"Yash Raj takes us for granted"- Anurag Kashyap 
By Faridoon Shahryar, October 16, 2007 - 18:24 IST
“Problem with the industry is that people get sensitive about criticism,” says Anurag Kashyap. He was reacting to Karan Johar's statement in the media at 'Kashyap being a fine director but his comments about Yash Chopra were unwarranted'. “I said Yash Raj as a production house but I didn't mean Yash Chopra. We all revere and respect Yash Chopra. Yash Raj has an audience base. I go and see a film because it's a Yash Raj movie. But I feel Yash Raj the production house takes us for granted,” says the No Smoking director.
Why do you feel this way? “Last year I wrote a piece where I had said that Aditya Chopra has a vision. But films like Ta Ra Rum Pum and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom doesn't fit into that.” But Chak De India was both a great film as well as commercially successful! “Chak De was more Jaideep Sahni. It was an apologetic release.” Why do you say apologetic release? “They didn't have faith in it. For the first time they didn't ask for terms and conditions with the exhibitors. If they had faith in the film they would have played on the front foot. Yash Raj has the power to change cinema. We don't. We've been trying hard. But Yash Raj can do it overnight. Yash Raj changes, our cinema changes. But they choose not to change. They choose to stay in their mediocrity, just counting money. Everybody is doing business. That's fine, but they are making us regress.”
Alright, you have your say, but how do you explain having an item song (Phoonk De) with Bipasha Basu gyrating to a Vishal Bhardwaj song aiming at garnering more curiosity for the film? “Absolutely. I completely agree. Having an item song by Bipasha Basu is in the same publicity mode in the last 5-6 years that is being followed by the producers. That's what my fight is against where I can control the publicity of the film. There's producer's money involved. There's distributor's money involved. They want to reach out to the people and I don't have a say there,” Kashyap says.
You also have a take on the film awards. “They are supposed to be popular awards but then why Akshay is not considered or Priyadarshan or David Dhawan. There are a few families that the awards are distributed to. People also control awards. That angers me. Don't tell me music of Omkara wasn't popular enough to have been nominated for awards. Nobody in the country will say that except The Times of India Group or Filmfare,” says an angry Anurag. Well awards are a bit of a puzzle in Bollywood. But facts show, movies like Dhoom 2, Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna and Salaam Namaste never won big awards. In fact, they didn't even win many smaller ones either. One agrees with the Omkara bit though for sure.
Well, let's talk about No Smoking. The promos are provoking interest. You seem to have done it again with model Jesse Randhawa mouthing an Adnan Sami 'Jab Bhi Cigarette Jalti Hai'. It reminds one of the sounds of silence in the bomb blast scene in Black Friday. A total contrast of what is expected. “That's the mood of the film. It moves into a surreal space. When you watch the film on the screen you'll understand what's going on. In fact, I got the idea for this from the Salaam-e-Ishq Fashion Show where I saw Jesse Randhawa walking like a man.”
I believe the first trial of No Smoking was quite an experience. “People were like 'yeh kya ho raha hai?'. That's the whole idea. I was laughing at the trial, laughing at the effect the film had on the audience. I wanted to put cameras to get the open mouthed reaction of the audience.” The promos of the film leave you zapped for sure. What's the film all about? “The film is surreal, it's very Kafkaesque. The man is in a situation and he can't figure out what's going on. He doesn't know when it's gonna end. It's relentless.” John Abraham is looking cool in that bare bodied look and classic shades. He hasn't looked so good since Dhoom. Will he be the 'it' factor for pulling in the audience? “John will pull in regardless. It's John's film all the way. It's his finest performance ever. There's a 'why' to why he takes off his shirt in the film.”
Anurag Kashyap is currently busy doing a small role in Sudhir Mishra's Tera Kya Hoga Johnny. He is also doing one or two scene roles in Zoya Akhtar and Tigmanshu Dhulia's next. Currently, he is involved with his animation film Hanuman Returns and a take on Devdas titled Dev D. Yes, his passion for blogging is intact and he has a high opinion of Aamir Khan who has given blogging a new dimension by being such a pro active blogger. If you wish to see the man talking about all this and lot more, then don't forget to check out his video interview tomorrow on IndiaFM (Broadband).
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