The Anurag Kashyap Omnibus
Saree clad heroines romancing their heroes on snow-clad mountains has to be a Yash Chopra flick. “Masala” entertainers borderlining on absurd yet immensely popular from 70s have to be Manmohan Desai.
Since the beginning of Bollywood cinema, filmmakers have found their own trademark style which they stick to. Reason being they are forever remembered because of this unique style. It is almost a mark of identification.
Still many established film makers attempt to make cinema away from their niche. Its a gamble they take, but does it pay off? Ram Gopal Varma catapulted to fame with a love triangle background dancer, her ruffian buddy and a film star. However his forte remains the Mumbai mafia with movies such as Satya, Company and Sarkar
Satya was the imagination of writers Anurag Kashyap and Saurabh Shukla. He starred as the fat, brutal policeman in the Oscar winning Slumdog Millionaire. Anurag Kashyap went on to give cinema a brand new dimension- his very own noir.
Perhaps the chutzpah behind a Kashyap movie remains the fact that he has not yet been classified into a ‘genre’. His first movie Black Friday adapted from the novel Black Friday about the 1993 Mumbai blasts, preceding riots and their investigation, was banned.
Cap- Introductory Scene from Black Friday- when the bomb blasts occur
The censors told me there was nothing ‘entertaining’ about it. Anuraag says in an interview, “I don’t understand how the book can be sold but the film can’t be released.” The film had to wait two years before its release in 2004. It was critically acclaimed. Danny Boyle cited the 12 minute police chase scene is the inspiration for the first scene of Slumdog Millionaire.
His second film Paanch never released. The dark side of a rock band with heavy sexual undertones, drugs, murder was not exactly the censor board’s idea of ‘entertainment’ either. The shooting for his next movie Gulaal was halted. “I had three movies, two were stalled one was banned,” says Kashyap.
Kashyap by 2006 became more famous for his personal life and his verbatim against the industry. He had separated from his wife Aarti Bajaj, whom he dated nine years before marrying. They had a five year old daughter. These three movies took their toll on him and he took to drinking and depression. “I coped with my depression with lots of single malt whisky, lots of sleeping in the bed, lying in the room, lazing around, looking at the roof and walls. I would push myself out to play with my daughter, and then I would start writing.” Rumours about him and his affair with Gulaal actress Ayesha Mohan were abuzz but Kashyap did not talk on it. His next release was No Smoking in 2007.
Phoonk de featuring John Abraham and Bipasha Basu from No Smoking
His repeated potshots on the Indian Film industry gave the tabloids enough fodder to keep him in the news. He accused Yashraj Films, one of the most A-List production house to be the ‘industry bully’. He says, “Yashraj have power over a lot of things; they get away with a lot of things. That’s why I say life is unfair, get used to it.”
He continued writing for penning movies like Yuva, Hanuman Returns, Nayak and dialogues for Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal, Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd. But his film making career got a new lease of life and rose his status in film circle thanks to Dev D.
Dev D Trailer
Sarat Chandra Chatterjee’s ancient novel has been told and retold in nine films so far. None came close to the Kashyap did. The text is refreshingly modernised with the locale set in rural Punjab and Delhi. Dev, son of industrialist, Oxford-educated spoilt, arrogant, aimless asks his childhood sweetheart to send a naked picture but spurns her when there are claims of her not being a virgin. The feisty Paro decides to marry whoever her parents decide- a man much older with children. Here the story moves to Paharganj, Delhi with its decadence, neon light, smoke, drug-selling foreigners. More dysfunctional than ever, he lands in the fushia haven of hooker Chanda.
Here starts Dev’s true decline- he obsesses over the happily married Paro, spurns the loving Chanda, becomes an alcoholic, loses his father and his family leaves him on the road with no cash and is reduced to interacting with a street dog.
At this point can the movie truly denounces the rules. Kashyap’s Devdas does not die at Paro’s doorstep rather decides to give life a second chance. Chatterjee’s Devdas is a victim of his own actions as well as destiny. Kashyap’s Dev takes control and for the first time has an aim- to win back his real love- Chanda.
Dev D garnered rave reviews mostly. Nikhat Azmi from the Times of India called it “one of the most radical Indian films, at least in its delineation of male and female sexuality”. Raja Sen from Rediff.com tell readers to “See Dev D once, get bombed, see it again.”
His next was the long awaited Gulaal which did not generate box office collections but was critically acclaimed. His next writing projects are Rensil D’Silva’s Jehaad, Goldie Behl’s Shor and UTV’s Guru Dutt. Movie projects in the pipeline include Bombay Velvet a thriller based in 60s and action hero flick Doga based on popular North Indian comic series
Kalki Koechlin
His personal life too seems to be on a high. He is now living in with Kalki Koechlin who played Chanda in Dev. He says, “I’m very happy in my relationship with Kalki. She has brought great stability to my life.”
Maybe that is why the angry young director of Bollywood seems to be more calmer now, reconciling a famous tiff with director Karan Johar. He is now penning Karan’s next movie. “Today, I realise where I had gone wrong in my earlier cinema. I’m working on my weak points.”
