'Pan-India started with Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth' | Anurag Kashyap tells it like it is

Anurag Kashyap doesn't mince his words nor does have any qualms calling a spade a spade. Sure, the filmmaker is often pulled up for his unorthodox viewpoint but that hasn't deterred him, and it is likely that he won't ever be deterred by his critics.

His views on the 'pan-India' phenomenon are particularly riveting as they not only put things in perspective but also help the layman understand what really lies behind the newly-formed facade. Many would remember that his statements on films like Pushpa & Kantara were misconstrued by a media outlet, which in turn led to a social media tussle, as it were, with filmmaker Vivek Agnihotri. 

While the latter disagreed with Anurag in a slightly disparaging way, the Kennedy director cleared the air that all he said was films of the Pushpa, Kantara and the general pan-India ilk only prompt filmmakers to mimic that success.

"KGF, Baahubali & others weren't billed as pan-India films"

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In a recent conversation with Zoom, Anurag Kashyap spoke at length about his unwavering stance on pan-India films and how the true successes to date haven't set out to impress the rest of the world. "Was the first KGF called a pan-India film? It was dubbed in Hindi and released by Excel. Baahubali, too, wasn't called a pan-India film. 'Pan-India' term was created for the sake of business, not for the sake of cinema. Who's benefitting from it? Very few - by calling a film 'pan-India', they are getting higher budgets, some people are getting higher salaries," said Anurag in the same conversation.

He would also talk about the fact that most pan-India films do not find the central core of the story. "For each pan-India big film, for one hit like KGF, how many Kabzaas are there," adds Anurag, highlighting the run-of-the-mill stuff that is being produced of late in the name of 'pan-India' content.

"Pan-India started with Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth"

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The Gangs of Wasseypur director also offered a reality check to those who believed that the pan-Indian phenomenon was a new fad. "Pan-India films started with Jeet Hamaari, it started with Kamal Haasan & Rajinikanth. They started with Pratibandh and Venkatesh's Anari," said Anurag Kashyap.