Film director and screenwriter Anurag Kashyap’s talent knows no bounds. He has previously directed award winning movie Black Friday which was about the 1993 Mumbai bombings. And, needless to say, it was one of the most powerful films ever made.
Apart from directing offbeat films such as Dev D, Gulaal and No Smoking, he has also written scripts for movies like Satya, that won a Filmfare award. He recently married Dev D actress Kalki Koechlin in a quiet ceremony in Ooty. City Express catches up with multitalented film maker, who was in town recently to promote his upcoming film Shaitan, to find out more about his films and future plans.
Tell us about the movie Shaitan.
The movie is a new age movie.
It is one of a kind. It will definitely be a new experience for the Indian audience.
It is a thriller and is basically about this group of kids who do things that are wrong, try to cover it up and then face harsh consequences for their actions.
There is normally a ‘shock’ factor in your movies. What is the ‘shock’ factor in this? Due to the kind of candy floss cinema that Bollywood is seeing in recent days, whatever I do cannot create a surprise.
Do you read what your critics write about you? I read every reaction I get for my work. I go through each one of them and derive what I need to from them.
Is it true that the film is based on Adnan Patrawala’s case? Yes, it is loosely based on the case. But it more so comprises of all the newspaper articles about what happens in our routine lives. The idea originated from pieces of this particular case.
Why did you decide to produce the movie? The directors were turned down by several producers before I accepted the movie.
I think it was one of the reasons I did the movie. I saw the potential of the film and, I saw the director’s view.
It was the same case with Udaan. It had incredible potential and someone had to encourage the whole idea.
This was a young cast.
Did you like working with them? I think all the actors in this film are very talented. None of them are newcomers.
They are extremely enthusiastic and have delivered excellent performances. It was definitely fun working with them.
Is Paanch similar to Shaitan? I think there are minor similarities between the movies. I wrote about the youth I knew and Bejoy wrote about the ones that he knew. But the director(Bejoy) never really knew about the similarities as I didn’t want him to get subconsciously affected by my movie. I strongly believe in his talent. He is a debutant and I wanted to give him space to work on the movie.
What audience are you targeting? I think it’s the youth. The movie is set in a very Indian context. It’s about their lives.
So they would feel connected to one character or another.
Will Paanch ever be released? I do not know and honestly speaking, I do not care.
How is newly married life? It’s going good. She has been busy so I haven’t met her for a few days but it’s been great till now.
Shaitan gang raids the town
The cast of Shaitan along with producer Anurag Kashyap were in town recently to promote the movie. The movie has been directed by Bejoy Nambiar who assisted Mani Ratnam with Guru. The audio of the movie has been immensely popular with the youth. Shaitan (released on June 11) has received rave reviews from all critics.
Commentator turned actor Shiv Pandit speaking on the occasion said, “I play Dash who works at a coffee shop but secretly deals drugs.” The movie is said to be loosely based on Adnan Patrawala’s case. Kirti Kulhari who debuted with Khichdi plays the character of Tanya Sharma who has a middle class upbringing and is struggling to find her place in the world. Aamir star Rajeev Khandelwal plays a cop in the movie.
The extremely talented DJ, Neil Bhoopalam, who was last seen in a power packed performance in No one killed Jessica, plays Zubin. Talking of his role, he said, “The guy is sort of a pervert, like most men.
He is a level headed guy. I enjoyed making the movie.
It is a straight forward story.” Said Anurag Kashyap, “Bangalore is my sasuraal.
I love coming here. It is a new age movie. Indian movie goers have not experienced these kind of movies. So, I chose to do this film”.
Winners of the Shaitan road contest conducted by Cinemax also received a private viewing of the film along with the whole cast of the movie.