When Anurag Kashyap was kidnapped a gangster after Satya: ‘Unhone khana khilaya…’

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who worked with Ram Gopal Varma for many years, recently spoke about the late 1990s and early 2000s when RGV and Kashyap were deep into making gangster movies in Hindi cinema. In a recent chat with Tanmay Bhat on his YouTube channel, Anurag recalled that after Black Friday, he was often approached gangsters and criminals, and their associates in hopes that he would tell their story on the big screen.
Kashyap said that at that point he met with Mumbai’s Police Commissioner and shared with him that he might need some protection. The Dobaaraa director recalled, “He said ‘you don’t need it. Underworld loves you, everyone loves you, you go’. And actually, no one called with threats.”
He then recalled an anecdote where he was taken to a strange party a gangster’s henchman. “Two people came to my house and said you will have to go with us. I asked them who they were and they just said I will have to go with them,” he said. Anurag said that this happened soon after the release of Satya. Anurag was one of the writers on Satya, which was directed RGV.

“Chrmas party thi kisi gangster ki. Vahan pe mujhe singhasan pe bithaya. God mein bachche bitha diye. Hum logo ne photo khinchaye, khana khilaya, Merry Chrmas bola, bola aapki film bohot achi thi, bhej diya (It was a Chrmas party of some gangster. They made me sit on a throne. Put a few kids on my lap. Clicked some photos, fed us food, wished Merry Chrmas and sent me back home),” he shared. He then recalled that similar incidents happened with Manoj Bajpayee and Saurabh Shukla after the release of the film. The 1998 film was a defining moment in Hindi cinema and is still regarded as one of the most significant gangster films of Indian cinema.
Anurag’s latest film Dobaaraa, starring Taapsee Pannu, released in theatres on August 19.