Dobaaraa director Anurag Kashyap recalls being approached by gangsters and criminals

Anurag Kashyap recently recalled the period in the late 1990s and early 2000s when he along with Ram Gopal Varma were heavily involved in producing mafia films in Hindi cinema. Anurag recounted that during Black Friday, gangsters, criminals, and their associates frequently approached him in the hopes that he would portray their narrative on the big screen in a recent interview with Tanmay Bhat on his YouTube channel.

At that time, according to Kashyap, he met with the police commissioner of Mumbai and let him know that he would need some security. 

Dobaaraa director recalled, “He said ‘you don’t need it. Underworld loves you, everyone loves you, you go’. And actually, no one called with threats.”

Then he recalled an incident where a gangster's henchman took him to an odd party. “Two people came to my house and said you will have to go with us. I asked them who they were and they just said I will have to go with them,” he said. Anurag said that this happened soon after the release of Satya.

According to IndianExpress.com, he said “Christmas party thi kisi gangster ki. Vahan pe mujhe singhasan pe bithaya. God mein bachche bitha diye. Hum logo ne photo khinchaye, khana khilaya, Merry Christmas bola, bola aapki film bohot achi thi, bhej diya (It was a Christmas party of some gangster. They made me sit on a throne. Put a few kids on my lap. Clicked some photos, fed us food, wished Merry Christmas and sent me back home),” he shared.

He recalled that after the film's release, similar instances that included Manoj Bajpayee and Saurabh Shukla. The 1998 movie, which is still regarded as one of the most important gangster movies in Indian cinema, was a turning point for Hindi cinema.

On the work front, Dobaaraa, the most recent movie by Anurag, starring Taapsee Pannu, hit theatres on August 19.