“To make a film that reaches out and resonates with people is a big thing,” says Anurag Kashyap

It has been 30 years since Anurag Kashyap, now 50, landed in Mumbai on the Punjab Mail, with the ambition of making one movie. He’s already made 17 films, among them modern classics such as Gangs of Wasseypur I and II (2012). His latest movie, Kennedy, pre­miered at the Cannes Film Festival and is now travelling the world, restoring the filmmaker’s confidence in himself, and that of his legion of admirers in his unique sensibility that is able to see beauty in the dark side of the moon. Excerpts from an interview:

What was it like to be at the Cannes Film Festival and get so much love?

It’s been quite reassuring. Kennedy got made, travelled to the Cannes Film Festival and the Sydney Film Festival and is travelling to the Neuchâtel Film Festival. It’s been a difficult time getting to make the kind of films I want to make. At one point you feel, can you ever do it again? You fall, then you rise again. It’s a tough time. Nothing seems to be working. People are not going to the cinema halls. It’s not merely in India. It’s a worldwide phenomenon. When I spoke to filmmakers all over the world, everyone had the same thing to say. Kim Jee-woon in Sydney was talking about how it was the same in South Korea now as it was in the ’70s. People were watching five films a year, compared to 20 until recently. Everyone is struggling with that. At a time like this to make a film that reaches out, to which people are reciprocating and to find that it is resonating with them is a big thing, especially as it is something I’ve not done before, even if it is in the same zone as the thrillers I like to make.

But it’s not that you stopped making films.

I’ve always been making films, but I’ve been sitting on so many scripts. It’s always easier to go out and do a remake rather than an original film like Kennedy that has so many question marks. It is a new kind of film, doesn’t have big stars, how will people react to it? Such good films like Bheed and Afwaah were released recently. People just didn’t go to see them. Then the question is what do we do? In India, movies like The Kerala Story are finding an audience, getting so much govern­ment support. If an Ormax study is to be believed, it is a new kind of audience that doesn’t usually go to the cinema. Everybody is under pressure: should we play the game, not play the game? Filmmakers in Mumbai have very bravely resisted the temptation. Only a few opportunists have jumped on to the bandwagon. Everybody wants to be in the safe zone. Filmmakers who are known for action are making big action films, those who are known for comedy are making big comedies. Karan Johar is making a love story. He has shelved Takht, everybody who was trying some­thing new has put it aside. Ab kya karen (What to do)? This too shall pass.

Did you feel this pressure?

See I don’t have much to lose. People have big budgets and big star casts. People don’t see me as a successful film­maker whose films do well at the box office. I stay within my budget. At the same time, it’s very disheartening when no one goes to watch your movie. But if I don’t find any audience then there’s no point in making movies.

Yes, for instance, Almost Pyaar With DJ Mohabbat. It had such a lovely theme and great music. Yet no one went to see it.

I think the title of the film went wrong. What has also become a problem is that people associate you with a certain kind of film. Such good performances from Alaya F and Karan Mehta. In a way it happens to all my films. Look at Return of Hanuman. It came out in 2007 and people are discovering it now in the context of Adipurush 16 years later. But no one went to watch it when it came out. If you just stand your ground and make the film you feel is coming from you and is good enough, people will find it. It has to be honest and truthful to you.

You’ve not had an easy time personally too, right?

Yes, my health collapsed completely. It hit rock bottom. I fought my way back with friends and through will power. There were a lot of things. The hate I was getting, the trolling on social me­dia, my daughter’s anxiety, everybody around me was suffering because of me, my opinions, my being so vocal. I had a heart attack, got a stent, and from then on, it was downhill for a year and a half. I imploded. It started in 2020 and just went on. I finished shooting Dobaaraa in the first week of April 2020. May 21 was when the heart attack happened. It was a mild heart attack, and I was at the hospital in time but still. My exercise stopped. I had hematoma. I busted my calf muscle. I was in a wheelchair for so long I got irritated and went and acted in Kuttey. I told Aasmaan [Bhardwaj, the director] just kill me, if not literally, at least metaphorically. I want to die.

That’s your new goal? You want to die in films?

Yes, I’ve already acted in seven films where I die. You’ll see them soon. They’re all brutal deaths. The only way I can do things is to laugh at myself. Like in Vikram Motwane’s AK Vs AK. The idea was what will people troll me about? I will troll myself.

It’s been 30 years in this industry. That’s an achievement, isn’t it?

I have nothing to complain about. I have made more films than any of my contemporaries. I have been around 30 years working, still standing. I came here hoping to make one film, I didn’t know what would happen. So much has happened.

How do you see us as a society?

We had learnt to clothe our hatreds, our shortcomings, our illnesses, our repres­sions. But all the clothes are off now, and we are fully naked.

But you don’t usually complain. Do you?

No. But sometimes I get irritated when people ask for selfies and I want to ask them what film of mine have you watched? Show me the ticket. I pose for more selfies than the tickets sold for my movies.

Your name still means a lot to any newcomer to the Hindi film industry.

People eulogise you, mythologise you, jiska koi nahin, uska Anurag Kashyap hai (any newbie without a godfather can count on Anurag Kashyap). I’m quite tired of that. I want someone to be there for me. Mera papa kaun (Who is my godfather)?

So is the burden of everyone’s expectations too much?

Everyone who makes his first film wants to show it to me. Anyone who writes a script wants me to read it. I don’t have the mind space anymore. I can’t do it anymore. I’ve learnt to say no. I got a button from Sydney which says no in ten different ways. I just want to sit qui­etly and read. I’ve read Don Winslow’s City of Dreams. I’m reading graphic novels. I read the graphic novel by Alexis Nolent on which David Fincher’s next film is based. I read All the Sinners Bleed by SA Cosby.

What did you watch?

I saw 40 movies at Cannes and Sydney. Justine Triet’s Anatomy of a Fall, Charlotte Regan’s Scrapper, Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, and Louis Garrel’s The Innocent, and so many more.

And just the joy of being in the community of filmmakers…

It’s so lovely. When I meet filmmakers from all over the world, I feel so happy. It’s only when I come to Mumbai that I feel like I don’t belong. Look at Tamil Nadu. Five films from five first-time filmmakers have been successful. Things are happening. At a time when mid budget movies were not doing well, Zara Hatke Zara Bachke came around. It gives you strength.

And acting with people like Vijay Sethupathi in Nithilan Swaminathan’s Maharaja?

He’s so lovely. Acting with him makes me a better actor. The way he thinks about cinema. He reminds me of Irrfan.

How did the failure of Almost Pyaar With DJ Mohabbat affect you?

People find it difficult to believe but that film came from my heart. I put all my savings into it. I wanted to make it, put it out there. I really believe in love. And it’s not a dead idea. It’s breathing, as is the film. People will discover it whenever they want to. That for me is worth it. When I came out of it, I was completely broke.

So how do you survive?

I’m acting, doing so many things. You don’t need much to live on. I moved back to my old house. I cut down my expens­es. I’m happy I didn’t have to make some­thing I didn’t want to in order to survive. Circumstances didn’t force me to make something I didn’t want to.

But you used to keep an open house. Is it still like that?

Not anymore. My need was to be away. My priority is my health. I want to read. I want to write. In the next four-five years I plan to be extremely selfish. I’ve given a lot of myself.

So, what next?

I’m writing a lot. Whatever takes off first. I’ve got at least three scripts for TV series and six film scripts. Filmmakers inspire me. People like Hansal Mehta and Anubhav Sinha who have rein­vented themselves. Sudhir Mishra and Vikramaditya Motwane inspire me. I see these young filmmakers from the south like Joby George, Fahadh Faasil, Arjun Das, Vijay Sethupathi, Tovino Thomas, Basil Joseph, or Vetrimaaran, look at what he did with Soori in Viduthalai Part 1.

Anurag KashyapcinemafilmmakerKennedySunny Leone