Anurag Kashyap – “There shouldn’t be any censorship on making a film”: Birthday Special

Anurag Kashyap aka Mr. Uncensored of Bollywood was born on 10 September 1972 in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh. Being hailed from such a small and underdeveloped district couldn’t put a barrier on his dreams and aspirations. Currently, he is among the topmost director and producer of Bollywood who has given magnificent films like DevD, Black Friday, Gangs of Wasseypur, Manmarziyaan, Udta Punjab, The Women in Yellow Boots, and Choked.

Kashyap arrived in Mumbai in 1993 with INR 5,000 in his pocket Soon the money ran out, and he spent months on the streets, staying in lofts, “sleeping on beaches,” “under a water tank and in the St Xavier’s boys hostel. He then managed to find work at Prithvi Theatre, but his first play remained incomplete because the director died.

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.

Kashyap got his major break as a co-writer in Ram Gopal Varma’s crime drama Satya (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), 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 Central Board of Film Certification because of the pending verdict of the case at that time, but was released in 2007 to widespread critical appreciation.