If you are a fan of Gangs of Wasseypur series and this movie inspires you to understand cinema and Filmmaking. Then, you might be a die-hard fan of Anurag Kashyap movies.
Anurag Kashyap is a Bollywood writer and director. He is regarded as an Indie filmmaker. He is India’s best filmmaker Bollywood has ever seen.
Anurag belongs to only that bunch of directors like Ram Gopal Verma, Vishal Bhardwaj, Shoojit Sircar, and Hansal Mehta. They have the guts to create breathtaking realistic movies at the same time with a high level of entertainment?
He has mastered the craft of indie filmmaking movies. You can say he is a man-made India to watch the most realistic and authentic movies.
It is interesting to see a director like him rising as a star in an era of heroism where audiences watch the movies of their favorite stars. He has gained an interesting and cult fan following through his work.
So, here 5 best movies of Anurag Kashyap which made him a genius director.
5 Best Movies of Anurag Kashyap
It is hard to choose any Anurag Kashyap movies as they are all masterpieces in their own way. So, what should be the criteria behind choosing the best?
Cinema is not all about critic reviews, Cult status, and Box office collections. In Martin Scorsese’s Words,
“Cinema is a pathway to show the inner desire and shades of ruthless society which is hidden under the skin of regulations.”
Cinema is a medium that defines society, shapes it, and can destroy it. If you ever watch the movies of Stanley Kubrick, Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Scorsese, and Quentin Tarantino, Every filmmaker has its Own elements to define the characters.
No Smoking
No smoking is indeed India’s first Nonlinear Movie that the audience isn’t able to understand. This is the reason why it failed at the box office. This movie is more realistic, bizarre, and scaring portrayal of rehabilitation, Rather than box office collection.
No Smoking is a 2007 Neo-Noir mystery movie about a chain smoker businessman “K” (John Abraham). His wife is very disturbed and worried about K’s smoking habits. So to get rid of the trauma of his wife, the husband is ready for his treatment and meets the owner of “Prayogshala”, Bengali Baba.
If you have never seen this unknown masterpiece movie, I will not break the plot here. Its plot is too complex and hard to digest. The movie reminds of a theatre show. Everything is depicted in the form of symbols and metaphors.
The movie itself is a depiction of Anurag Kashyap’s inability to get his movies censorship from the censor board. Smoking is a metaphor for freedom of speech. Everyone wanted to steal his freedom to showcase the movies.
You will not get the plot in the first watch but try to give it a chance. You will find this movie, one of the unique concepts like “Tumbbad”.
Gangs Of Wasseypur Series (1 & 2)
If you haven’t watched this violent and dark comedy crime masterpiece yet, What the hell are you doing on this earth?
This is one of the most appreciated Indian movies (part 1). It got placed in the list of 100 best films of the 21st century of “the guardian films”. It ranked 59th positions along with movies like “The Dark Knight, Gravity, Lincoln, and There Will be Blood”.
The series is a depiction of a real story that happened in Dhanbad and Wasseypur(Now in Jharkhand). It is a violent rivalry of 3 generations of gangsters spanning half Century.
The plot is simple. The movie which is started with Rivalry between Ramadhir Singh and Shahid Khan is followed by Sardar khan, Danish Khan, and Faizal khan. All the Characters are Antiheroes.
It is the most gripping, Hilarious, and Violent movie. I will bet that even in a crime and murder scene you will laugh like hell without any doubt. This type of craft is made once in a while.
The music of the movie is so memorable and funny. It will be remembered, popular, and gains cult status after the release of a movie which is unseen in India Cinema.
Dev D
Dev D is a modern-day tale of Devdas. This movie is set apart from Shyam Benegal and Sanjay Leela Bhansali ‘s Devdas. If you don’t know that Devdas is a novel with the same name based on Sarat Chandra. Around 16 movies are made into multiple languages.
This masterpiece is different from others. Here, they talk about life and death. You will get to see humans in their extreme behavior. How can a decision of marriage impact the life of an individual so deep that it started to affect its habits and behavior?
The structure of this movie is pure experimenting and colorful where you will see the fullness and bold outside but emptiness and dark inside.
Here, D stands for Dick in the title. Just watch the dunking state of Dev and colors around him. You will get the best cinematic impact on your mind.
Ugly
If you ever wanted to experience the harsh reality behind the life of people from Mumbai. The answer is Ugly. A story that revolves around the kidnapping of a small girl and the greedy nature of her loved ones.
This movie will hit you hard in the climax. It showcases how everyone around you is trying to benefit from disguise. The movie explores the true nature of human greed and comfort.
The hidden element of the movie is the narrative of Kashyap’s life of Kashyap where he wasn’t able to spend time with his daughter. The nature of this one is dark but rather more a crippled disturbance in every scene.
If you are able to write suspense like this, you would master the art of hidden suspense which audiences are unaware till the end. you can even watch 13 Best suspense thriller movies (Read This).
Black Friday
The movie was not released due to a case going in the high court. This story is about the 1993 Mumbai bomb blast. The narration of the movie is Raw with imperfect characters.
This imperfection has made this movie interesting and shows the real character like Dawood Ibrahim, Tiger Memon, and Badshah Khan in their own psyche. This masterpiece has shown the real depiction of what made all these terrorists go with the bomb blast.
The best thing about this movie is that they never justified or glorified any of the religion and never took sides. It is not a movie about Who is right or wrong. The consequences of everyone made them not to be sympathetic towards the world.
you can search this on YouTube. It will make you forget human values for some time.
Conclusion
Though, it is hard to define or justify the cinema. Remember, cinema is not about criticizing the world but showcase the “What if” and explore the different possibilities.
Anurag Kashyap has understood the Cinema through experience because the real world shapes a person and that inspires him to explore the world even deeper.
I hope you love my thoughts on Anurag Kashyap and the list. Please share this if you are a real cinema lover like me.
Cheers.
FAQ
Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh
He had two marriages
Aarti Bajaj (2003-2009) and Kalki Kochlin (2011-2015)
His filmmaking is mostly inspired by Neo-Noir European style of Cinema. Majorly, He follows the style of Quentin Tarantino and Martin Scorsese. He mostly used the guerrilla filmmaking techniques with hidden cameras.
