We have heard about Anurag Kashyap’s cult following by the coveted yuppie brigade of India. We have heard diatribes of his rabid fans (are there any other kind?) whenever his film fails to attract audience. If anything, his newest release Bombay Velvet has brought out the truth about his so-called fans. The dearth of viewers at the screens has proved that his fans are a bunch of phonies who only pretend to like his movies to look high status. Earlier the rabid animals masquerading as his fans got away in his low-budget films where profits or losses weren’t huge. However, in a film of this colossal stature they have nowhere to run. If they really liked his movies, would Bombay Velvet have had such abysmal box-office returns?
The biggest irony of his rabid fans is that they watch his movies on pirated DVDs or online torrents but they disparage Indian public and filmmakers when his movies don’t do well in cinemas. When Ugly went unnoticed, media assailed Indian movie-goers with snide comments; notwithstanding that the movie had released abruptly, with a disdainful sense of entitlement by Kashyap. They sarcastically pleaded him not to have sad endings in his movies since Indian public preferred happy endings, as if Anurag Kashyap was a pioneer of sad endings in Hindi cinema. The hypocrites overlooked the blatant fact that sad endings were nothing new in Hindi cinema: movies like Dil Se, Rang De Basanti, Fanaa, Gangster, Ishaqzaade, Aashiqui 2, Ram-Leela and many others had sad endings and most of them were big hits. That specious claim itself busts the myth of Anurag Kashyap’s superiority. Why should Indians listen to the tirades of his sycophants? Is he in the Indian army? Has he found cure for cancer? Nobody owes him a living.
Despite being a good director and a brilliant dialogue writer, he is an overrated, overhyped product of smart Public Relations machinery. His fan-following is extremely limited to a few zealots and a bunch of propaganda Youtube channels that intimidate people to like his movies: rest of his fans constitute of people who just pretend to like his movies out of fear or snobbery. His sycophants make fun of blockbusters; they make sardonic videos on “how to make a hundred-crore film”, but Bombay Velvet has showed that making money is not that easy. It’s easy to resonate with a few hundred sycophants than with millions of people with divergent sensibilities. It’s easier to make so-called niche films like That Girl In Yellow Boots than so-called lowbrow comedies like Hera Pheri and Lage Raho Munnabhai.
The rabid animals masquerading as Anurag Kashyap’s fans demean people who watch movies for entertainment and dub them unintelligent, yet they themselves pimp for IPL. If sports can be watched for entertainment, then why not movies? It’s difficult to find any benefits of following professional sports. Even Noam Chomsky calls it a waste of time. If they want to educate themselves then they should read a book. It’s another thing that most of his phony fans have never read a book in their lives.
Anurag Kashyap is billed as an underdog by his PR machinery, yet he has a nexus with bigwigs like Karan Johar. He has propaganda Youtube channels at his disposal who not only venerate him but ridicule the movies of his rivals. He likes talking about hypocrisy of other people but he and his rabid fans are bigger hypocrites. He used to express contempt towards Karan Johar and ilk but now he has formed a powerful faction with him. Who is a hypocrite now, Mr. Kashyap? His so-called fans intimidate those who like mainstream films; they bully those who criticise him; they let loose tirades on audience when his movies open to dismal attendance. It is fear that makes people feign admiration for his movies. Intimidation can get you false admiration but it cannot make people buy tickets for your movies. Those who dig pits for others fall into them.
The biggest irony of his rabid fans is that they watch his movies on pirated DVDs or online torrents but they disparage Indian public and filmmakers when his movies don’t do well in cinemas. When Ugly went unnoticed, media assailed Indian movie-goers with snide comments; notwithstanding that the movie had released abruptly, with a disdainful sense of entitlement by Kashyap. They sarcastically pleaded him not to have sad endings in his movies since Indian public preferred happy endings, as if Anurag Kashyap was a pioneer of sad endings in Hindi cinema. The hypocrites overlooked the blatant fact that sad endings were nothing new in Hindi cinema: movies like Dil Se, Rang De Basanti, Fanaa, Gangster, Ishaqzaade, Aashiqui 2, Ram-Leela and many others had sad endings and most of them were big hits. That specious claim itself busts the myth of Anurag Kashyap’s superiority. Why should Indians listen to the tirades of his sycophants? Is he in the Indian army? Has he found cure for cancer? Nobody owes him a living.
Despite being a good director and a brilliant dialogue writer, he is an overrated, overhyped product of smart Public Relations machinery. His fan-following is extremely limited to a few zealots and a bunch of propaganda Youtube channels that intimidate people to like his movies: rest of his fans constitute of people who just pretend to like his movies out of fear or snobbery. His sycophants make fun of blockbusters; they make sardonic videos on “how to make a hundred-crore film”, but Bombay Velvet has showed that making money is not that easy. It’s easy to resonate with a few hundred sycophants than with millions of people with divergent sensibilities. It’s easier to make so-called niche films like That Girl In Yellow Boots than so-called lowbrow comedies like Hera Pheri and Lage Raho Munnabhai.
The rabid animals masquerading as Anurag Kashyap’s fans demean people who watch movies for entertainment and dub them unintelligent, yet they themselves pimp for IPL. If sports can be watched for entertainment, then why not movies? It’s difficult to find any benefits of following professional sports. Even Noam Chomsky calls it a waste of time. If they want to educate themselves then they should read a book. It’s another thing that most of his phony fans have never read a book in their lives.
Anurag Kashyap is billed as an underdog by his PR machinery, yet he has a nexus with bigwigs like Karan Johar. He has propaganda Youtube channels at his disposal who not only venerate him but ridicule the movies of his rivals. He likes talking about hypocrisy of other people but he and his rabid fans are bigger hypocrites. He used to express contempt towards Karan Johar and ilk but now he has formed a powerful faction with him. Who is a hypocrite now, Mr. Kashyap? His so-called fans intimidate those who like mainstream films; they bully those who criticise him; they let loose tirades on audience when his movies open to dismal attendance. It is fear that makes people feign admiration for his movies. Intimidation can get you false admiration but it cannot make people buy tickets for your movies. Those who dig pits for others fall into them.
7 comments
Hmmm... you have some valid points there.
Thanks for reading. I like his earlier films, which I still feel are his best.
which were his earlier movies?
I meant his first three releases: Black Friday, No Smoking and Dev.D.
I haven't seen Black Friday. The other 2 were excellent! (adds Black Friday to the "To watch" list)
Let me know when you see it. It was great year.
I will
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