Anurag Kashyap is an Indian filmmaker and actor known for his works in Hindi cinema. He is the recipient of several accolades, including four Filmfare Awards. For his contributions to film, the Government of France awarded him the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and letters) in 2013.
After writing a television serial, Kashyap got his major break as a co-writer in Ram Gopal Varma’s crime drama Jhooth (1998) and made his directorial debut with Paanch, which never had a theatrical release due to censorship issues. He then went on to direct Black Friday (2004 Film) (2004), a film based on the namesake book by Hussain Zaidi about the 1993 Bombay bombings. Its release was held up for two years by the District Board of Film Certification because of the pending verdict of the case at that time but was released in 2007 to widespread critical appreciation. Kashyap’s follow-up, No Smoking (2007) met with negative reviews and performed poorly at the box-office. His next venture Dev.D (2009), a modern adaptation of Devdas was a critical and commercial success; followed by the socio-political drama Gulaal (2009), and the thriller That Ladyboy in Yellow Boots (2011).
Kashyap’s prominence increased with the two-part crime drama, Gangs of Wasseypur (2012). Kashyap subsequently co-produced the critically acclaimed drama The Lunchbox, and the biographical drama Shahid (both 2013), the former earned him a BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language nomination. His next films were the anthology Bombay Talkies (2013), and the drama Ugly (2014). In 2016, Kashyap directed Raman Raghav 2.0, a film inspired by the serial killer Raman Raghav. His next film was the sports drama Mukkabaaz, which was released in 2018. The same year, he co-directed India’s first Netflix Original series, the crime thriller Sacred Games, based on Vikram Chandra’s novel of the same name and the romantic drama Manmarziyaan. He is also the co-founder of a film production company, Good Bad Films.
Early life
Kashyap was born on 10 September 1972 to a Rajput family in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. His father Sri Prakash Singh is a retired Chief Engineer of the Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited and was posted in Obra Thermal Power Station in Sonbhadra district near Varanasi. He did his early schooling in Green School Dehradun and, age eight onwards, at the Scindia School in Gwalior. Some of the locations used in Gangs of Wasseypur are also influenced from his own old house where he himself lived with his parents, sister, Anubhuti Kashyap, and brother, Abhinav Kashyap. Abhinav is also a filmmaker, who made his directorial debut with the masala blockbuster, Dabangg (2010).
Anubhuti has been his assistant in most of his films. She made her directorial debut with Doctor G (2022), a medical campus comedy, starring Ayushmann Khurrana, Rakul Preet Singh, and Shefali Shah.
Owing to his desire to become a scientist, Kashyap went to Delhi for his higher studies and enrolled himself into a zoology course at the Hansraj College (University of Delhi); he graduated in 1993. He then eventually joined the street theatre group, Jana Natya Manch; and did many street plays. The same year, his couple of friends “urged to catch a de Sica retrospective” at the International Film Festival of India. In ten days, he saw 55 films at the festival, and Vittorio De Sica’s Bicycle Thieves was the film that influenced him the most.
Personal life
Kashyap was first married to film editor Aarti Bajaj, with whom he has a daughter, Aaliyah Kashyap.[150] They divorced in 2009. He later married actress Kalki Koechlin, whom he first met during the making of Dev D, at her maternal home in Ooty. In 2013, Kashyap and Koechlin announced that: “they are taking time apart from their more than two-year-old marriage.” In May 2015, they were divorced at the Bandra family court in Mumbai.
When asked about his religious views, Kashyap replied: “I am an atheist. Cinema is the only religion I believe in.”
On 3 March 2021, the Income Tax Department raided 28 locations in Mumbai and Pune in connection with tax evasion by firm Phantom Films connected to Anurag Kashyap. Income Tax Department said it found discrepancy of around ₹300 crore which the Kashyap company official have not been able to explain.
Anurag Kashyap Age Wife Affairs Biography & MoreAnurag Kashyap
| Bio/Wiki | |
| Full Name | Anurag Singh Kashyap |
| Profession(s) | Film director, Screenwriter, Producer and Actor |
| Physical Stats & More | |
| Height (approx.) | in centimeters- 178 cm in meters- 1.78 m in Feet Inches- 5’ 11” |
| Eye Colour | Black |
| Hair Colour | Black |
| Career | |
| Debut | As a Director: Paanch (Unreleased) As a Producer: Udaan (2010) Anurag Kashyap produced Udaan As an Actor: Black Friday (Cameo Role, 2010) Anurag Kashyap acted in Black Friday |
| Awards, Honours, Achievements | • Screen Award for Best Screenplay with Saurabh Shukla for ‘Satya’ (1999) • Special Jury Award for ‘Last Train to Mahakali’ (2000) • Grand Jury Prize for ‘Black Friday’ (2007) • Best Story and Best Screenplay Award along with Vikramaditya Motwane (2011) • Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) by the government of France (2013) • Yash Bharti Award by the Government of Uttar Pradesh (2016) |
| Personal Life | |
| Date of Birth | 10 September 1972 |
| Age (as of 2023) | 50 Years |
| Birthplace | Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, India |
| Zodiac sign | Virgo |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Hometown | Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh |
| College/University | Hans Raj College (University of Delhi), New Delhi, India |
| Educational Qualification | Bachelor of Science |
| Religion | Atheist |
| Food Habit | Non-Vegetarian |
| Hobbies | Writing, Swimming |
| Relationships & More | |
| Marital Status | Divorced |
| Affairs/Girlfriends | Aarti Bajaj, Kalki Koechlin, Shubhra Shetty |
| Family | |
| Wife/Spouse | Aarti Bajaj, Film Editor (2003-2009) Kalki Koechlin, Actress (2011-2015) |
| Children | Son- None Daughter- Aaliya Kashyap |
| Parents | Father- Prakash Singh (Was a Chief Engineer of the Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited) Mother- Name Not Known |
| Siblings | Brother- Abhinav Kashyap (Film Director and Screenwriter) Sister- Anubhuti Kashyap |
| Favourite Things | |
| Food | Cheese, Cereals, Fish, Chocolate, Nespresso |
| Actor(s) | Dilip Kumar, Amitabh Bachchan, Naseeruddin Shah |
| Actresses | Marilyn Monroe, Golshifteh Farahani, Scarlett Johansson |
| Film(s) | Bollywood- Pyasa, Bandit Queen, Sahib Biwi Aur Gulam Hollywood- Bicycle Thieves |
| Style Quotient | |
| Car Collection | Mahindra XUV500 SUV |
| Money Factor | |
| Salary (approx.) | Rs. 8 crores/film |
| Net Worth | $110 million (As in 2018) |
Style, themes and influences
Kashyap is regarded as an auteur and is credited for pioneering India’s indie scene in the early 2000s. While promoting Bombay Talkies in Anupama Chopra’s show, Dibakar Banerjee described Kashyap’s aesthetics as “purely new age or purely Indian”; projecting “modern post independence India” in his films. He prefers shooting on real locations by employing guerrilla-filmmaking techniques with hidden cameras, and often makes his actors improvise their dialogues on set. In Ugly, he did not show the script to any of the lead actors. He frequently uses hand-held camera and experimental soundtracks.
Film maker Zoya Akhtar wrote: “He has a very strong storytelling style and he proved that you could tell a great story with not a lot of money.” Actor Ranbir Kapoor said, “All his films may not be big money spinners but the impact Anurag has, his contribution to Indian cinema, is immense.” Canadian film critic and festival programmer Cameron Bailey has called Kashyap as “one of the most knowledgeable filmmaker”.
The protagonists of his films often deal with excessive drug, smoke or alcohol consumption, personal guilt, extreme rage and arrogance which leads them into self-shattering situations. Often portrays small but strong female characters. Most of his films deal with realistic scenarios and take clues from real incidents. Like the 1976–77 Joshi-Abhyankar serial murders reference in Paanch, the 1993 Mumbai bombing in Black Friday, the 1999 Delhi hit-and-run case and DPS MMS Scandal in Dev. and the depiction of real life gang wars in Gangs of Wasseypur. Ugly came from his “personal guilt” of not spending enough time with his daughter and the fear of losing her. With several real-life incidents like IAS officer whose wife filed a case of brutality against him. A song “Sylvia” in Bombay Velvet was named after the Nanavati case, where Sylvia Nanavati was K. M. Nanavati’s wife.
Kashyap’s work inspired British director Danny Boyle, who has cited Black Friday and Satya as the inspirations for his Academy Award-winning film Slumdog Millionaire (2008). Boyle stated that a chase in one of the opening scenes of Slumdog Millionaire was based on a “12-minute police chase through the crowded Dharavi slum” in Black Friday. He also described Satya’s “slick, often mesmerizing” portrayal of the Mumbai underworld, which included gritty and realistic “brutality and urban violence,” directly influenced the portrayal of the Mumbai underworld in Slumdog Millionaire
Awards and honours
On 20 May 2013, Kashyap was awarded the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres (Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters) by the French government at 2013 Cannes Film Festival, when India was the guest country of the festival to commemorate 100 years of Indian cinema.
He has also served as one of the jury members at many film festivals including the 2009 Venice Film Festival, 2013 Sundance Film Festival, 13th Marrakech Film Festival, and the 20th Busan International Film Festival. In 2016, Kashyap was awarded with Yash Bharti Award by the Government of Uttar Pradesh for his contribution in the field of cinema.
In 1999, Kashyap shared the Screen Award for Best Screenplay, along with Saurabh Shukla for Satya.The next year, his short film Last Train to Mahakali won the Special Jury Award at the same awards. His feature film debut Black Friday won the Grand Jury Prize at the 3rd Annual Indian Film Festival of Los Angeles, and was a nominee for the Golden Leopard (Best Film) Award at the 57th Locarno International Film Festival.
In 2011, Kashyap shared the Best Story and Best Screenplay Award at the 56th Filmfare Awards with Vikramaditya Motwane for Udaan. The next year he shared the Filmfare Award for Best Dialogue with Zeishan Quadri, Sachin Ladia and Akhilesh Jaiswal for Gangs of Wasseypur at the 58th Filmfare Awards; the film also won the Critics Award Best Movie at the same award show. At the 60th Filmfare Awards, Kashyap won the Filmfare Award for Best Editing with Abhijit Kokate for Queen.
Filmography
Directed features
- Paanch (Unreleased)
- Black Friday (2004)
- No Smoking (2007)
- Return of Hanuman (2007)
- Dev.D (2009)
- Gulaal (2009)
- That Girl in Yellow Boots (2011)
- Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)
- Ugly (2014)
- Bombay Velvet (2015)
- Raman Raghav 2.0 (2016)
- Mukkabaaz (2018)
- Manmarziyaan (2018)
- Choked (2020)
- Dobaaraa (2022)
Controversies
• In 2000, his directorial debut film “Paanch” fell into controversy for the violent portrayal of youths.
• In 2007, his other film “Black Friday” became controversial for displaying the sensitive issue of the 1993 Bombay Bomb Blasts.
• He is often criticized by the media for promoting sex, drugs, and abuses through his films.
• Kashyap has always been at the anvil of Censor Board and the latest in the series is his 2016 flick “Udta Punjab” in which he was criticized by the board for portraying Punjab in a bad sense.
• On 19 September 2020, his name was dragged in #MeToo campaign when Bollywood actress Payal Ghosh accused him of sexual misconduct. Through her Twitter account, she levelled allegations against Anurag Kashyap and requested Narendra Modi to take action in the matter. Rekha Sharma, the chairperson of the National Commission for Women asked her to furnish more detail in the matter. Bollywod actress Kangana Ranaut also took to Twitter and defended Payal Ghosh’s claims. Later, Kashyap, through a series of tweets, denied these claims and released his lawyer’s statement to pursue the matter legally. Many Bollywood celebrities also came forward to support Anurag Kashyap, including Taapsee Pannu, Anubhav Sinha, and Hansal Mehta. Later, on 23 September 2020, an FIR was lodged against Mr. Kashyap by Payal Ghosh at the Versova police station in Mumbai. Payal accused Anurag of raping her at a place on Yari Road in Versova in 2013.
• On 3 March 2021, in a series of raids on Anurag Kashyap, Taapsee Pannu, and Vikas Bahl conducted by the Income Tax department, the discrepancy and manipulation in income worth Rs. 650 crore was found. The I-T dept. officials also revealed tax implications of about Rs. 350 crores; moreover, the officials also found unaccounted Rs. 5 crores cash received by a leading actress. Later, the raids were slammed by opposition parties on the pretext that the government was taking vengeance against those who criticized the government’s policies and who supported the farmer’s protest against the three farm bills passed by the Modi government.
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