Happy Birthday Anurag Kashyap: Path-breaking Films Of The Maverick Director

Multi-talented Anurag Kashyap needs no introduction. The man who can write, direct, produce and act in movies is no less than a film institute in himself. Thanks to him, offbeat and arty cinema which was only celebrated at film festival circuit earlier is now enjoyed by regular cine goers on the home turf too.  His directorial ventures like 'Gangs of Wasseypur', 'Dev D',  'Raman Raghav' and even his acting debut in 'Akira' earned him appreciation from the audience and critical acclaim. In between the success stories, Kashyap is known for his share of controversies too. So, as the maverick filmmaker turns 46 today, here's a look at the best movies directed by him.

#1. Black Friday (2007): This movie is based on a novel by Hussain Zaidi and narrates the story of the culprits behind the 1993 Bombay bomb blasts. Black Friday won the Grand Jury Prize at the India Film Festival and was nominated for the best film award at the Locarno International Film Festival. The film starred Kay Kay Menon, Aditya Shrivastav, Imtiaz Ali. Zakir Hussain. The film was released on February 9, 2007.

#2. Gulaal (2009): This movie is based on Indian political drama, and it explores themes such as the pursuit of power, quest for legitimacy, perceived injustices and hypocrisy of the powerful. This film starred Kay Kay Menon, Raj Singh Chaudhary, Abhimanyu Singh, Deepak Dobriyal, Ayesha Mohan, Jesse Randhawa, Piyush Mishra, and Aditya Srivastava. The film was released on March 13, 2009.

#3. Dev D (2009): Dev D, an Indian romantic black comedy-drama film, is said to be a modern, gritty adaptation of Devdas. The film was embraced by the media, critics, and the public, and the performance of Mahi Gill, Abhay Deol, and Kalki Koechin were outstanding. 
This film was released on February 6, 2009.

#4. Udaan (2010): Udaan focused on the broken relationship between father and son. The acting of the two was praised by the audience. The film grabbed numerous awards at several ceremonies such as GIFA, Screen Awards, and Filmfare awards. Udaan starred, Ronit Roy, Rajat Barmecha, Ram Kapoor and Manjot Singh. The film was released on July 16, 2010.

#5. Gangs of Wasseypur (‘GOW’ 1+2) (2012): This movie focused on the Coal Mafia in Jharkhand and the core power-struggles and vengeance between three families. Both parts of this movie were initially filmed as a single film with the duration of 319 minutes. The full-length version was screened at the 2012 Cannes Directors’ Fortnight, while the films were divided into two parts for the Indian market. The performances of Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Richa Chadda and Huma Qureshi, were highly acclaimed and the film was nominated at the National Film Awards and at Filmfare, in countless categories. Gangs of Wasseypur part 1 was released on June 22 2012, and part 2 was released on August 8, 2012.

#6. Masaan (2015): In this film, the two characters, a low-caste funeral burner and a girl caught in a sex-scandal are seen in parallel narratives merge towards the climax. This Neeraj Ghaywan movie was produced by Anurag Kashyap under his banner ‘Phantom Films’.
Masaan Richa Chadda, Sanjay Mishra and Vicky Kaushal and was released on July 24, 2015.

Anurag Kashyap