Anurag Kashyap described the two-part gritty gangster flick as his most commercial film till date.
London:
Anurag Kashyap may have been brandeda torch-bearer of new-age Indian cinema but the filmmaker sayshe hates carrying any such burden.
"I hate being a poster boy, because a he eventuallybecomes a dart board. I never consciously carried any kind ofburden of new-wave Indian cinema but people have a tendency tolabel you. All I felt was that if there were more filmmakerswho made cinema I relate to, then I could also co-exist. Itwould increase my chances of survival," Kashyap told PTI.
In London to promote Gangs of Wasseypur, which releasesacross Britain on February 23, Kashyap described the two-partgritty gangster flick as his most commercial film till date.
"I am very keen to see how it does in the UK. I know alot of audiences here who have been waiting to watch it on thebig screen. I hope it will benefit from all the word of mouth.The audience around the world have just enjoyed it. There hasbeen a lot of analysis in India, but we tend to do that inIndia."
The film, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festivallast year and proved a box-office hit in India, is set in themine fields of Wasseypur in Jharkhand and was shot almostentirely in Kashyap's own hometown of Obra in Bihar.
"The only reason I was able to do everything was becauseI shot it in the town where me and my brother (fellowfilmmaker Abhinav Kashyap) grew up. I used all my father'scontacts, who was a senior engineer based there. People openedup their homes to me and were so excited about the film beingshot there.
"Major on-screen blast sequences would have cost croresbut I got them for free as I was told to just land up with mycamera when a mine blast was happening," said Kashyap.
Kashyap has often been compared to Hollywood directorQuentin Tarantino as a result of a similar streak of brazengun fights in Gangs of Wasseypur and second part, whichopens in the UK on March 2.
"I have stopped reacting to such comparisons. The onlything that has changed for me is that I now get paid for themovies I make; and that has taken 12 years. I have nowconsciously tried to extract myself from any labels. I don'twant my name to figure anywhere and have even renamed mycompany Sikhya. Expectations are a killer.
"I wish I could be a new filmmaker with a new name withevery film. I just want the freedom to make my films," saidthe 40-year-old artiste, who is also known for his on-screenperformances in films like I Am and Trishna.
The writer-director behind award-winning films such as'Black Friday' and 'Gulal' now wants to only focus ondirection and is also keen on exploiting the television mediumwith Western-style season-based dramas that are rooted inIndian sensibilities.
"The biggest problem has been the first-generationIndian Diaspora's control over film and TV content. They leftIndia physically but not emotionally and were forcing the samestories down the second generation. And because the money wascoming in dollars and pounds, that was the audience beingcatered to. But the next generation is now coming into itsown and liberating itself. The mainstream itself is gettingmore rooted and when the mainstream gets rooted, everythingelse changes. The world has realised our cinema is changingand once the authorities in charge realise that too, it willreflect in the international awards scene as well," he said.
"I hate being a poster boy, because a he eventuallybecomes a dart board. I never consciously carried any kind ofburden of new-wave Indian cinema but people have a tendency tolabel you. All I felt was that if there were more filmmakerswho made cinema I relate to, then I could also co-exist. Itwould increase my chances of survival," Kashyap told PTI.
In London to promote Gangs of Wasseypur, which releasesacross Britain on February 23, Kashyap described the two-partgritty gangster flick as his most commercial film till date.
"I am very keen to see how it does in the UK. I know alot of audiences here who have been waiting to watch it on thebig screen. I hope it will benefit from all the word of mouth.The audience around the world have just enjoyed it. There hasbeen a lot of analysis in India, but we tend to do that inIndia."
The film, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festivallast year and proved a box-office hit in India, is set in themine fields of Wasseypur in Jharkhand and was shot almostentirely in Kashyap's own hometown of Obra in Bihar.
"The only reason I was able to do everything was becauseI shot it in the town where me and my brother (fellowfilmmaker Abhinav Kashyap) grew up. I used all my father'scontacts, who was a senior engineer based there. People openedup their homes to me and were so excited about the film beingshot there.
"Major on-screen blast sequences would have cost croresbut I got them for free as I was told to just land up with mycamera when a mine blast was happening," said Kashyap.
Kashyap has often been compared to Hollywood directorQuentin Tarantino as a result of a similar streak of brazengun fights in Gangs of Wasseypur and second part, whichopens in the UK on March 2.
"I have stopped reacting to such comparisons. The onlything that has changed for me is that I now get paid for themovies I make; and that has taken 12 years. I have nowconsciously tried to extract myself from any labels. I don'twant my name to figure anywhere and have even renamed mycompany Sikhya. Expectations are a killer.
"I wish I could be a new filmmaker with a new name withevery film. I just want the freedom to make my films," saidthe 40-year-old artiste, who is also known for his on-screenperformances in films like I Am and Trishna.
The writer-director behind award-winning films such as'Black Friday' and 'Gulal' now wants to only focus ondirection and is also keen on exploiting the television mediumwith Western-style season-based dramas that are rooted inIndian sensibilities.
"The biggest problem has been the first-generationIndian Diaspora's control over film and TV content. They leftIndia physically but not emotionally and were forcing the samestories down the second generation. And because the money wascoming in dollars and pounds, that was the audience beingcatered to. But the next generation is now coming into itsown and liberating itself. The mainstream itself is gettingmore rooted and when the mainstream gets rooted, everythingelse changes. The world has realised our cinema is changingand once the authorities in charge realise that too, it willreflect in the international awards scene as well," he said.
