By Hindustan Times
Fourteen years ago, I wrote an editorial for a number one news magazine on ‘The New Bollywood Brigade.’ It started with an anecdote about Anurag Kashyap telling Amitabh Bachchan off. Kashyap was only 26 years old then. Satya, which he had co-written, had established him as a hotshot talent.
The story went like this: Impressed with Satya, Bachchan had called Kashyap and said, “Let’s do something different.” Kashyap clearly told the superstar that he desired to do it his way. “Don’t set any limits because I’m writing for Amitabh Bachchan.” Kashyap wrote the script, which had Bachchan playing a gray character. Everyone liked it but, as Kashyap told it back then, “Bachchan developed cold feet... He wanted a justification for the nature. I said no. I said, let’s respect the audience. Let’s give them something to think about.” After that conversation, Kashyap said, he never went back.
Last week, Bachchan saw Kashyap’s latest film Gangs Of Wasseypur and raved about it on Twitter. “What a film,” he tweeted, “Anurag Kashyap’s direction amazing… Indian cinema taking path breaking strides… pride and extreme gratification.” Within the years since their first encounter, Kashyap has gone from being Bollywood’s problem child to the poster boy of ‘Hindie,’ that may be Hindi independent cinema. It’s been a journey fraught with struggle, depression, divorce and relentless battling with the powers that be in Bollywood — studios, producers, stars, trade pundits, even the Censor Board (Kashyap’s first film Paanch never released for the reason that Censor Board deemed it too dark for the Indian public). But Kashyap has endured.
Gangs Of Wasseypur is, by turns, absorbing and frustrating. It features terrific performances and scenes of powerful, explosive violence. Nevertheless it could also be indulgent and far too long. The film started slow on the box office, but picked up by the evening shows and is probably going to make around Rs. 11 crore net at the first weekend. Clearly, Kashyap’s brand of cinema isn't any threat to a masala entertainer like Rowdy Rathore, which has remodeled Rs. 130 crore in three weeks and is the largest hit of the year thus far. However the incontrovertible fact that Kashyap could get a massive studio — Viacom 18 — to place down Rs. 18 crore plus for a two-part, five-hour-20-minute, star-less saga concerning the coal mining mafia in Bihar is a victory. It signifies that viewers have choices on the multiplex. Yes, the box office Goliath is likely to be a full-blow, star-laden comedy or drama — this year’s biggest include Agneepath and Housefull 2. But there may be also more likely to be something smaller, edgier, ‘hatke’ running on the next screen.
Because Kashyap isn't any longer a one-man movement. Over the years, he has mentored dozens of directors and an astonishing pool of talent. In between his own projects, he has found time to provide films like Vikramaditya Motwane’s Udaan — the primary Indian film to make the official selection on the Cannes International Film Festival in seven years; Bejoy Nambiar’s Shaitan, Vasan Bala’s Peddlers and co-produce Michael Winterbottom’s Trishna. Dev.D pushed the astounding composer Amit Trivedi into the spotlight and Gulaal made us recognise the numerous talents of Piyush Mishra. Gangs of Wasseypur features an array of dazzling actors — from Manoj Vajpai to Richa Chadda to Tigmanshu Dhulia. There isn’t one false note among them.
These films and filmmakers are slowly expanding the definition of Indian cinema abroad. Bollywood remains to be the mum brand but there's an increasing recognition that another cinema is emerging. At Cannes, the India conversation can be dominated through which stars walked the red carpet. This year, for the primary time, the chatter was about Indian films — Gangs of Wasseypur and Peddlers screened within the festival sidebars. On the upcoming Toronto International Film Festival, town to City section will showcase 10 Mumbai films; Gangs of Wasseypur is a robust contender.
Film scholar Ashish Rajyadaksha once said that it's “vitally important to take care of an experimental cinema for both the mainstream and the bigger cultural context,” for the reason that experimental cinema becomes “a research and development centre for cinema within the country.” What’s exciting is that Hindie and mainstream filmmakers are feeding off one another. So Motwane’s next is a period film with mainstream stars, Ranveer Singh and Sonakshi Sinha. Kashyap is a co-producer. His next directorial project could also be a period film — Bombay Velvet, set within the 1960s Jazz Age, starring Ranbir Kapoor.
The creative churning is yielding sparkling cinema. That's why Anurag Kashyap matters.
Anupama Chopra is an author, journalist and a film reviewer for the Hindustan Times.
