A day after Patel Ki Punjabi Shaadi actor Payal Ghosh levelled accusations of sexual harassment against Anurag Kashyap, the filmmaker termed them "baseless". On Saturday, in an interview with ABN Telugu, Ghosh alleged that the director had forced himself on her when he was making Bombay Velvet (2015).

Ghosh also claimed that Kashyap stated that actors Huma Qureshi, Richa Chadha and Mahie Gill are "only a call away" and come running to "suck his c**k."

When mid-day reached out to Gill, she lent support to the filmmaker with whom she had collaborated on DevD (2009). "I do not want to get into this rut. There's already a lot of negativity around us. It's very easy to take [our] names just because he launched us. All I want to say is that I have known Anurag for a long time now. We may not be in touch, but I am fairly certain that Anurag can never speak like this about any of his actors," said Gill.

Earlier in the day, Kashyap, in a series of tweets, defended himself as he wrote, "All your allegations are baseless. Whether it's my first wife or second, or a girlfriend, or all those actresses who worked with me, or all those female colleagues who have been working with me, I don't indulge in such behaviour in public or otherwise. Neither do I tolerate such behaviour. Rest, whatever happens... let's see (sic)." He also questioned the veracity of Ghosh's account as he wrote, "In the video, you can figure how true the allegations are."

Soon enough, several voices from the film industry rallied behind Kashyap, alluding that this was an attempt to silence the filmmaker who has been fiercely vocal in his criticism of the current dispensation. Taapsee Pannu, the leading lady of Kashyap's Manmarziyaan (2018), reiterated her faith in him as she tweeted, "For you, my friend, are the biggest feminist I know. See you on the sets soon of yet another piece of art that shows how powerful and significant women are in the world you create." Hansal Mehta, who has known Kashyap for 24 years, wondered if they were "trying to shut up an artiste with a dissenting opinion?" While Kashyap's former wife Aarti Bajaj called it "the cheapest stunt I have ever seen", Sacred Games' assistant director Zoya Parvin described him as the "champion of feminism" and decried those who misuse the power of the #MeToo movement. Producer Guneet Monga too hoped that the powerful movement is not ruined by some people's "agendas". "The timing of this accusation seems malicious, especially when Anurag is taking a stand," she wrote.

After Ghosh came out with her allegations on Saturday, National Commission of Women chairperson Rekha Sharma asked her to send a detailed complaint on the matter. Kangana Ranaut, who is often engaged in a war of words with Kashyap, was among the first to support Ghosh, using #ArrestAnuragKashyap.

mid-day reached out to Kashyap, Chadha and Qureshi, who remained unavailable for comment.

Elaborating on her claims, Payal said, “I met Anurag Kashyap when he was making Bombay Velvet and I was doing a film called Freedom. I was meeting directors as I was starting my career in Bollywood, and my manager had fixed an appointment with him over Facebook.” When asked why she didn’t speak up about the incident earlier, she said, “I told my family and my friends about this incident, but they asked me to not say anything about the industry. So, I was quiet all these years. But in between, I tweeted about what happened to me almost five-six times. But my friends and family made me delete the tweets.”

Several from the industry have lent their support to Anurag. Reacting to it, Payal said, “I knew it would happen. But I know that what I am saying is 100 per cent true. I don’t have any expectations from anyone, and I don’t give a damn about who’s saying what, and if they are supporting me or not. I have said what I wanted to say. If anything happens with my consent, it’s a different thing. But forcing someone because they have come to meet you for work is wrong.”

While Payal has said that she will send a detailed complaint to the National Commission for Women soon, her lawyer, advocate Nitin Satpute, will reportedly file a complaint at the Oshiwara Police Station.

Denying the allegations made by Payal, Anurag, in a series of tweets, said, “It took so long to silence me. It’s okay. In an attempt to silence me, you ended up lying so much that you have dragged other women despite being a woman yourself. Maintain some decorum, madam. I just want to say that whatever your accusations are, they are baseless.”

He further wrote, “While accusing me, you dragged my artistes and the Bachchan family, but failed. Madam, I have been married twice, if that’s a crime then I accept it and have loved a lot, I accept that, too.” He added, “Whether it’s my first wife, or second wife, or a lover, or the actresses I have worked with, or the team of girls and women who have always been working with me, or all those women I have met, in private or public. I neither behave like this nor do I ever tolerate it at any cost. It’s visible in your video how much of it is true and how much isn’t, blessings and love to you.”

Anurag expressed that he was ready for more such allegations. He wrote, “This is just the beginning. I have been inundated with calls, to not speak up and to shut up. I am aware that I won’t know from where all they are going to shoot their arrows at me. I am waiting.”

The filmmaker’s former wife Aarti Bajaj, supporting him wrote on Instagram, “You are a rockstar @anuragkashyap10. Keep empowering women as you do and the safest place you create for all of them. I see it first hand with our daughter. There is no integrity left and the world is full of losers and no brains baying for blood of anyone who has a voice... Cheapest stunt I have seen till now. First it made me angry then I laughed so hard as it cannot come more framed then this. I am sorry that you have to go through this. That’s the level of them. You stay HIGH and keep using your voice. We love you (sic).” 

--------------------------

Rachana Dubey (BOMBAY TIMES; September 6, 2018)

His filmography is dotted with stories of psychopaths, crazy lovers and trigger-happy gangsters. With that, filmmaker-writer Anurag Kashyap has carved out a dark space for himself in Bollywood. After 25 years in the movie business, he’s realised he doesn’t have a point to prove anymore. With an urge to reach out to different sets of audience at different places, Anurag has found a method to the madness that ensues each time he decides to narrate a story. Excerpts from a conversation about complex relationships and his upcoming love story Manmarziyaan...

It’s been reported that you agreed to direct Manmarziyaan on the understanding that Aanand L Rai would produce Mukkabaaz...
The film happened out of the blue. I wanted to make Mukkabaaz and Aanand L Rai wanted to make Manmarziyaan. I was aware of the project. We spoke over the phone, met and exchanged scripts, and decided in the next meeting that we’d make both our films in quick succession. Manmarziyaan was partially shot but I didn’t want baggage. I got the freedom to start it afresh. I cast the film differently. It all happened thanks to the film’s writer Kanika Dhillon, who has stayed with it with three different filmmakers interpreting it in their own way. She and I agreed that we could see the story from Rumi’s (Taapsee Pannu’s character) point of view and threw out everything that was not needed. It is my dearest film and it depicts relationships the way I see them.

You’ve begun to do things differently with your films now. You seem to be exploring your stories a lot more softly, as compared to before. What’s prompted you to change gears?
I still remember Taapsee glaring at me and saying, ‘Listen, love story hai but please, U/A rating chahiye, A nahin’ (laughs!). I have done things the way I haven’t done them before because this is how I wanted to narrate a love story.

Your cast even joked about the fact that Manmarziyaan didn’t have a serial killer or blood and gore…
It’s a conscious change, which started with Mukkabaaz; of course, not many saw that film either, so I'm not sure if they’ve realised it. I wanted to make a film to reach out to a larger audience. I’ve seen Iranian films, which attempt all kinds of subjects, but don’t get abusive or offensive while narrating them. Also, it’s not like I write the expletives in the script; actors think Anurag ki film hai, muh mein aayega toh bol denge, and that is how it has happened on most occasions. I controlled that in Mukkabaaz consciously. Many people tell me they’ve seen my films but I wonder where. The numbers of my films are usually dismal at the box office. It took me 25 years to figure out that I have a wide audience, but people watch my films at their own pace. By the time they reach cinemas, my films are off. So, now I have become very determined, and I don’t want to prove a point to anyone. I want to make films more responsibly like Rajkumar Hirani does. I don’t want to change what I say, but I want to say it in a manner that people listen.

You’ve been fairly open about your relationships. Have you put your personal experiences into this love story?
I can make romance more real than most people, because I put all my experience into it. Here, the script belongs more to the girl than the guys. It’s a coming-of-age story for Taapsee’s character. I’ve always seen that there is a clear distinction. Girls of a certain age like boys who are like Vicky’s character in the film, and after a point, they transition to boys like Robby, which is Abhishek’s role. When Kanika and I would discuss scenes, I would tell her, ‘Yaar mere saath to aisa hua tha’ and then we’d tweak things keeping them very realistic. For me, romance is not filmy. It has to be believable; it has to be messy and grey because love in real life is like that. Right now, we have this need to understand things and so we try to define them with different words. I just let things be without defining them. If something like love could be easily defined, then what’s the point? I like complexities and the contradictions in my life.

Have your relationships been very complicated?
On the contrary, there haven’t been any complications in my relationships. Look, people try finding reasons for my break-ups. When I started dating Kalki in 2008, people said I dumped my wife Aarti Bajaj for her. The truth is that Aarti and I separated in 2005. Aarti understood my need to move on and we divorced. People miscalculate the timelines of my relationships. It’s important for people to address what is not working between them. As individuals, if we’re barely spending 15 days in a year together, why are we a couple? Also, those days, I had several twitter brawls which also took a toll on the partner. Today, we all hang out together. Aarti edits my films and Kalki is a friend. Ownership becomes a problem in relationships. Manmarziyaan addresses that. Being in a relationship doesn’t mean you own each other. This is how I look at the relationships in my life, and that’s how I’ve put it in the film, too.

You’ve chosen to narrate Manmarziyaan from Rumi’s (Taapsee’s character) point of view. There has been a gradual surge in the number of women becoming the crux of narratives. What’s your take on that?
Gulaal, Dev D and Gangs of Wasseypur — my films have always had strong roles for actresses. It’s all interconnected. The society gets the cinema it votes for. What do people want? A pretty heroine and a macho hero who mirror aspirations people can’t fulfil by themselves. As an audience, you will get the cinema that you pay to watch. The ones who complain about ‘mainstream’ cinema are not the ones who go to cinema halls to watch a sensible film. They’ll watch it online, and their representation in the ticket buyer crowd will remain low. The kind of cinema made is dictated by the kind of audience that’s ready to pay for it. If you want something hard-hitting like Mulk to be made more often, then you have to vote for it by going to a cinema hall and watching it there. I meet so many people who want to make such good films but I also know that no one will fund their films because no one watches these films in cinemas.

Director Rima Das had pointed out that her film Village Rockstars doesn’t have buyers although it has won a National Award.
Even if a studio releases it, no one will watch it because it’s an honest piece of work from Assam, which no one is interested in. The ones who complain about the lack of a content-heavy film should first make an effort to get such films released, watch it and influence others to watch it too. I am talking about the people within the fraternity who need to do that. Phantom Films also has a distribution wing but they, too, don’t want to do it. They grudgingly released The World Before Her and Katiyabaaz, but their reluctance was evident. This cycle will take very long to change. Thankfully, filmmakers have alternate platforms for the other kind of cinema to survive. It has set me free as a storyteller. What I can’t make as a mainstream film will go to other platforms.

Do you think excessive censorship has driven filmmakers to seek alternate spaces?
I’ve fought the Censor Board all my life but they are not a problem really. They were a problem when I didn’t know how things worked. When Paanch was rejected, I was told, ‘Yaar tum halla machao’. I did but I didn’t realise that the Board works in four stages and if you go up to the fourth stage, your film will definitely get cleared. The marked difference between consumers is actually the reason why filmmakers are looking for alternate platforms. I remember Gangs Of Wasseypur had a short run at the box office because it was caught between Ek Tha Tiger and some Sunny Leone film. Although it was doing well, GoW went out of cinemas because there was a bigger audience waiting for the other films. Today, most people have seen Gangs…, but there won’t be a Part 3. Mera dimaag kharaab hai kya? No one goes to watch such films in theatres. I made a show for an alternate platform and my audience there was far bigger.

Don’t you think filmmakers are also to blame for the kind of cinema consumed by most of the audience today?
Kitne saal se log koshish kar rahe hain but nothing changes. A lot of other things need to change before that. According to a report, 84 per cent of our population lives at 5.5 dollars or less, for a day. Education is the only key, but no government will take it on itself to provide basic education because the lack of it makes it easier to manipulate people. If people are educated, they won’t believe half the things that are said. So, cinema toh door ki baat hai. So many filmmakers have tried making different kinds of cinema, but everything boils down to business.

Do you think episodes like the Padmaavat controversy force storytellers to seek platforms that are not regulated by the authorities yet?
It’s a different atmosphere in the country today. Everyone is scared to stand up and speak and I don’t resent people for not standing up. Whenever people have stood up, their bank accounts are frozen under some pretext or they’re dragged into issues which take the attention away from the discussion. The media and the filmmakers are all pawns controlled by the powers to be. I have chosen to fight through my work which is better than fighting on social media or with a fist fight. Everyone thinks I am like the films I make — I am not a dark intense person. I am a straightforward realist.

What do you plan to make after Manmarziyaan?
Anticipation destroys my work. It’s a harsh lesson I learnt, thanks to Bombay Velvet.

Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; May 23, 2014)

It's official. Anurag Kashyap has found love again and this time the object of his affection is Sabrina Khan, the young assistant director of Bombay Velvet. The 41-year-old met the twenty-something at a party a few months ago and they instantly bonded. The duo has been seeing each other ever since.

Revealed a source, "Anurag is crazy about her and fondly calls her Sabby. They recently went on a trip to Europe and spent a few days in Paris. He seems really happy and believes that Sabby has brought stability to his life at a time when his marriage to Kalki Koechlin was on the rocks."

When Mirror met Anurag at his Andheri office he looked sunny, settled and had lost a substantial amount of weight. "I've been working out a lot and Bombay Velvet is shaping up well," he smiled.

But he has another reason to smile. Is he in love, "Yes, I am dating someone," he admits, without beating around the bush. "I'm in a really happy phase right now."

Is it because of his AD Sabrina? He nodded, "I have never camouflaged my personal life. If I'm dating someone, I won't hide it."

Anurag was earlier married to Aarti Bajaj, who has edited all his films except for the upcoming Bombay Velvet. They have a daughter, Aaliya.

After divorcing Aarti in 2009, he was in a live-in relationship with actress Kalki Koechlin, whom he married in April 2011. They mutually decided to separate in November 2013. They are not officially divorced but Kalki and Anurag have been living separately for a while now.

Asked if Kalki knows about Sabrina, he said, "Of course, she was the first person I confided in. She is happy that I am happy."

However, the filmmaker says he's not ready to take another plunge just yet. "Right now, we are just seeing each other. Let's see how far it progresses," he said.

Even though he is preoccupied with the post-production of his magnum opus Bombay Velvet, Anurag has taken time out to present a documentary, The World Before Her. Directed by Nisha Pahuja it has won awards at several international film festivals. "It's probably one of the most important films to come out of India and I'd urge everybody to see it." 

Ankur Pathak (MUMBAI MIRROR; March 26, 2014)

Even as Kangana Ranaut continues to be applauded for her performance in Queen, the makers of her next, Revolver Rani, are running helter-skelter to finish the film. Mirror has learnt that Shan Mohammed, the film’s editor who has worked on Wake up Sid and Jaane Tu Ya Jaane Na, left the film midway over non-payment of dues. And the makers were left staring at the raw footage and desperately looking for a replacement who could start working from scratch, so they could keep the April 25 deadline.

Revealed a source, “Shan had completed the rough cut but despite his repeated pleas, he wasn't paid his dues. He decided to dump the project towards the end of February. This came as a shock to both debutant director Sai Kabir and the film’s producers.”

The makers tried to reason with Shan but he refused to budge until he was paid his money. The filmmakers eventually hired Aarti Bajaj who has edited Highway and Rockstar. She is presently racing against time to finish the film. “The final cut is still not ready and they're just weeks away from the release,” added the source.

When contacted, director Sai Kabir confirmed that Shan had indeed walked out from the film, but came up with a rather strange cover up. “Yes, he left the film. But I wanted a different point of view. There were no money issues.”

Shan however told Mirror, “I’m no longer involved with Revolver Rani. If I am working on a film, I expect to get paid. Or else, why should I keep working?”