Birthday special: 5 lesser known facts about filmmaker Anurag Kashyap
A maverick genius known for breaking barriers and constantly experimenting with conventionally risky subjects, Anurag Kashyap boasts a stellar, awe-inspiring oeuvre. A jack of all trades, Kashyap has been associated with some of the landmark films in Hindi cinema and is also considered an institution of filmmaking. On his 50th birthday, we take a look at five lesser-known facts about the nonconformist director-producer.
A trendsetting director, but also a versatile writer
While Kashyap's major claim to fame may have been the cult classic Gangs of Wasseypur franchise, not everyone knows that his prolific writing skills have anchored several landmark projects. He had penned the screenplay of psychological thriller Kaun, gangster drama Satya, coming-of-age film Udaan, action-thriller Jung, and even the dialogues for Nayak. What protean writing skills!
Did you know he has made a kids' movie, too?
To put Kashyap and kids' content in the same sentence sounds almost unbelievable, but it's true! In 2007, he wrote and directed the animated action-adventure comedy film Return of Hanuman. The Central Board of Film Certification put it under the "educational film" category since it deals with global warming. It holds a 77% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes and is available on Jio Cinema.
Not 'Black Friday,' but unreleased 'Paanch' was his first-ever directorial
Though Kashyap made waves in Bollywood with Black Friday, which revolved around the dreadful 1993 Mumbai blasts, his first feature film directorial was actually Paanch. Starring Kay Kay Menon and Aditya Srivastava, the film never got a theatrical release due to its gore, violence, crude language, and demonstration of drug abuse. It is available on YouTube, but the print quality isn't exactly the best.
Could you spot Kashyap in these films?
Kashyap has numerous tricks up his sleeve, and in addition to being a filmmaker and writer, he also has several acting roles to his credit. He had cameos in his own directorial projects like No Smoking, Gulaal, and Dev D, among others. Besides brief roles in Happy New Year and Luck By Chance, he also played the antagonist in the Tamil film Imaikkaa Nodigal.
Kashyap and Karan Johar almost collaborated in 2003
Karan Johar had approached Kashyap to pen the 2003 film Kal Ho Naa Ho. Kashyap, however, refused because "Johar is the king of romance and [Kashyap] is a realist." The Ugly director revealed that his refusal didn't go down well with Johar. We can't help but think what a completely different film KHNH would have turned out to be had Kashyap given his nod!
