Anurag Kashyap: There is Honesty in Dark Themes

Leh: Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap loves to put society's underbelly under a scanner and his films like Black Friday, Dev D and Gangs Of Wasseypur are a case in point. Now he has come up with another dark drama Ugly, and the director says that he delves into such themes because he believes in showing "real" things.

"I think there's a certain honesty and truth in dark themes. Rest everything else is a camouflage - like they decorate a cake with icing. I believe in real, and that's what I show," Anurag told IANS in an interview here.

That's precisely what he does in Ugly, which had its Asia premiere at the recently concluded third edition of the Ladakh International Film Festival (LIFF) and was well-received. (Also Read: Ugly received well at LIFF)

He put together Ugly after coming across multiple true-life stories during his research.

Anurag requested the media not to reveal anything about the film, but one can't resist from saying that the edge-of-the-seat thriller keeps you engrossed from the word go.

Ugly, which was initially screened at the Cannes International Film Festival earlier this year, is set for a September 19 release.

Meanwhile, Yudh, his ambitious TV project, which is also Amitabh Bachchan's first fiction show for the small screen, is ready to go on air. He says that there are many factors about the show that excite him.

"There's this whole excitement. The whole idea that Mr Bachchan is wanting to do (fiction on) television and he's taking chances is amazing. An actor in his 70s, taking chances, redefining things and doing things himself is also astonishing," he said.

 "And that I'm getting to participate in it (the show) is a high in itself for me," added Anurag, the creative director of the show, which is slated to go on air on Sony Entertainment Television in July.

The Big B-Kashyap partnership doesn't end here. Mr Bachchan will be seen in a cameo in Ghoomketu, which is co-produced by Anurag, who also stars in the film.

There's another film that they have joined hands for.

On that, the filmmaker said: "It's still in its writing phase. Mr Bachchan has become very busy right now."

Thanks to his past successes, Anurag's plate is full and he is also roping in big names for his projects.

For instance, there is Bombay Velvet featuring Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma, which has entered the "editing" stage, he said.

"Now it is in post-production. We take a lot of time in that," he said.

Instrumental in introducing a new style of content, presentation and genre to the Indian cinema, Anurag is sure that he would "continue making films" he wants to.

Nevertheless he is glad that between him and his partners at Phantom Films, Vikramaditya Motwane and Vikas Bahl, they are offering a "balanced" dose of entertainment to cinema aficionados in the country.

"I make Ugly, Vikas makes Queen and Vikram makes Lootera. It's a good balance," he said.Creativity is not the only thing that keeps him busy.

Till some time back, Anurag was also fighting a case to show a smoking scene without the disclaimer - 'Smoking is injurious to health'. But he lost it.

He however hasn't given up!"We have to continue fighting it - at least I will continue the fight in the hope that someday someone will understand that if I don't want an anti-smoking logo running on my movie that doesn't mean that I am encouraging smoking," he said.

Anurag says that running a disclaimer is not a bad idea, but the current format is not right.

"People need to see that. It is fine to put an ad before and after the film, but on the film - it's not just distracting, it's insulting," he said.