When the world is standing up in applause for Anurag Kashyap, he is quietly going on a three-week renunciation to a non-descript ashram in Kerala.
When the world is standing up in applause for Anurag Kashyap, he is quietly going on a three-week renunciation to a non-descript ashram in Kerala. “I need to get out of this madness and cut myself off from the world. I know I am supposed to bask in the glory of my films but I have this intense feeling that I need to get out of all this for a little while,” says the film-maker, who has been a victim of acute depression, alcohol and substance abuse in the past.
So, will girlfriend Kalki Koechlin be coming along on this “detox” trip? “I have asked her not to come. I have given my mobile away and I have decided not to have a mobile even when I am back from my detox trip. I won’t check my mail. I might extend my stay there if I feel I am still not prepared to face the world,” he adds.
He also admits that the jerk shots and psychedelic backdrop that he has shown in Dev.D had actually stemmed from his first-hand experiences with dope. “Yes, I got treated for alcoholism and substance abuse. But that was a long time back and it is not a pleasant feeling for me to recount that. I had chosen the destructive way in order to fight the demons that were inside me. But now I am completely free of everything and a relieved man,” says Anurag.
The director says that he actually came face-to-face with dope as a student of Hansraj College, New Delhi, in 1993. “That was when I first got addicted to it (drugs). It was difficult getting off it. It was a tough phase for me then, but it was at the same time that I discovered my love for films. Now you know that it’s not difficult for me to find out what it feels to do drugs. The scenes of substance abuse that you see in Dev.D are actually culled from own experiences,” he adds.
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