken on Gangs of Wasseypur
and Peddlers, and we are working closely
with them [via Kashyap’s banner AKFPL]
to expand the market for these �lms.
One of your upcoming projects is Bombay
Velvet starring top Bollywood star Ranbir
Kapoor. How are you exploring uncharted
waters with that?
It is not an o�eat �lm, but for me
Bombay Velvet is one that rede�nes the
mainstream. It’s a love story set in 1960s
Mumbai, showing the changing face of the
city, the subculture and the jazz age. It’s a
�ctional take on actual events. It’s a �lm
noir in the jazz underworld.
Wasn’t Danny Boyle involved with Bombay
Velvet? Your connection with him goes back to
Slumdog Millionaire, for which he extensively
referred to your 2004 film Black Friday.
In spirit, Danny Boyle is with Bombay
Velvet, but details as to what kind of participation
he will have are still to be �nalized
later with the studio [Viacom18 Motion Pictures].
Danny is always backing me. I keep
bouncing Bombay Velvet stu� o� of him.
How do you see an unconventional director
like you working with a mainstream star like
Ranbir. Is there a conflict in sensibilities?
I don’t think so. Today there is a new crop
of mainstream actors like Ranbir Kapoor,
Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor, who are
of a di�erent sensibility. I think the Internet
has changed the world. Even in Hollywood,
directors such as the Coen brothers,
Chris Nolan and David Fincher were all
considered experimental. And now they are
the ones totally rede�ning the mainstream.
I mean The Dark Knight is a really good
movie that reached both critics and mainstream
audiences. In Indian cinema that is
missing, but now it is changing. THR
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