Anurag Kashyap has always been vocal about his views on the Hindi film industry. In a recent interview too, the filmmaker claimed that Bollywood’s prime focus is to earn Rs 500 crore and not to make good films. Kashyap was speaking to Humans of Cinema when he explained how commercial success impacts creativity.
“I have often seen that success destroys more than it breeds. When Sairat made Rs. 100 crore, I told Nagraj Manjule, who is my friend, that Marathi cinema is now finished. Because now no one will want to tell stories, they would want to earn ₹100 crore,” Anurag Kashyap said.
The filmmaker argued that Bollywood is sacrificing good stories and is “imitating the pan-India trend”. “The problem with our Hindi film industry is that they now want to earn Rs. 500 to 800 crore, not make films. For that, you have to first dumb down your films, sacrifice your story. And it’s not like it is an original voice; all follow a formula and copy each other,” he said.
“Now everyone is imitating the pan-India trend. If you watch 10 pan-India films, all will look the same. This never benefits the health of the industry as the films then start to bomb in huge numbers. One or two will work, then everyone will copy, and then everything will flop,” Kashyap added.
In the same interview, Kashyap also spoke about the actor’s entourage cost in Bollywood and claimed that people realised their worth after the OTT boom. Asked why big-budget films haven’t been working recently, he said, “Because they aren’t spending on just the film. One thing people need to understand is that when we make a film, we’re working, we’re creating something. It’s not a holiday, it’s not a picnic. A lot of money that is spent doesn’t go into making the film. It goes into the paraphernalia, it goes into the entourage. You’re shooting in the middle of a jungle, but one car will be sent to the city three hours away specifically to get you that five-star burger you want.”
Anurag Kashyap is known for films and web series like Black Friday, Dev D, No Smoking, Gulaal, Gangs of Wasseypur, Mukkabaaz, Sacred Games, and Manmarziyaan. His upcoming film, Kennedy was screened at the Cannes Film Festival in 2023. The film stars Sunny Leone, Rahul Bhat and Abhilash Thapliyal among others in key roles. Kennedy will be released in Indian theatres later this year.
