Anurag Kashyap: 'I Came Back From The Grave'

'I have more time in Bengaluru to write, away from the film industry in Mumbai that always pulls me down and makes me frustrated.'

IMAGE: Aaishvary Thackeray, Anurag Kashyap and Vedika Pinto. Photograph: Kind courtesy Anurag Kashyap/Instagram

Aaishvary Thackeray makes his debut in a double role in Nishaanchi, and the actor, as well as the film, is getting rave reviews.

"Nishaanchi does come from my childhood of watching Deewaar, Ganga Jumna, Mother India... All of that is somewhere reflected in the film," Director Anurag Kashyap discusses the actor and tells Subhash K Jha.

Why have you relocated to Bengaluru?

It has really changed my life, my health and energy.

I have more time to write, more time to myself, away from the film industry in Mumbai that always pulls me down and makes me frustrated.

So all those negative forces have gone from inside because I don't interact with industry anymore, until my film is ready.

I partner with Ranjan Singh; I have no company,

And when there is no company, there is no pressure of making a big company.

So is this Anurag Kashyap Reloaded?

I am back to how I used to be during my struggling days. I will work alone as a director and writer.

Sometimes, I act in South India. I get more camaraderie there.

There are more film discussions than box office discussions, there are talks about storytelling.

There are many novelists who live in Bengaluru.

So it is a creative community out there?

Yes. Bengaluru is very conducive to creativity.

People don't come to seek validation; I used to spend half my energy in that.

There are wide roads, there are pavements, so I go for these morning walks.

I get my writing time.

I'm very happy in Bengaluru.

IMAGE: Aaishvary Thackeray in a double role with Vedika Pinto in Nishaanchi.

Your new film Nishaanchi is like your rebirth?

It was very beautiful, everything is connected organically.

I was so sick and scared; I literally came back from the grave.

I felt like that while doing my last film Kennedy. After that, when I was in the right state of mind, Nishaanchi was made.

Is Nishaanchi homage to some of the greatest Hindi films like Ganga Jumna, Deewaar?

Yes. Nishaanchi does come from my childhood of watching Deewaar, Ganga Jumna, Mother India... All of that is somewhere reflected in the film.

I had this story of a mother and her twins for a long time.

One day, we started writing the opening scene. It was in 2016, when we were working on Mukkabaaz.

We were simultaneously working on Nishaanchi because there was a lot of pressure about why I keep working with newcomers after Bombay Velvet.

So you were going to cast a star in Nishaanchi?

Initially, I had Sushant Singh Rajput in mind and he had said yes. Then, he got two films from Dharma Productions, Drive and I think, Dil Bechara.

I put the script aside till I found a new actor.

IMAGE: Aaishvary Thackeray with Vedika Pinto in Nishaanchi.

Was Aaishvary Thackeray given the double role because of the family he belonged to?

I did not even know Aaishvary was a Thackeray in the beginning. I saw his show reel in which he had done monologues.

One of the monologues he had done was from Shool, Manoj Bajpayee's last monologue which he had written himself.

I thought this boy is from North India, Bihar, and has amazing eyes.

His screen presence is also very good.

So initially you thought Aaishvary Thackeray was a Bihari?

Before meeting him, I got to know that he is a Thackeray and a Maharashtrian.

I said, I don't know if you have plans of being launched, I will need to meet your family, so first read the script.

He read the script and was excited to do it.

I told him I needed to make this film uninterrupted and he will have to become a 'Kanpuriya'.

IMAGE: Aaishvary Thackeray and Vedika Pinto. Photograph: Kind courtesy Anurag Kashyap/Instagram

Was Aaishvary's mother Smita Thackeray involved in the casting?

I met his mother Smitaji and told her that if she had any plan to launch him, she must tell me because I couldn't do the film without her son's complete attention.

I needed a lot of dedication.

Aaishvary said he didn't want to do anything else, so he came on board.

Did the surname come in the way at any time?

There was no plan to use the surname.

But it got leaked in the media and everybody knew that he was doing this film. So we thought we might as well use the surname.

There was no pressure from the family; they did not come in the way at all.

Aaishvary gave me three-four years of his life, went to Kanpur with his co-star Vedika Pinto and lived there. They picked up the attitude, the language, everything.