Anurag Kashyap, the celebrated filmmaker known for his work in movies like Black Friday and Gangs of Wasseypur, has recently opened up about the profound impact of his 2015 film, Bombay Velvet, on his career and personal life. In a recent interview, Kashyap described the post-production phase of the film as the "worst experience" of his life, admitting that the film's failure was so "traumatic" that it led him to drastically alter his approach to filmmaking.
Bombay Velvet, a retro-noir set in 1960s Bombay, was a significant departure for Kashyap, known for his smaller-budget, gritty, and realistic films. The film, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, and Karan Johar, was envisioned as a grand homage to the era, based on Gyan Prakash's Mumbai Fables. However, despite its ambitious scale and star cast, the film was heavily criticized for its storytelling and became a major box office failure. Made on a budget of ₹90 crore, it only managed to gross ₹43.20 crore worldwide.
Kashyap revealed that he felt immense pressure from the production house to ensure the film recouped its massive investment. He stated that this pressure and the negativity surrounding the film were deeply traumatic. "If I could have owned this failure, this film wouldn't have been a trauma for me. It became a trauma for me," Kashyap confessed. He noted that the most difficult period was the post-production stage, where he felt he "went on the back foot" and experienced "so much negativity" for the first time in his career.
The filmmaker also revealed that the producers' anxieties significantly impacted the final product. According to Kashyap, the producers were concerned about the film's length and insisted on cutting out portions, including the lead actors' childhood stories. "Everyone was scared," Kashyap explained. "They found the film's length very long, they wanted me to cut the childhood story of the lead actors...because the film's cost was a lot more". He believes that retaining those excised 25 minutes could have improved the film and potentially mitigated its losses. He felt that "The opening on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday was more important than the film itself".
Following the Bombay Velvet debacle, Kashyap deliberately chose to scale down his projects significantly. His next film was made on a budget of just ₹3.5 crore. "After ₹90 crore I went straight to ₹3.5 crore because I didn't want to get trapped," he explained. He realized he needed to understand his audience better and work backward, focusing on making films where he had greater creative control. He asked the production house how much money they would give him if he didn't reveal the script or cast, but they trusted him to recover the investment.
Kashyap also reflected on casting choices for Bombay Velvet, revealing that Ranveer Singh was initially considered for the lead role before Ranbir Kapoor was cast. He admitted that he took a year to mentally process the casting change. Kashyap stated that some "big directors" in Bollywood had reservations about Singh, calling him "treadmill" due to his high energy. He said that the film's budget went from Rs 28 cr to 90 cr.
Anurag Kashyap's candid reflections on the Bombay Velvet experience offer a glimpse into the pressures and compromises that can accompany large-scale filmmaking. His decision to return to his roots and prioritize creative control over budget size underscores his commitment to his vision and artistic integrity.
