Anurag Kashyap in a talk with RSTV Anchor Irfan. Anurag Kashyap, born September 10, 1972 is a film director and screenwriter. He made his directorial debut with as yet unreleased Paanch, He is known for his films like Black Friday (2004), No Smoking (2007), Dev D (2009), Gulaal (2009), That Girl in Yellow Boots (2011) and Gangs of Wasseypur - I & II (2012). As a screenwriter, he wrote the scripts for Satya (1998) and Canadian film Water (2005)..
Kashyap was born in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, where his father worked for the state electricity board. He grew up in several cities, including Varanasi, Saharanpur, Gorakhpur and Obra. He did his early schooling in Dehradun and, age eight onwards, at the Scindia School in Gwalior.
He was fascinated with films right from childhood. Even at age five, he would watch Hindi films like Kora Kagaz and Aandhi at a nearby club and open-air theater which he had to give with the start of schooling. Due to Kashyap's desire to become a scientist, he went to Delhi for his higher studies and enrolled himself into a zoology course at Hansraj College (Delhi University) graduating in 1993. During his college days, he started watching films again and also got involved with drugs and alcohol. He was confused and depressed and had joined a street theater group, Jana Natya Manch and ended up doing a lot of street plays. The same year, friends introduced him to world cinema and urged him to catch a "de Sica retrospective" at the International Film Festival of India. In ten days, Kashyap saw 55 films at the festival, and de Sica's Bicycle Thieves was the film that influenced him the most. Kashyap recollects "in a way you can say that these films changed my life and it's meaning completely for me. Just that one film festival and I decided that this is what I want to be a part of - in next five months I was in Mumbai".
00:25 Montage, Introduction to Anurag Kashyap, 20 years in cinema, Bombay, 'Satya', 'Kaun', 'Shool', 'Jung', 'Nayak', 'Paisa Vasool', 'Water', 'Shaka Laka Boom Boom' as a writer, as a director 'Paanch', 'Black Friday', 'No Smoking', 'Dev D', 'Gulaal', 'Udaan', 'Gangs of Wasseypur', 'Luv Shuv Tey Chicken Khurana'
02:36 Interview begins
02:58 Delhi, Completed graduation in Hansraj College in 1992, Uttar Pradesh, Preparing for Civil Services, Father in Banaras now, Childhood in many cities in Purvanchal, Father engineer with electricity board, transfer, Obra a city, Childhood spent in Manoj Bajpai's first house in 'Gangs of Wasseypur', Brother born in that house, He was born in Gorakhpur, Vidyut Nagar, Tanda, Faridabad, Saryu river, turtles, Anpara another city, Delhi to study, Lived in Lucknow, Wanted to be a scientist, Cinema enthusiast from childhood, Amitabh Bachchan, Govinda, A friend introduced him to English literature, Read Hindi literature till then
06:14 Scindia School in Gwalior, Very introvert, Spent all time in library, Enjoyed short stories, 'Mansarovar', Sharad Joshi, Novels, Sharad Chandra 'Devdas', Reading since 8 years old
09:13 Vast difference between him and people from big cities, No solitude for today's kids, 'Mahabharat', Russian literature translated in Hindi, Read Dostoevsky in Hindi
10:21 2 brothers and 1 sister, He is the eldest
10:31 They didn't study, They were extrovert and social, 'Sarita', 'Manorama', 'Grihashobha'
11:24 Break
12:40 Interview resumes
13:03 Wanted to talk and interaction with girls for the first time at the age of 16, Kafka, Marx, Communist, Ayn Rand, Capitalist, Sunit Sinha, Actor Factor, Jana Natya Manch, Street Play, 'Act One' by N K Sharma, Habib Tanveer, Shriram Center, Couldn't understand the philosophy of Jana Natya Manch, ' Act One', Piyush Mishra, Manoj Bajpai, Aniruddh Wahal, Mukherjee Nagar, Bansuri, Comic book, Jagdish Sharma, Went to Bombay in 1993 and watched many films, Prabhat Jha, Joy Sengupta, Vittorio De Sica, 50 films in 10 days, Aki Kaurismaki's 'The Match Factory Girl', De Sica Retrospective, Krishan Raghav, 'Shesh Prashn', Aarti, his first wife, Avantika Keswani, Deepa Das Munshi, Agra
19:44 Break
20:44 Interview resumes
21:48 I was able to do things because I just jumped into it without asking for anything in return, Anurag Kashyap Films Private Limited, 'No Smoking' flop, Let go of his fees for 'Dev D' with UTV, Abhay Deol, Kalki Koechlin, Maahi Gill, 20% to me if the film works commercially, but couldn't go to an individual, so company formed, 'Gulaal' also became a hit, 'That Girl in Yellow Boots', 'Udaan', Both got critical acclaim but lot of borrowing, Organic growth of the company, Creative control in his hands, Phantom, AKFPL is an independent company, Director's voice most important, Creative people (film directors) from many places, Guneet Monga, Low budget, Socially relevant films
29:50 'Black Friday' made as envisaged, Many elements had to be let go off, in 'Gulaal', My directors able to make independent films when I'm a producer