Anurag Kashyap reveals why Gangs Of Wasseypur did not release in North India and slams Bollywood makers for ignoring Hindi audience

Anurag Kashyap is certainly not a filmmaker who you would associate with the term mincing words. Over the years, the filmmaker has never shied away from saying what he thinks without sugarcoating his thoughts. Over the years, he has given Indian cinema some of the most nuanced movies that we have loved watching again and again. But come what may, his most shining achievement is Gangs of Wasseypur Part One and Two. The two films that were ideally made to be one turned out so well that they became the representatives for the new age of Indian cinema across the world, earning global recognition. However, the journey to make the films reach the audience was certainly not so merry. Anurag now reveals the movie that was set in North India was not released in many parts of North India.

Anurag Kashyap on Gangs of Wasseypur’s North India Release

You read that right. Anurag Kashyap, in the latest interview, has spoken about how ‘dumb’ the makers are to not see the opportunity and ignore the Hindi audience completely, which is where South cinema kicks in and takes home the pie. Kashyap has spoken about Gangs of Wasseypur and Mukkabaaz not getting a proper release in North India other than Delhi and had a very strong reaction about the same. This comes after producer Naga Vamsi's comments about South Indian cinema reshaping Bollywood's approach, and Anurag was reacting to the same.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, talking about the shocking release pattern of both his much-loved movies like Gangs of Wasseypur and Mukkabaaz, Anurag Kashyap said, “Our audience was ignored collectively. For example, during COVID, I found out that my two films – Gangs of Wasseypur and Mukkabaaz – which now have a very core audience in North India, weren’t released in North India. I found out, during a distribution meeting, that my North Indian films weren’t released across North India because the studio decided that my core audience is in Delhi, Mumbai, Chandigarh, and Hyderabad and that’s it. That’s how dumb they are."

Also read: Anurag Kashyap on Aditya Chopra’s approach to filmmaking at YRF: ‘You’re digging your own grave’

While talking about the same, Anurag Kashyap also recalled an incident where he was approached by a theatre owner in Bihar who was begging Eros Productions to release Gangs of Wasseypur in his theatres, but they refused because it takes money to make one more Digital Cinema Package (DCP), and the makers thought Bihar was not the market worth to invest that much in. The shocking claims do leave a lot of us stunned because, over the years, the Gangs of Wasseypur films and Mukkabaaz have become some of the most loved Indian movies across the world.

Anurag Kashyap on South Films Taking Over

In the same conversation, Anurag spoke about how South films have captured the North Indian market, where even some dubbed movies are making much more numbers than the movies made here. “We make Hindi films, but we have ignored the Hindi film audience. The advantage was taken by this man who created the YouTube channel Goldmines, where he started picking films from the South at cheap rates, dubbed them, and started catering to that Hindi audience. And that audience got built so much that Pushpa 2’s trailer was released in Patna," Kashyap stated.

Both Gangs of Wasseypur and Mukkabaaz are now streaming on JioCinema in India, and you can watch them with your OTTplay Premium subscription too. Stay tuned to OTTplay for more information on this and everything else from the world of streaming and films.

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