Anurag Kashyap says he's leaving Mumbai, 'disgusted' with Bombay film industry

Director and actor Anurag Kashyap, who recently portrayed the role of a menacing thief in the acclaimed Tamil film 'Maharaja', has announced that he will leave Mumbai next year because he is 'disgusted' with the Bombay film industry.

The joy of filmmaking has been 'sucked out' with the increasing focus on profits instead of creativity, said Kashyap, famous for films like Gangs of Wasseypur, Dev D, Black Friday and more.

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter India, Kashyap shared that before the film even starts, it becomes about how to sell it. "So, the joy of filmmaking is sucked out," Kashyap declared.

Also read: Anurag Kashyap’s crime saga, Gangs of Wasseypur, returns to big screen

No experimentation

He also complained about the rising costs of filmmaking and how it has become difficult for him now to go out and experiment as it comes at a cost. This makes his producers think about profit and margins.

"This is why I want to move out of Mumbai next year," he said, confessing that he is moving to the South. "I want to go where there is stimulation. Otherwise, I will die as an old man. I am so disappointed and disgusted by my own industry. I am disgusted by the mindset,” said Kashyap, who also wrote the screenplay for Ram Gopal Verma's 1998 hit mafia film 'Satya'.

In his view, a Malayalam film like 'Manjummel Boys' will never be made in Hindi cinema. But if it is successful, it will be remade in Hindi, he pointed out.

“The mindset is to remake what’s already worked. They won’t try anything new,” he said.

Chasing stardom

The filmmaker-actor also slammed agencies for exploiting young actors for profits and prioritising stardom instead of talent development. He also said that first-generation actors and the really entitled stars are "very painful to deal with".

According to Kashyap, “Nobody wants to act, they all want to be stars. The agency won’t make anybody a star, but the moment someone becomes a star, the agency makes money off them.”

“The onus of finding talent is on you—you have to take a risk and firefight with 50 people. And when the film is made, the agency grabs them and turns them into a star. They will brainwash them and tell them what they need to do to become a star. They won’t send them to workshops but to the gym—it’s all glam-glam because they have to be massive stars,” he said.

Further, he recounted how an actor who disappeared on his agency's advice later returned to him for career guidance after being dumped by the same agency. “This is what the agency does—they just make money off you. They aren’t invested in building new careers,” he said.

Also read: Maharaja review: Vijay Sethupathi stuns in Nithilan Saminathan’s revenge thriller

Ghosted

He was also disappointed with actors who he previously considered friends.

Kashyap said that the actors, he thought of as friends, ghosted him because they wanted him to be a certain way. However, in Malayalam cinema it is different, he said.

The director has also acted in the Malayalam film Rifle Club opposite rapper Hanumankind.