Anurag Kashyap
Call him the Stanley Kubrick of Bollywood, if you will for this one is a maverick, brilliant at times and listless at others.
In his career spanning a little more than a decade, Kashyap's repertoire has gems like Satya, Kaun, Yuva and Black Friday.
But before you decide to salute the filmmaker behind such masterpieces, he has been credited for pedestrian fare too, like Jung, Shakalaka Boom Boom, Dhan Dhana Dhan Goal and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom.
Therein lays the stark contrast. Kashyap flatters to deceive. He is a filmmaker, who isn't afraid to board a pirate ship if he's excited by that idea. But on other occasions, he finds himself jettisoned from that very ship, which he thought would give him an altogether different experience.
Kashyap is uncompromising, one who puts self-belief before anything else. That probably explains why his first directorial venture, Paanch, is yet to see the light of the day, and why the highly acclaimed Black Friday got into legal wrangles. It also explains why his much hyped Anil Kapoor-starrer Alvin Kallicharan was consigned to the cans after garnering loads of publicity.
Towards the end of last year, he had two successive releases. No Smoking was an exercise in self-indulgence. On the other hand, Return of Hanuman was apparently a sequel but it began with a disclaimer stating it wasn't. Both the movies did nothing to enhance Kashyap's reputation as a filmmaker.
Kashyap now has a huge task at hand (as a director), to try and find a follow up to Black Friday that will appease the audiences and the critics alike.
The writer in him still commands respect though. Water, Guru, Honeymoon Travels Pvt Ltd et al may not be as big as Satya, but still they are different from the regular fare. And while you appreciate a small budget thriller like Aamir, you suddenly realise why -- Kashyap happens to be a creative producer here.
Kashyap is, without doubt, daringly different. He's more creative than many of the other contemporary filmmakers. What he definitely needs is to curb his tendency to go overboard at times.
In the picture: A still from Satya.
Also Read: Why Anurag is like Sanjay Leela Bhansali
Advertisement
