Anurag Kashyap: I'm thankful to piracy for saving my career

Highlights

• His directorial debut Paanch is yet to see the light of the day, but filmmaker Anurag Kashyap's popularity and celluloid experiments make him the ambassador of neo-cinema in India.
• Part of his now-worldwide fame came courtesy his films being downloaded illegally online and the director, though thankful for the popularity, is upset with the bug that has infected the cinema industry.
• "I am thankful to piracy because it saved cinema and my career and I get bothered by it too that because of it our mainstream cinema now worldwide has become only about summer blockbusters and superheroes and sequels. Torrents have killed meaningful cinema worldwide because they are not like events and people chose to see them on laptops," the 40-year-old posted during an online Q and A session with his fans on user-generated news links website Reddit today.
• Mr Kashyap, who is known for making critically acclaimed films on a tight budget such as Gulal, Paanch, Black Friday, Dev D and the two part Gangs Of Wasseypur series, also wrote that he is not in a rat race for joining the so-called Rs 100 club in Bollywood.
• The director is now working on his magnum opus Bombay Velvet with Ranbir Kapoor in the lead and, while his contemporaries in Bollywood aim for the coveted box office mark, Mr Kashyap is not bothered.
• "I will care about the 100 crore club when my film costs more than 50 crore (in budget), like with my next BV (Bombay Velvet that) needs to make more than that (Rs 100 crore) to be sustainable for me in the future (sic)," he wrote on Reddit. The filmmaker also volleyed other questions such as his involvement in the music of his films.
• "With music, I first look for the right person, always a music director who has an inclination to create than to deliver a hit song and then he should have the time I need," posted Mr Kashyap.
• He justified his involvement further by revealing that "minimum we have taken on any film to create music is 18 months. (On) Bombay Velvet, we have already spent four years, (on) Gulaal we spent three years and (on) Gow (Gangs Of Wasseypur more than three years. Music is developed simultaneously along with the script (and that) is why they go together well."
• He added, "lyricists are more often than not chosen by the music director, he throws choices at me and I respond as yes or no and we discuss the script at every stage amongst ourselves, and whenever we pitch the film, it's always with ready music. That also explains why I always work with a new music director."
• Asked by a fan about how he gets past the censor board, Mr Kashyap answered, "Argue when they don't understand and make sure that your film is powerful enough for them to let it go and honest to its milieu, so that it does not look like a cheap afterthought (sic)."
• He also shrugged off the non-mainstream tag that his unconventional films starring either newcomers or theatre actors have earned him.
• "I have always believed I am mainstream. I just didn't have stars. I will lose my place only if I start to get dishonest with my film. if I start to cater to the fandom, either mine or the star's fandom, I will fail if not at first then sooner than most. It does not matter who is in the film, what matters is why you are making it and how honest are you to the material and to yourself," said Mr Kashyap.
• He also owns the rights to Indian comic book superhero Doga. Asked if the much-awaited film on the dog-masked vigilante will ever be made, Mr Kashyap replied: "Doga aayega. Ussey bananey ke liye jitna paisa chahiye woh tabhi milega jab Bombay Velvet superhit hogi. (Doga will be made. The budget required to make the film will be sanctioned only when Bombay Velvet is declared a superhit) like GoW (Gangs Of Wasseypur led to BV (Bombay Velvet), BV (Bombay Velvet) will lead to Doga."
• Meanwhile, the director, who is known for making edgy films, has "been dying to do a comedy" and that too with a quirky title: "How to be a capitalist via socialism".