'My films will never be bigger hits than Dabangg'

Anurag Kashyap is back as a producer for first-time director Bejoy Nambiar's Shaitan. He talks about his minuscule budgets, and why he doesn't want to replicate the success of his brother's film



After The Girl In Yellow Boots promos were leaked on the net, the same has happened with Shaitan?
The promo of TGYB was on the website of a film festival and someone downloaded and uploaded it. But it was OK because it was not harming the film. Thankfully, no one uploaded the entire film. In the case of Shaitan, its first promo has been leaked.

Isn't Shaitan similar to your film Paanch, which has not been released?
Yes, there are minor similaritiesu00a0-- that of five friends getting into a peculiar situation. But Shaitan is a superior film. I am fortunate to have come across a script like this and a director like Bejoy. When I look back at Paanch, I think it was juvenile. We should have taken the approach of Shaitan. Paanch was suited to that time, and Shaitan is suited to the present.

You are producing Shaitan and Michael besides directing The Girl In Yellow Boots and Gangs Of Wasseypur.
Diverse cinema can come from the same production house. I became a producer because there are so many filmmakers who cannot find producers to back them. It is unfortunate that the industry cannot see the talent and brilliance of a Vikram Motwane or a Rajkumar Gupta or a Bejoy Nambiar. I am lucky to be able to produce their films.

Why Rajeev Khandelwal and Manoj Bajpai?
With a big star it would be impossible to go to the kind of real locations we shoot inu00a0-- I shot Gangs Of Wasseypur in small villages where there were no five star-hotels; and we travelled by train. A big star will not do that. In our film, most of the money is spent on the shooting, whereas elsewhere, it is spent on lifestyle. Half of our films' budgets are equal to the amount other producers spend on costumes.

Does the success of Dabangg tempt you to make a commercial film?
My brother and I are always there for each otheru00a0-- I could do what I wanted to do in the industry for 17 years because he allowed me to, saying he would take care of the family. He kept working in television so that I could make films. The day he felt I had been accepted, he decided to turn director.
We're different people and follow different filmmakers. I can happily claim that I'm more content-oriented than many people. I'm making the kind of films I want and live the life I want. I travel the world, and international filmmakers who are my heroes are now my friends. We, in fact, live in each others' houses. None of my films will become bigger hits than Dabangg, because my films don't cater to everyone like my brother's films do. But I'm happy with the chance to make the films I want to.

Bollywood News Service