The past year has been quite eventful for director, producer and sometimes an actor, Anurag Kashyap who is turning 44 today. His movie ‘Udta Punjab’ got into a bitter battle with the Central Board of Film Certification leading to beginning of a huge controversy. But, these controversies are not new to Anurag’s life. He might be a known personality today but there was a time in his career when either his movies weren't released or were released two years later.
The filmmaker, who began his career in Bollywood as a dialogue writer, makes movies which are inspired by the dark shadows of film noir. The gut wrenching scripts which challenge the habitual viewership of audiences have made Anurag Kashyap the one director in Bollywood who on more than one occasion has been compared to the iconic Quentin Tarantino. The Hollywood filmmaker, Tarantino, whose releases have always earned critical acclaim, is known to make movies which have non-linear storylines and aesthetic violence.
On Anurag's birthday we take you through some of the elements which add substance to his comparison with Tarantino.
Non-linear storyline: If you take a look at Anurag's movies, you will notice that they have a non-linear storyline and sometimes a story within a story. Whether it is ‘Dev D', ‘Gangs of Wasseypur', ‘Gulaal' or ‘Black Friday', Anurag has always proved that he can change the perception of a normal tale in ways beyond our imagination. In ‘Dev D', we saw a modern twist to the lovelorn protagonist Devdas, which restored viewers' faith in the Hindi film industry.
Dark Humour: Much like Tarantino's movies, Anurag's have an ample amount of dark humour. You can always trust Anurag to add a comic flair to serious situations in his movie, something which stays in the memories of audiences for a long time.
Not-so-good looking protagonists: Calling characters in Anurag Kashyap's movies glamorous would be an over-statement. These actors might be famous for their dapper looks in real life but once they come under Anurag's umbrella, they are asked to tone down on their style quotient. Whether it was Abhay Deol in ‘Dev D', John Abraham in ‘No Smoking', or Ranbir Kapoor in ‘Bombay Velvet', the characters were simple and powerful.
Satirical subject manner: Anurag Kashyap doesn't fret about bringing the dark secrets of society to the screen, much like Tarantino. Whether it was Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained, or Inglourious Basterds, Tarantino has always managed to display the stark truth of society. And so has Anurag. In Paanch, his unreleased movie, Anurag spoke about the serial murders in Pune and its characters revolved around drugs, sex and crimes. In Black Friday, the movie which took two years to get a nod from the censor board, he blatantly showed the truth of Mumbai after the 1993 bombings. In the Gangs of Wasseypur series, he took revenge and coal smuggling in Bihar to another level. And in That Girl In Yellow Boots he questioned the stereotypes of society by telling the story of a girl who came to Mumbai to search for her father and in desperation to earn a living took a job at a massage parlour.
Shades of violence: No Anurag Kashyap movie is free from violence. It's not full of violent sequences but has them just in the right amount, much like Tarantino. Blood, gore and flesh play an important role in Kashyap's movies. Remember, the last scene of GOW 2 when Faizal (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) takes it upon him to kill Ramadhir Singh (Tigmanshu Dhulia) and eventually does it with uncountable bullets? Not only GOW, Black Friday, Bombay Velvet, Ugly and Gulaal all had brutal violence.
Anurag Kashyap has definitely breathed fresh air into Bollywood. The maverick, who is rebellious and doesn't care much about the censor board, says he is an atheist with cinema being his only religion. For his amazing contribution to cinema, the Government of France awarded him the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) in 2013.
