Anurag Kashyap on why Bollywood bends to power and South doesn’t: ‘They sometimes feel ashamed, but…’
Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has never shied away from calling out the power dynamics that shape Hindi cinema, often pointing out how quick Bollywood can be to fold under pressure from those who hold influence. Recently, he drew a comparison between Bollywood and the South film industry, sharing his take on why the latter tends to hold its ground more firmly. According to him, trouble starts the moment people give in even once, since the perks that follow that first compromise make it that much harder to resist the next one.
Anurag Kashyap says the first compromise is the hardest to undo
In conversation with Janice Sequeira, Anurag shared that he doesn’t think people in Bollywood compromise out of choice. Once a demand is given in to, he explained, there’s no real going back from it. He pointed out that the very first compromise tends to pave the way for more, largely because it usually comes attached to sizeable rewards, and once someone’s accepted those, closing that door again becomes far tougher.
Anurag Kashyap on why South cinema stays independent of Hindi audiences
Drawing a contrast with other film industries, he explained, “Other industries are very regionally strong, but they have a culture which is so very strong, which can’t be divided on the same lines. But the centre also wants to capture the Hindi-speaking masses. So you will see only those people getting compromised who want to make a dent in the Hindi audience. It’s those kinds of people who bend, not the others. South doesn’t get compromised because they don’t depend on Hindi.”
Anurag Kashyap says the industry is aware, but feels powerless
Anurag went on to say that people within the industry are far from oblivious to the compromises they make. He said, “I think they’re already woken up. As I said, once the door has been opened, it can’t be shut. It’s not like they are not aware. They’re aware, they’re woken up, they also feel embarrassed, they also sometimes feel ashamed. They also can’t do anything about it, which is why nobody voluntarily does anything until they’re specifically asked to, individually asked.“
Anurag Kashyap’s latest release, ‘Bandar’
On the work front, Anurag’s latest directorial venture was ‘Bandar.’ Produced by Nikhil Dwivedi under his Saffron Magicworks banner, the film starred Bobby Deol in the lead, with Sanya Malhotra, Sapna Pabbi, Saba Azad, Indrajith Sukumaran, Raj B. Shetty, and Jitendra Joshi rounding out the cast. Critics were largely appreciative, with several hailing it as Anurag’s strongest work in a while, though that critical goodwill didn’t quite carry over to the box office.
