Fearless producers are making all the difference, says Anurag Kashyap


PTI, May 22, 2023, 9:45 AM IST

Image source: PTI / File

Cannes: Anurag Kashyap, whose neo-noir thriller ”Kennedy” is set to premiere at midnight on Wednesday at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, believes that the current upswing in independent cinema on the subcontinent is being fuelled by fearless young producers willing to put their money where their mouth is.

”It is a new crop of producers who have made all the difference,” the Mumbai-based filmmaker said as he kicked off a panel discussion in the Canadian Pavilion here on the theme of ‘South Asian Stories in a Global Film Market’.

”They have made it possible for a stream of remarkable independent films to be made,” he added.

Canadian-born director-writer-producer Fawzia Mirza said the gradual chipping away at barriers has been a key stimulus for the new kind of cinema that is today emerging from South Asia.

”I think there are sometimes barriers and limitations, but it is beautiful that as a Canadian and an American I have crossed many boundaries. I would like to cross the India-Pakistan boundary a lot, too,” she added.

”In the current film I am in post on (‘Me, My Mom & Sharmila’) Sharmila Tagore and ‘Mere Sapnon Ki Rani’ (song from ‘Aradhana’) are a major touchstone. In my last feature (2017’s ‘Signature Move’), Shabana Azmi played my mother,” said Mirza.

Talking of cultural cross-pollination, New York-based Bangladeshi-origin film producer Anadil Hossain said: ”It was Bollywood that gave me my first entry into Hollywood.” Among her American production credits are Wes Anderson’s ”The Darjeeling Limited” and Doug Liman’s ”Fair Game”.

”This year,” she said, ”is the 20th anniversary of the first Bollywood film that I was a part of, ‘Kal Ho Na Ho’, directed by Nikhil Advani.”

”It is wonderful to see incredible new filmmakers come up from the subcontinent. They are opening up a new way for us. It is great to see the expansion and the growth although it is also true that we still have a long way to go,” said Hossain, whose credits include Mira Nair’s ”The Namesake” and ”The Reluctant Fundamentalist”.

Zarrar Kahn, director of the Directors Fortnight title ”In Flames”, said he has been working in Karachi for the last 10 years. ”In Pakistan, Bollywood films are banned but we love to consume them. They were so larger than life that I was like we can never make those films. They are out of scale of what is possible,” he said.

”Watching the films of Anurag Kashyap gave us the palette and the landscape for films that we could make in Karachi. I am grateful to him for creating that kind of cinema and blazing that trail,” Kahn added.

On his part, Kashyap credited filmmakers such as Mira Nair, Deepa Mehta, Gurinder Chadha and Shekhar Kapur for showing the way.

”Without what they achieved we would not even attempt what we are making,” he said.

On the subject of making films under growing restrictions, Kashyap said: ”The best of Iranian cinema that we saw came out at the most difficult times. Every time I lose hope, I go and look at those films. If they can do it, what are we complaining about? I genuinely think the best of our creativity comes out in adversity.”

”In Flames,” Kashyap said, ”is so much more than a moody horror film. It talks about society, pulls out everything, and shows it bare naked. That hits you so hard in the gut.”

He added: ”I am a genre film freak. Genres evolved as a response to all kinds of repression. What were zombies if not Nazis?”

Udayavani is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel and stay updated with the latest news.

Top News

BCCI vs PCB spar on CT venue as Naqvi denies receiving any official note from Indian board

After Yogi’s ‘batenge, katenge’ slogan, PM pitches for unity with ‘Ek hai, toh safe hai’ message

“Coming soon.. 2025”: KL Rahul and Athiya Shetty announce first pregnancy

Mangaluru: Unauthorized bus stops at signals fuel traffic woes and safety concerns

SC notice to Karnataka, DK Shivakumar on CBI plea against withdrawal of consent by state govt

Will remain active in politics till my last breath: JD(S) patriarch & ex-PM Deve Gowda

BJP calls Congress govt ‘laughing stock’ as ‘samosa politics’ heats up in Himachal

Related Articles More

“Coming soon.. 2025”: KL Rahul and Athiya Shetty announce first pregnancy

Ananya Panday wears mother’s 21-yr-old suit by Rohit Bal in tribute to late designer

Suniel Shetty ‘absolutely fine’ after minor injury on set, thanks fans for love

Shah Rukh Khan receives threat, Mumbai police file case

Kerala police give clean chit to actor Nivin Pauly in rape case

MUST WATCH

Gho Pooja in Deepavali Festival

Melukote Deepavali

Ganapathi Co-operative Society Ltd

Udayavani Chinnara Banna 2024

Annapoorna Aahar | Food Places In Mysore


Latest Additions

BCCI vs PCB spar on CT venue as Naqvi denies receiving any official note from Indian board

Use Carnatic music to promote Kannada language: Nirmala Sitharaman

Udupi: Car collides with bike; Rider injured

UP women’s body proposes men shouldn’t tailor women’s clothes or cut their hair

NSE, BSE to be closed on Nov 20 for Maharashtra assembly polls

Thanks for visiting Udayavani

You seem to have an Ad Blocker on.
To continue reading, please turn it off or whitelist Udayavani.