The Dark Knight rises

Anurag Kashyap’s upcoming film Gangs of Wasseypur has begun making waves even before its release. We take a look at his filmography so far to understand his influence on movie-goers

The story of Anurag Kashyap’s rise to prominence, as the torchbearer of new wave of Indian cinema, reads more like a Martin Scorcese’s thriller. Born in Gorakhpur, UP, Anurag Kashyap was introduced to cinema at the age of five but his found interest in Hindi classics didn’t last long since he kept moving from one place to another for most part of his life. In the early 90s, he joined Hansraj College in New Delhi to study Zoology. If there was a moment in his life which one could pin point and say ‘it all began there’, it’s definitely the time when he saw Vittorio de Sica’s cult classic, Bicycle Thieves at a film festival in 1993. He had found his true calling and soon he moved to Mumbai like so many other aspiring actors, writers and directors to try his luck in Bollywood. The struggle to make ends meet had a big impact in the early stages of his career. Having spent most of his time writing plays and discussing about cinema and literature with the likes of Govind Nihalani and Makrand Deshpande. The major turning point of his writing career was collaborating with RGV in mid 90s. He wrote the script for Satya, which is still one of the best films ever made on Mumbai’s underworld and then films like Kaun and Shool cemented his place as a screenwriter. But he had other plans.

After making a short film Last Train to Mahankali, Anurag Kashyap made his directorial debut with Paanch in 2000. The film’s content shocked the censor board and the film hasn’t seen the light of day till date, although it’s widely regarded as a cult classic. His major breakthrough came in 2004 with Black Friday. The film was based on the actual events which occurred post the bomb blasts in 1993 in Bombay. Five years later, during which he directed No Smoking and Return of Hanuman, he came up with yet another path breaking film Dev D and followed it up with another brilliant film Gulaal. His rise to fame coincided with the downfall of RGV. Anurag Kashyap began doing what RGV had done in Bollywood back in the late 90s and early 2000s. Apart from directing, he also began producing niche films like Udaan, Shaitaan and That Girl in Yellow Boots.

His upcoming film Gangs of Wasseypur has already begun making waves ahead of its release. The film has been screened at film festivals in Cannes, London, New York and Sydney. The response so far is unanimous. Gangs of Wasseypur is being hailed as a classic. Last year, Anurag had stated that Tamil cinema inspired him to go back to his roots, which explains why, for the first time in his career, he has set a film deep in the hinterlands of Jharkhand. The film spans six decades and narrates a story of revenge set in the backdrop of the coal mafia in Dhanbad.

He’s the antithesis of every cliche which Bollywood is known for including ‘Karan Joharisation’ of Hindi cinema. The sheer intensity and rawness of most of the characters in his films leaves a deep impact and with Manoj Bajpai playing the lead role in Gangs of Wasseypur, the audience can look forward to some real fireworks on screen. Watching an Anurag Kashyap’s film, especially when he’s on top of his game, is like taking a shot of LSD which is as close to reaching a cinematic orgasm. Only a few can be like him because he really is the Dark Knight of Indian cinema.

Tags: Anurag Kashyap, featured, full-image, Gangs of Wasseypur

Category: Bollywood, Cinema