Anurag Kashyap has always been vocal about his views, particularly when it comes to challenging the establishment. His films have often questioned the status quo, while the filmmaker himself has consistently spoken about issues he believes the industry should confront. However, he feels the same conviction is not always reflected across the film industry, in his view, has at times appeared to align itself with the establishment, including some of its biggest names.

‘I don’t think anybody’s doing it willingly

In a recent conversation with Janice Sequeira, Kashyap opened up about why he believes the film industry bends so easily. He said, “I don’t think anybody’s doing it willingly. Given in, then you are given in forever. It’s like one of those things. It’s the first time you open the door, and the door remains open. So once you’ve said yes for a bunch of things, then you can’t shut it because that one yes also comes with huge amounts of benefits. And once you’ve taken those benefits, you can’t shut the door.”

Kashyap also explained why he believes the southern film industries have been able to retain a stronger sense of political awareness. “Other industries are very regionally strong, but they have a culture which is so very strong, which can’t be divided on the same lines. But the centre also wants to capture Hindi-speaking mass. So you will see only those people getting compromised who want to make a dent in the Hindi audience. It’s those kind of people who bend, not the others ones. South doesn’t get compromised because they don’t depend on Hindi,” he said.

The filmmaker also stressed that people within the industry are aware of the compromises they make. “I think they’re already woken up. Like I said, once the door has been opened, it can’t be shut. It’s not like they are not aware. They’re aware, they’re woken up, they also feel embarrassed, they also sometimes feel ashamed. They also can’t do anything about it, which is why nobody voluntarily does anything until they’re specifically asked to, individually asked,” Kashyap said.

Recently, Kashyap made headlines after extending his support to the CJP protests demanding education reforms. Questioning the police action against the protesters, he wrote on Instagram, “I didn’t know you have to sell your soul and conscience to wear a police uniform. Is there one police personnel in this country who can stand up and say I won’t follow this order because it is wrong?”

Kashyap was last seen as the director of Bobby Deol-starrer Bandar.