In Chandigarh, celebrated filmmaker Anurag Kashyap believes irrespective of box-office figures a good director will always be making films

Nonika Singh

Not too long ago, he was in hyperactive mode on social media. Today, one of the most celebrated directors of India, Anurag Kashyap who professes, ‘I was not born with a filter’, and has been spilling beans about his personal life, sharing intimate details, has developed an aversion of sorts for the social media.

As he claims that he doesn’t read newspapers, nor watch news and has given up access to passwords for his social media accounts, he chuckles, “For once you do that, the world seems like a better place.” His antipathy for social media comes from the realisation, “How it has gone out of control, is controlling our lives and what was once the voice of the voiceless is being manipulated.” So, others can have a field day taking pot-shots at him; he simply turns a blind eye (and deaf ear) to what trolls are saying. Interestingly, he is equally unaffected by the lukewarm response to his latest film Almost Pyaar With DJ Mohabbat. Sure it opened to rave reviews, only audience, he says with no malice at all, “Wanted to watch Pathaan.”

In a happy space

As he reveals how he too made an exception and went to see Pathaan first-day-first show, we are reminded of the glowing praise, especially what he had to say about Shah Rukh Khan. He is more than happy that Pathaan set the cash registers ringing. In comparison, he reminds us how his Almost Pyar... is a small film and hence safe the day it lands. If box-office figures could affect his fortunes, he would have stopped making films long time ago. Why even Gangs of Wasseypur, considered his seminal work, did not set the BO on fire.

With a burgeoning fan club, has he ever tried to decode the anomaly as to why his admirers do not turn up in theatres to watch his films? He gives a valid explanation, “They do watch, only they don’t queue up the first day. My audiences are educated, working class people or students who will see films in their own sweet time. My films always have a shelf life and work over a period of time.” Anyway, the much acclaimed filmmaker, who has given us cutting-edge cinema, does not make films for others, only for himself. Thus he could not care less if people think his cinema is too dark (Ugly) or that love stories (Manmarziyaan and now Almost Pyar...) are not his forte or why he opted for an adaptation (Dobaaraa)

Deep message

On the dark subjects that he continues to explore film after film, he observes, “We are living in dark times. The problem is we are not ready to look into the mirror and confront our own prejudices or hatred. We are caught in a bubble, oblivious to the ugliness within us.” Since right now we are trapped in the world of hate, the message in his latest film, he insists, is very significant. Contrary to what naysayers may think, he shares, “Almost Pyar... is not about romantic love but acceptance, and need for tolerance and to respect our differences, and shed our blinkers of prejudices, hate and bias.”

Nearly three decades in filmdom, he does not see himself as an insider or outsider. Only he is happy India is a ‘film crazy country’ which means he will always find someone to back him, even though, “I do not promise blockbusters to my producers.” Yet while steadfastly refusing to cater to the lowest common denominator, funding for his films never dries up. Rather he has work and projects lined up for next three years!

Future is future

Something sure is brewing for the OTT platform too, where he gave us the mega successful web series Sacred Games. But what it would be, he is not telling, for, “Future is future and if you want to make God laugh, tell him about your plans.” As for the past, the maker, who most recently gave us Dobaaraa around time travel, would not like to change a thing were he to go back in time. Sure he has paid a price for speaking out his mind, “We all do for the choices we make, even for the vegetables we buy or grow in our backyard.” But whatever may be the consequences, he will never stop making the kind of cinema he believes in. The acid test of cinema is not box-office jugglery, but, “If you are a good filmmaker you will always be making films.”

Beyond the numbers’ game

Amid the noise over box-office collections, he has managed to keep his individual voice intact for, “That is why I came to the film industry.” Moreover, the obsession with box-office figures, he asserts, “Is a very recent phenomenon, happened around the release of Ghajini as a marketing strategy.” Part of the writing team of acclaimed films like Satya and Nayak, he quips, “Who remembers their box-office figures?” Thus, the recent hullaballoo around Hindi films not working too, he asserts, is unwarranted and is not very different from the scenario worldwide.

Chandigarh connect

The City Beautiful where he came calling on Tuesday fills him up with beautiful memories of the past, especially the food. The director who gave us rather interesting and complex Punjabi characters in Manmarziyaan has a dream project around the state. What it would be, he is not divulging. Heartened by the new winds of change in Punjabi cinema, the last film he saw was Jaggi by Anmol Sidhu, which he rates as extraordinary and hopes “it finds its audiences”.

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