Anurag Kashyap: Actors are reluctant to do my films after finding success

Anurag, who plays the antagonist in Haddi, discusses how actors lead his movies in their initial years, but change their stance after attaining stardom

When debutant director Akshay Ajay Sharma approached Anurag Kashyap to play the antagonist in Haddi, the filmmaker told him to find another actor. “If you don’t find anyone, I’ll do it,” he promised. Months later, Kashyap was on set playing the antagonist to Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s titular character in the ZEE5 film. 

So, how was it being directed by one’s mentee? After all, Sharma had worked as an assistant director on several of Kashyap’s projects, including Sacred Games and Manmarziyaan (2019). “When it’s my film, I give everybody [space], but because it was his film, I was watching if he was doing it right or wrong. I was stricter. I also cribbed a lot, asking him, ‘Kya kara raha hai mujhse?’” laughs Kashyap, before admitting, “I was the biggest diva on the set. I felt like the papa, and they were all my children because so many of the cast and crew members have worked on my films.” 

Kashyap has become a regular in front of the camera, as far as cameos are concerned. He began his full-fledged acting stint with Shagird (2011), following it up with Akira (2016), AK vs AK (2020) and Ghoomketu (2020). The filmmaker, however, doesn’t particularly enjoy being on screen. Reason? “I find acting tedious because actors have a different discipline, which I don’t have,” he explains. “Actors enjoy every bit of the process, even the waiting and the prep. I don’t. I am restless. Besides, I worry that if there is a month’s gap between shoots, my weight will increase, or that I’ll fall sick and lose weight. Actors maintain themselves regularly.” 

In that sense, the enthusiastic storyteller is “a reluctant actor”. Which begs the question: Has any actor ever shown reluctance to feature in his film? One would assume that most actors want a Kashyap project on their résumé, but the director reveals he often faces rejection. “Every actor is reluctant to act in my film after becoming successful. Everybody wants to be a star eventually. I am a favourite of actors when they are starting out. After they’ve had a breakthrough, they say, ‘Sir, pata nahin yeh film chalegi ya nahin. Mere career ka kya hoga?’ Except Nawaz, Huma [Qureshi] and Radhika [Apte], every actor has said this to me.” 

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