Gangs Of Wasseypur | 100 Years Of Indian Cinema | Under Lens

Face of Indian Indie scene, Anurag Kashyap blended Sergio Leone and Tarantino with City Of God and created a film spanning over 3 generations. The epic was a two part film that shocked Indian cinema. It was a perfect amalgamation of mainstream and parallel cinema. GOW is a perfect example of how folklore can be adapted in modern context without losing the relevance.

GOW is story of three families – Singhs, Khans and Qureshis. Told from Khans’ point of view, film never becomes judgmental or holds a moral ground. The bottom line from the first act is revenge and in the end it culminates spirally. The narrative beautifully uses fiction and reality as the medium to present the story. At no point it tries to digress from the context.

Based in Bihar, the story is set in Dhanbad and Wasseypur. Infact, Wasseypur is the epicenter of everything that happens in the story. Qureshis were responsible for Shahid Khan (first Khan) ouster from Wasseypur. Ramadheer Singh was responsible for his death. Sardar, son of Shahid, vows to take revenge which is completed by his son Faisal. The saga successfully covers the span of over six decades and leaves a bloody trail.

Trivia: Tigmanshu Dhulia and Piyush Mishra were given the choice to pick a character – Nasir (cousin of Shahid) or Ramadheer Singh. Rest is history.

Controversial Gangs And Town Wasseypur | Hammers High

Somewhere I read a fable about Sultana Daku. In some specific places, train drivers drop 5 coins near a temple to ensure safe passage. That money belongs to Sultana Daku. I don’t know how much truth lies in this story, still, its interesting. So, are the dots connected in Anurag Kashyap’s Gangs Of Wasseypur. Bihar (and Jharkhand) evokes mixed emotions. This state is known for producing IASes and IITians. This state is also known for rich heritage. This state is also known for crimes. Unfortunately, cinema has shown the darker shades more than the brighter. GoW is not an exception. But that should not take away the applause Anurag and his entire team deserves for bringing alive a story that will excite cine-buffs for some good time.

Despite of lot of fictionalization, there is lot of reality wired with it. Fahim Khan is a reality. Shabir Alam is a reality. Gang wars happened. People were killed. Rangdari is still a reality. Coal mafia was not figment of someone’s imagination. Scrap is still a business. So, why is there so much fuss about portraying Wasseypur or Dhanbad in the story? Anurag Kashyap never said that its story about Wasseypur. Its about gangs in Wasseypur and gangs do kill people for reasons, sometimes justified and sometime just too random. Fahim Khan and Shabir Alam are in jail. Thankfully, not in the same one.

Coal mines were breeding ground for many crimes. After Coal India was formed, the politics of coal reached its peak. Some pockets earned more than others and not without any reason. Each contractor was shielded by goons who would ensure that mineworkers remain in their places. Slowly, as the nation developed, our dependency on coal reduced and demand for metal, especially iron, increased. Business of scrap was on high in darker corners. In 80s and 90s, rangdari became the trend. People with muscle power provided security to businessmen who had only money to protect. This is reality.

Gulzar’s Mere Apne was allegedly based on student gangs in Allahabad. Tigmanshu Dhulia’s Haasil was largely shot in Allahabad. Both movies earned respect over time. They hardly show anything positive about the city. Allahabad is known for student politics and also for outstanding scholars. Thanks to pervert minds we have, usually the former hogs the limelight. Same thing goes with GoW. People from Wasseypur and Dhanbad are intelligent enough to understand this and nothing can be done about morons. End of the day, Cinema will have smile on her lips.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

The Dual Element Proposition | Ram Gopal Varma And Anurag Kashyap Special Edition

The Dual Element Proposition | Ram Gopal Varma And Anurag Kashyap | Editor's Pen

Filmmaking went into its shell in eighties and nothing progressive was happening in Mainstream cinema. Parallel cinema on the other hand was able to retain its dignity but their reach was scant. While cinema across the world was evolving different ways to narration, story telling, special effects and characterisation, Bollywood was feasting on cliched formulas. Worst thing was that this was wrongly portrayed as personality of Bollywood.

In last 15 years, many movies came and brought in influences of European and American cinema, dumped the cliches and stressed on innovations. Bollywood started learning. Realism evolved in Mainstream Cinema. Characters were no longer extra-ordinary human beings, they were one among us, simple and fragile. Though mass movie kept on raking gold, new/alternate/parallel/indie cinema started getting its due. Among many faces, two people made themselves pretty recognisable - Ram Gopal Varma and Anurag Kashyap.

In this Director Special Edition, we decided to talk about these two goodfellas who influenced Indian cinema in last two decades more than any one. Waiting for your comments...

Greetings,

Sujoy Ghosh

Satya | Anurag Kashyap Meets RGV | The Critique

Satya was perhaps first realistic take on Mumbai mafia in mainstream cinema and was beginning of a great partnership between Anurag Kashyap and Ram Gopal Varma who together made a few movies Indian Cinema can be proud of. Satya also marked advent of Manoj Bajpayee - a maverick in his own right. But the most important thing, some movies are important because of the timeline on which they exists, Satya is one of them. While Mumbai mafia was trying to take Mumbai by ransom and post '92 bomb blasts, a feel of uncertainty was there, Satya showed how exactly mafia looks from the inside. In a way similar to Scorsese's Goodfellas.

Satya (JD) is an immigrant who is wrongly framed in a false case. In jail, he becomes friend of Bheeku (Manoj) who is a part of mafia. With Bheeku, Satya's tryst with mafia happens. From this point their ascent in mafia happens only to fall with an end conforming to Bollywood norm where crime never pays. The relationship between Bheeku and Satya are the highlight of this movie. The parallel plot of Satya's love life adds immense value because it shows the human side of people working for mafia. For them crime is their job. They don't want to mix it with their personal life.

As Satya, JD delivers a fine performance. A de-glam Urmila is convincing. Saurabh Shukla and Shefali Shah are usual self playing on their merits and well within their limitations. The show stealer is Manoj Bajpayee who simply overtakes each and every scene he is present in. His screen presence is good, dialogue delivery is good and intensity is simply mind-blowing. However, the movie doesn't work just due to incredible performances. Both script and direction are class. There is an in-depth understanding of lives in low rungs where glam of Bollywood seldom ventures. Anurag Kashyap, Saurabh Shukla and Ram Gopal Varma made Satya as close to reality as possible. The imagination of these three people set the cast for this cult movie.

Post Satya, the perception towards Mafia changed. Everyone started looking it from RGV's lenses. As for RGV, this was beginning of his trilogy about Indian Gangsters - Satya, Company and D.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

Three Movies | Satya, Shool And Kaun | Under Lens

In a comparatively short span, Bollywood witnessed three path breaking movies from duo Ram Gopal Varma and Anurag Kashyap. When they first collaborated for Satya, RGV was an established name and Anurag was yet to settle in industry. Infact, RGV didn't trusted Anurag for dialogues of Satya and roped in Saurabh Shukla, a veteran who later played an important role in the movie. Satya is perhaps one of most realistic take on underworld till date. This was attested by many people from mafia. Success of Satya led to foundation of many gangster based movies to follow up including cult Company, D and their innumerous cousins.

This Director Actor duo brought a new concept to Indian cinema by making Kaun. With just three characters, Anurag created a story set in a bungalow with numerous twists and turns. It had that Alfred Hitchcock feel. However, not every good movie is well received. Despite of critical acclaim, Kaun failed to achieve huge BO success and did an average business. Ability of Anurag as a storyteller came to fore. The style was hailed by critics and film students. It also heralded a new beginning of suspense and thriller genre in Bollywood.

Between 1997-99, Ram Gopal Varma and Anurag Kashyap explored places Bollywood conviniently ignored. Along with E. Nivas, RGV and AK worked on Shool. Shool was a blunt take on politician-criminal nexus. An honest cop Samar, who follows law in letter and spirit, takes on a criminal turned politician Bachhu Yadav. One can see influences of movies from 80s and hard hitting parallel cinema. Having said that, Shool attained cult following for hard hitting dialogues, realistic cinematography and small town sensibilities. Shool influenced many movies which followed making Bihar as subject. Shool was perhaps Anurag's nursery for Gangs Of Wasseypur.

Interesting trivia is that in all these three movie, Manoj Bajpai plays an important role. Maybe he is not the most successful actor around, but is definitely one of the best thing happened to Hindi Cinema in 90s.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh  

Black Friday and Paanch | Rise of AK | Under Lens

Paanch was remade last year as Shaitaan. Shaitaan was the most successful production of Anurag Kashyap, but Paanch didn’t even release. This shows the kind of shift that has come about in Hindi Movie scene. Thats good for Anurag Kashyap.

Paanch is where Anurag Kashyap’s legend began. As Paanch was banned from releasing, Anurag went to newspapers and news channels. People started noticing him. Suddenly he became poster boy for everything that was wrong with Indian censorboard. he became rallying point. In my opnion, Ban in release of Paanch did him more good than its release would have. Paanch could just have been an unnoticed Indie made by a writer who was on team of Ram Gopal Verma.

Then came Black Friday, and I thought,’Let’s see, what this guy is all about’. I grabbed the DVD, and about 2 hours later I was blown away. Level of detail in characters, historical accuracy, Motivation of characters, direction, performances everything was spot on. I can safely say that, personally for me none of Anurag’s film yet have beaten Black Friday. Even Gangs of Wasseypur. Disagree? Tell us in the comments

Written By Ali Naqvi

2007 | No Smoking And RGV Ki Aag | Under Lens

No Smoking was based on Stephen King's short story Quitters, Inc. Considered as one of the most abstract movies in Hindi Cinema, No Smoking failed to click with the audience especially the intended ones. Definitely it was for the youth and as the title suggest, it had the element of preach which usually doesn't go well with Indian audience. The movie bombed.

The very year, a sense of mock was in air when Ram Gopal Varma came out with his version of Sholay titled 'Aag' (RGV Ki Aag). Remaking a cult classic can be a good idea when done in Hollywood. In India, people don't like them to be remade unless it stars a certain Shahrukh Khan. Aag went on break records of all wrong sorts. The Box Office collections were pathetic and Sippy's had the last laugh.

Why these two movie failed?

Any abstract movie needs to connect with the audience. However, sensibilities of Indian youth was perhaps not that open to ideas as they are today. The unusual screenplay leaving a lot to audience's grey matter was a liitle too much to ask for. On the other hand, John was not half the BO magnet he is today. Anyways, over five years, No Smoking has earned some respect and people rate it as one of best by Anurag Kashyap.

Aag was a blunder when it was conceived. Sippy's opposition, casting of Nisha/Priyanka as Basanti V2.0, Amitabh Bachchan as Gabbar V2.0 and Ajay Devgan as Veeru V2.0, RGV's recent BO performances added all the negativity available on block. Reinventing characters and misinterpreting them are two different things. RGV somehow missed this basic point. So-called reinvention of 32 seasons old iconic characters didn't go well with audience and movie was grounded.

Anurag made a good movie which didn't work. RGV made a bad movie which didn't work. Over years we can see that Anurag learnt his lesson but...

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

GOW and Department | Circa 2012 | Under Lens

2012 saw release of Gangs of Wasseypur and Department. It sharply demonstrates where two masters are today.

Anurag on one hand has just showcased Gangs…  at Cannes Film Festival to standing ovation. RGV on the other has just showcased Department which has caricatures for characters and sole purpose being to demonstrate how unconventional cameras can be used to make film. Yes its made in good intention to help fellow film makers, but what about the audience? What about connecting to them?

Anurag’s future projects are collaboration with Oscar winner Danny Boyle and Nolan-ish take on India’s first comic based Superhero-Doga. Ramu on the other hand is doing Ab Tak Chappan-2. RGV has run out of ideas. Only redeeming direction he can take is let his ego go and hire good script writers and work on fresh ideas. Or produce films for genuine talents. He can spot talents.

Here’s hoping RGV gets back his lost mojo. Or better still maybe in future Anurag and RGV can team up again and give us more gems like Satya. Here’s to the hope!

Written by- Ali Naqvi

Brand Anurag Kashyap | Statesmen

When we collected votes for first Uttkrishtt, I was a little surprised. Black Friday was rated higher than Mother India, Pyaasa and Sholay. It was #2 on our top Hindi film list. That was a small indication how strongly Brand Anurag Kashyap has evolved over the years. From being the face of independent cinema in this country, today Anurag is perhaps the most respected Indian director. How strong is this brand can be easily gauged by the fact that many people went to see Shanghai because Anurag strongly recommended it (by my personal experience). The reco was all over the papers and people were booking their tickets online.

In intial days, when Anurag was still a student at Hansraj College, Delhi University, he developed an interest in world movies. In a film festival he happened to see Bicycle Thieves and had his Satyajit Ray moment. The impact of de Sica revered neo-realistic film was huge. Like Ray, Anurag decided to take his steps forward in the world of cinema and landed in Mumbai. He joined theatre, tried acting and writing and joined a group of likeminded people. After lot of hardships, he got his big break with Satya. Satya and established him as a script writer. But still a lot was amiss. He was a name in inner circles of industry. Satya was a RGV movie for public. AK was just an unknown entity.

 

Anurag took a step forward and directed Paanch and Black Friday. Paanch was written during his early days in Mumbai when he was a nobody and elements of frustration of a young nobody were visible. Black Friday was a clinical study of Bombay Bomb Blasts. Paanch never saw the daylight however is perhaps one of the most acclaimed work. Black Friday fought court cases and was released. These two movie hardly gave Anurag a financial boost but the acclaim these movies got made a thumping noise. Anurag arrived the scene.

Paanch was banned. Black Friday saw monstrous roadblocks. Still the name evolved. No Smoking came and masses rejected it. People started doubting. Then came Dev D and the duo of Abhay Deol and AK nailed it. The adaptation of Devdas got adulation at Box Office. His repute as a strong storyteller was an established fact. He backed Aamir, Shaitan and Udaan. Each of them changed the outlook of Indian film audience. Despite of his failures on BO for Gulaal and TGIYB, Brand Anurag Kashyap has evolved largely due to multiplex culture and exposure to world cinema due to torrents. Lack of many intelligent makers beyond studio and camps helped his cause and made him the poster boy of Indian Indie.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

Gangs Of Wasseypur | Pure Awesomeness | The Critique

In Bollywood, we rarely come across a movie so story driven that characters, no matter how well done, are reduced to particles. They never dominate the story. Last time, I saw such a movie it was Black Friday. GOW belongs to that league. Anurag Kashyap reinvents his brand with this epic. The way story about Wasseypur and the gangs is told, it will give you that feel of fables told by elders about mysterious world of crime. First nail well nailed.

When you hear the title, what do you think - Mafia, crime, gore, sleaze? You will find every element. At no point Anurag tries to glorify the virtues which people usually do to give a moral shade. He doesn't need it. The characters are not grey. They are like coal... black. All they care about is their life and their desires. Morality has no place as crime is so rampant that the human sensibilities tend to lose their meaning. Though each character has a moral stand at some point, the means to achieve that is not always right. Thats where the line fades away. The story is about a goon who is murderded and his son decides to take revenge. Its not about just revenge by violence, its about crushing the opposition, take away their pride and self respect and let the pain take over. This is how Sardar wants to take revenge from killer of his father Shahid. Its about rivalaries and socio-political dominance in Dhanbad and suburb Wasseypur.

Manoj Bajpai as Sardar is a pure delight. He is so perfect that it can leave goosebumps on you as you leave the theatre. Nawaz, in a short role he has, is brilliant. Richa Chadda, what a powerful bomb she is. She got perhaps the most difficult role to play and she is scores birdie. Chemistry between her and Manoj is a delight. Reemma is looking hot but not much to offer. Piyush Mishra is usual self. His control on his voice can be a case study for any artist. Its in perfect sync with his subtle character. Tigmanshu is good. As a matter of fact, each sub-plot and side character has been brilliantly devised. Another rarity.

Sneha Khanwalkar and Piyush Mishra created the music this movie needed. It not only adds to the impact of story, its perhaps the soul of the movie. Direction is freaking awesome. At moment you might find scenes a little vague only to realise later that why it was vague. Anurag Kashyap has proven a point to all mass-critics. He made a mass movie with a class. Bravo to entire cinematography and editing department. The smooth and crisp transition between different stages of the story captivates the imagination of audience. Whistles and hoots for this piece of pure awesomeness... aur haan... kahaani abhi baaki hai.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

Indian Indie | TGIYB And IAm | Editor's Pen

Anurag Kashyap’s That Girl In Yellow Boots made it to Roger Ebert’s must watch list of 2011. Quite a proud moment of Indian Indie Cinema. Though I didn’t liked it much, I appreciate the quality of work. The way the story reveals itself and the way Mumbai is interpreted... it’s pretty good work. Appreciation by someone like Ebert means a lot for Indian Indie Cinema. It gives a credibility and substance to a good piece of art which is ignored because it’s not very comfortable to accept a piece of crude reality.


Another Indie movie which came and impressed its niche audience was I Am. Made in a small budget with the help of Indie supporters, I Am is a difficult story to show on screen. Different plots and subplots which complete the canvas are beautifully linked in substance and make sense at a higher level, especially when you are walking back to your place still engrossed with what you witnessed on screen. Onir, like always, came up with a brilliant concept and was supported with some strong performances.

Parallel Cinema’s new face which is more closer to World Cinema than classic Indian storytelling, is something which evolve over coming years and will make presence felt. We are watching... are you?

By the way... you are participating in Between Breaths nah??


Love,
Sujoy

That Girl In Yellow Boots | Spectacular Kalki | The Critique

I am not a great fan of Anurag Kashyap, in fact, I simply hated No Smoking and Gullal was a total bouncer for me. Then what made me to watch That Girl In Yellow Boots over Bodyguard ?……..to your surprise, it was Kalki, and of course she didn’t disappoint. I really feel Kalki is speedily moving from ‘Best supporting Actress’ to ‘Best Actress’.

If we talk about the movie, the first thing that strikes to me is the unexpected and discomforting climax.  Oops…..my mistake, I shan’t talk about the end in the beginning. So, I will start with our protagonist’s character sketch. Ruth, a young British girl, comes in quest of her father to Mumbai, and is soon engulfed by the dark side of this fast moving city. She has neither Visa nor a Work permit but soon realizes that the under the table money can do the trick (Mr. Anna where are you?) She works at a massage parlor, offering clients a ‘special’ Swedish massage which leads her to meet and associate with some seedy characters. And to worsen the case, she has a drug addict boyfriend who is being chased by a gangster. Ruth is a complicated character, and in spite of her connections to illicit activity and the lengths to which she goes in pursuit of her goal, she is fragile. As an audience you feel to protect her, may be coz as Aamir says, ‘atithi devo bhava’, but indeed because Kalki has handled the character splendidly. Truly speaking, I would like to put the movie in the biography / character study genre instead of thriller.

The plot is quite engaging but confusing at the same time too. The sub plots though not very interesting but yes, do contribute to Ruth’s ill fate during her quest. The other one things that’s splendid in TGIYB is its cinematography with a restless camera and nothing flashy, may be due to budget constraints, but that’s what makes the movie close to reality. The side characters as of the parlor owner (Pooja Swaroop) and the gangster (Gulshan Devaiya) have also done justice to their roles. Pooja, seems to be truly living the character, as a chatter box. But some splendid actors have been really wasted, which includes Naseeruddin Shah, Ronit Roy and Rajat Kapoor (scene less than 5 secs, no dialogues!!).  As a movie buff, I really feel sad when an actor is wasted. This may make me to reduce the movie rating, but yet not make me to stop you from watching the movie.

TGIYB is a typical Kashyap film and has almost touched the mark, which it set out for itself. I won’t say it as a must watch, and you may prefer skipping it, if you are interested in light entertainment instead of something which discomforts you for minimum 1.5 hours. The thing that disturbed me even after stepping out of the movie was the Yellow boots, both in terms of title and in design. Title may be justified, that they denoted a journey / quest, but their design was awful, looks they could not get a sponsor. Anyways, movie is a good watch; you may try it if you liked Dev D & Shaitan.

Rating : 3/5

Written By: Neha Jain

Shaitan | The Devil Inside | Critique

Bejoy Nambiar has definitely seen Paanch and got a lot of inspiration from there. If not; me, God and the Holy spirit would be more than just surprised… We would freak out bad. It’s interesting that unlike the inspiration, the inspired got a screening and is kind of ruling the screens… and despite of my reservations against dark films with ‘gore’ as probable content, I liked this movie like anything. Bejoy… as I confessed on twitter, I am a fan now.

Shaitan is a story of five young people who are directionless in life and trying to enjoy it to the max. They booze and do drugs. On day in a state of ecstasy they crush a couple under their hummer. The dead couple was no way related to actor Rajeev Khandelwal playing a trying-hard-to-remain-honest officer (thank God, it would have been a bad cliché). They are just another middle class family. However, another cop finds that these five are responsible for the accident and blackmails them by asking for 25 lacs. To arrange that money, they device a plan that goes wrong. Rajeev Khandelwal and his friend (played by VJ Nikhil Chinappa) decides to hunt them to their last foot prints.

This movie needed a brilliant background score and there they were spot on. The effect of visuals which ranged from hazy to crystal clear, steady to wobbly complemented with amazing score and songs can give any Hollywood movie a good run for their money. That’s their class. Performances are surprisingly stupendous. Kalki and four fresh faces were able to bring out the psycho feel. And Khandelwal… Man, what is he doing? He can be the next best thing in Bollywood after Aamir Khan. He is absolutely a delight on screen. We as viewers deserve to watch more of him. Rajit Kapoor, Pawan Malhotra and Sheetal Menon did justice to their roles… as expected.

Speaking of Bejoy. His direction and understanding of the script deserves a standing ovation. He has excelled in his maiden outing. Thanks Anurag for lending hand to this movie… Shaitan is not a movie you will remember. It will be etched on your memory cells.

Rating: 4/5

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

Paanch (Hindi) | Sneak Peak | Cine Talk

Paanch… This is a banned movie which has been seen by almost three fourth of Indian cine-buffs. Directorial debut of Anurag Kashyap which failed to get a public screening, tells story of a maniacal Rock performer Luke and his four friends. Luke kills a someone and thus the killing spree is ignited. Story is pretty common and barely has anything interesting to offer. However… the movie has a lot.

Shot in dim light (one of the reason why the movie was not given a certificate), to a large extent Paanch do glorify violence, just like many war movies glorify wars. Its pervert in a sense because the outcome of the movie barely offers anything positive. But I suppose it’s not the first film that is totally dark in character. In fact, many films had nothing to offer (read sex-comedies). Atleast, Paanch has a story that can make you skip a heartbeat. It has simply unbelievable performances by everyone… a rare feat in Hindi Cinema. It has dialogues that cuts through your senses… and the forbidden dim light effect, murals on walls… they all add to the effect. Paanch is not about a story. It’s about everything beyond the words on paper.

Having said that, I feel there is an amount of gore in the movie making it unsuitable for a U or U/A rating however, banning it forever makes little sense. People are mature enough to decide what they can handle and what they can’t… and given the fact that its present everywhere, Ban makes no sense.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

Star Bestsellers - Part 1 | Unknown Heritage | Under Lens

When I was young school-going not-so-movie-freak and Star Plus was not as boring as it became since the advent of legendary Ekkta Kkapoor, I used to watch one show which my grand mom disliked… Star Bestsellers. While only a few TV shows from 90’s still linger in our memories, SBS deserve a special place along with wonders like Neem Ka Ped, Byomkesh Bakshi and few others.

In SBS, each episode was a different usually unconventional story presented by some budding director/writer. They were less tele-serial and more tele-films. The content of most of the episodes were really impressive and were adapted into films as well. There was not usual pattern in the story which is usually a case for many such shows. Some stories would revolve around romance and other human relations while some would stress on ambitions and crimes. Each story had a special feeling, a special freshness.

90s was a different age altogether. Conventional movies used to work and people loved even Akshay Kumar and Sunil Shetty’s stupid movies which made no sense. It was like Post Amitabh Bachchan, Bollywood stopped thinking and making cinema. Television imitated cinema to some great extent. SBS was a relief. Had it been showcased at late evening slot in second half of last decade, SBS would have got what it deserved. It’s unfortunate that SBS never got big TRPs… though it was fortunate that SBS existed. Why?

Anurag Kashyap, Hansal Mehta, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Imtiaz Ali, Sriram Raghavan are some names Indian Cinema is proud of. They all are SBS alumnus. Interesting nah? Infact, one of the most riveting episode Last Train to Mahakali was directed by Anurag Kashyap. Also, Hasil fame Tigmanshu was perhaps the biggest contributor to the series. In two seasons, he directed about six episodes.

In next few issues, we will cover some of the best of SBS. If you want us to cover some episode, let us know.

Feel free to mail us at the.reel.admin@gmail.com.

Written By: Sujoy Ghosh

Under Lens: Anurag “Banned” Kashyap

Anurag Kashyap is more known for the movies that were not allowed than the movies that were allowed to be showcased on silver screen. Apart from a confused No Smoking, irresistible Dev D and egoist Gulaal, the director has two brilliant movies to his credit- both banned temporarily or permanent.


His debut Paanch starring KK and Tejaswini Kolhapuri was inspired from a real life incident. It won accolades all around the world and Kashyap was instantly in limelight well before a release that never happened. Story of a struggling band and intense violence, the movie was banned by the Censor Board and till date it has not been released. A member found it unhealthy to leave the movie for public viewing.

But another movie- Black Friday, a docudrama based on Mumbai Bomb Blasts saw the silver screen after a series of cases. The devil was not the happening on screen. It was the content that was controversial to the core. TADA court was presiding over the case and some people including the accused believed that the movie can negatively influence the court. Prejudice was the fear. It was banned and then after suitable amends, released.

Though both movies were banned, they were available on DVDs at Palika… does censorship work?

For The Reel; Written By: Sujoy Ghosh