Anurag Kashyap reveals how Shiv Kumar Subramaniam got him his first writing credit in Bollywood: ‘I owe so much to Shiva Dada’
Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap expressed his shock after the sudden demise of actor-screenwriter Shiv Kumar Subramaniam on Monday. Remembering Subramaniam and how he was instrumental in laying the foundation of his Bollywood journey, the director wrote a long and emotional post on his Instagram handle. The 2 States actor passed away and his funeral took place on Monday.
Anurag Kashyap, known for films like Black Friday, Gangs of Wasseypur and Dev.D, started his career as a writer for Satya, Shool, Kaun and more. But, if it wasn’t for Subramaniam, Kashyap would never have found his way into Bollywood. In his Instagram post, Kashyap revealed that he owes his first ever writing credits to the late actor.
“The year 1992, I was doing a play with Jan Natya Manch and we came to Mumbai to perform at the Prithvi theatre Festival, the first person , my first celebrity I spotted at Prithvi was Francis from “Parinda” which was Shiv Subramaniam, also the writer of the film,” Anurag Kashyap wrote.
He further went down the memory lane about his initial interaction with Subramaniam at a professional level. “The year 1994 .. I was working on my first independent script for a production house called Media Classic , the condition to which was that my script will be made only after the one that was in preproduction, written Shiv Subramaniam and to be directed Shivam Nair. They were having issues with the script and I was the desperate young writer waiting for my turn. There came the time when they were just about ready to give up on the film “Auto Narayan” which was under preproduction. I requested them to let me have a go at the script and not shelve it, so my film gets made afterwards. Very gracefully Shiv and Shivam allowed me to do so. “Auto Narayan” got made and my script never did.”
Kashyap revealed that Subramaniam ensured his name got included as a writer for Auto Narayan. He added, “After seeing the film, Shiv Subramaniam asked Shivam to also put my name as the writer’s credit on the film. That’s how I got my first screen writing credit in this film industry. That “Auto Narayan” led me to RGV and “Satya” happened . I owe so much of what I am to Shiva Dada and we hadn’t been in touch for long with me owing to my continuous bad health and state of mind. Waking up to hear the heartbreaking news of Dada passing away has just taken so much out of me. Rest in peace Shiv Subramaniam . The most generous , beautiful man I’ve known.”
Shiv Kumar Subramaniam passed away two months after the demise of his and wife Divya’s only child – Jahaan, who succumbed to brain tumour, two weeks before his 16th birthday.
Subramaniam played supporting roles in movies like 2 States, Nail Polish, Rocky Handsome, Hichki, Happy Journey, Risk, Prahaar, Ungli, Bangan, Kaminey, Stanley Ka Dabba and more. His last screen appearance was in Meenakshi Sundareshwar.
