For someone whose first film 'Paanch' was banned for being too violent, Anurag Kashyap has come a long way with his revenge drama 'Gangs of Wasseypur'.
Kashyap had refused to bow down to the Censor for 'Paanch' despite it being his debut film. The film never saw the light of the day and he struggled to make his other movies before 'Dev D' brought him commercial success.
He is once again rewriting the rules of movie making with his two part 'Gangs of Wasseypur', which in Kashyap's own words, is his most watched movie.
The director says he is finally in a happy space.
"Now am getting to make the kind of films I always wanted to make and I am making them freely. I am in a happy space," Kashyap told PTI in an interview.
Violence is a key ingredient in the drama, which draws mostly from real people and incidents. Kashyap said he did not want to control violence in the film because it would have hampered the reality.
"Violence is not portrayed realistically in our films which sometimes inspires people to act like a hero. I played up violence in 'Wasseypur' because I believe that real violence makes you uncomfortable, it makes you flinch. You would not want to repeat something which disturbs you."
One of advantages of being true to his conviction is that sometimes good stories come walking to Kashyap because people believe that he will be interested.
That's what happened to 'Wasseypur'. The story had first gone to Hansal Mehta, who did not take up the project. Writer Zeishan Quadri then went to Kashyap, who agreed immediately to make the film after reading the brief.
Kashyap launched into the research and then shot the film for four months. He was ready to take the risk of releasing the film in two parts.
Both the films have released to critical and commercial success but it was hard for Kashyap to shorten the length to five hours and 20 minutes.
"I had lot of material. It could have been a 7-8 hour film. I feel that five hours and 20 minutes are short but it is okay now. Making this film was the most fun experience, which has also translated onscreen."
The director, who is also running a production house, is now ready to unleash a number of big and small budget movies.
Ask him whether he is bringing the North back on cinematic map in his next film and Kashyap says he wants to focus on Mumbai in his upcoming movies.
"My next two films are set in Mumbai and then I will go back to North. We begin work on 'Ugly', a small thriller set in Mumbai' and then there is 'Bombay Velvet', a love story set in the city. We are shooting it next year in April. Casting is done with Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, K K Menon and hopefully Naseeruddin Shah," says Kashyap.
'Aaiya', starring Rani Mukherjee, is in post production while two other films 'Luv Shuv Tey
Chicken Khurana' and 'Chittagong' are ready to release.
Amid all this activity, Kashyap says he disappears when he has to write.
"A lot of work is going on. We are making different films which is the only thing I want to do. I disappear when I am writing. I am also planning a funny, romantic film with Kalki (his wife)," he says.
One of the findings in 'Wasseypur' was director Tigmanshu Dhulia as an actor. Dhulia, who has directed films like 'Haasil', 'Sahib, Biwi Aur Gangster' and 'Pan Singh Tomar', is being appreciated for his portrayal of Ramadhir Singh, the main villain in the film.
Kashyap, who sometimes makes appearances in movies, convinced his director friend to turn actor after doing a brief role in his film 'Shagird'.
"It is for Tigmanshu to decide whether he wants to do more acting. He is the best debut of this year and such a good actor. But no acting for me."