'Kalki is a big emotional anchor in my life'

Wise man

In Bollywood, there are a few exceptions whose luck favours them much later in life but once it strikes right, there is no looking back. Critically acclaimed ace director, Anurag Kashyap is one such example. Metrolife caught the busy man who was recently in the City to promote Gangs of Wasseypur at his alma mater Hansraj College.

While his work is immensely appreciated each time, Anurag confesses to performance anxiety, “Expectations are the biggest killer.” This statement comes as a shock as his films amongst the most-awaited releases in any given year. “It is a strange world! Even a very good review can lead to a bad box-office resp­o­nse.” Do bad reviews hurt? “Yes, I am also stuck in it. So I feel ki bas apna kaam karo.”

He is notorious for making dark films. Why? “I make real films but ‘real’ is considered ‘dark’ here. Dark is a very relative term but since the audience is very used to watching light and frothy work, my films are considered dark!” He explains with example of his film Paanch, which didn’t get censor approval, “Today even college students who have seen the film ask me, ‘Kya tha is movie mein? Kyun rok diya isse release hone se?’ That is because there is no violence but reality in it.”

What inspires him to create such path-breaking movies is theatre. “I have learnt a lot from theatre. The techniques I use in my films are all learnt in my theatre days.” But he doesn’t plans to get back to the profession. “I support theatre but don’t have time to be a part of it now.”

How is Kalki, his wife, as an actress? “Kalki is an ever evolving and an extremely passionate and sincere actor. What makes me cast her is the approach that she adds to the character.” So is it creativity that binds both of them?

“Yes but more than that, it is the understanding in our relationship. Kalki is a big emotional anchor in my life.”

His life and living has inspired a great deal of his films from Auto Narayan (that became his “calling card in Bollywood”) to Gangs of Wasseypur.

“Life inspires me a lot. Something around you catches your attention and your brain starts questioning and thinking about it and ends up making a movie on it. There are a number of instances in my films inspired from my life.” What about Gangs... where is that inspired from? “My early years of living in North India have helped me acquire understanding of the characters that are there in the film.”

Are his one scene appearances in his own film a tribute to Alfred Hitchcock who was known to make similar appearances? “I used to do them because I never had money to cast too many people. So anybody could do the role.”

Is it also the reason to why he ropes in fresh actors every time? “New actors bring freshness to a film. With new actors, I can experiment real issues and shoot at real lo­ca­tions because nobody will have problems.” Smart, eh?