Anurag Kashyap Reveals Gangs of Wasseypur Was REMOVED From Theatres For Ek Tha Tiger: 'In 9 Days...'

Anurag Kashyap is currently enjoying the success of his recently released movie, Kennedy. Amid all this, the filmmaker recently questioned ‘equality’ in Bollywood and argued that in our film industry, a movie’s success largely also depends upon its promotion. Kashyap also cited examples from the Tamil and Malayalam film industries to explain how the situation is not the same there.

“It (Hindi film industry) is also heavily controlled by the trade, box office, star system. The latter is there even in the South but look at the Tamil film industry, they’ve given five hits with first-time filmmakers and not with big stars. There’s a certain kind of equality. In Malayalam, they don’t do so many promotions, just straight up drop their films. In Tamil Nadu, everyone gets to promote with an equal amount, there’s a ceiling to it. But here, a big film’s promotion will dominate and a small film will disappear,” Kashyap told Indian Express.

Kashyap further recalled how his 2012 movie Gangs of Wasseypur was removed from theatres because of Salman Khan’s Ek Tha Tiger. “Today, people talk highly about Gangs of Wasseypur, but it was taken off cinemas in nine days because a big film like Ek Tha Tiger was coming. It wasn’t the decision of a star or a producer, it was the decision of the theatres. If that film had done a business of Rs 26 cr in nine days, it would have done more if it got space,” the filmmaker shared.

The Kennedy director explained that this is the reason why he keeps the budgets of his films low and concluded by saying, “So the system is such and we don’t even have enough cinemas. I’ve chosen to make my kind of films in the atmosphere where I understand why it works and why it doesn’t. So the consequences are also mine, as long as I don’t lose money for others. That’s a lesson I’ve learnt, so I keep my budgets low.”