Anurag Kashyap on racism and hypocrisy in Bollywood: “People think Nawazuddin Siddiqui is ‘dark,’ Manoj Bajpayee is ‘gaonwala'”

Filmmaker and actor Anurag Kashyap has been sharing his honest views on Bollywood and its function. From talking about the rising entourage cast to people not supporting Payal Kapadia’s All We Imagine as Light movie. Now, he called out Bollywood for their hypocrisy and racism in a recent interview. Anurag mentioned how Bollywood see actors’ complexion but not their talents. During an interview with Janice Sequeira, Anurag took Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Manoj Bajpayee as an example of how people called them dark-skinned and villager respectively.

Anurag Kashyap on people don’t appreciate talent

He referred to Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Pankaj Tripathi and Manoj Bajpayee as self-made and opined, “This industry doesn’t respect people. They think that Nawazuddin is dark-skinned, Pankaj Tripathi is normal, Manoj Bajpayee is a ‘gaonwala (villager)’… That’s how they view people. They think if these people can become stars, so can they, they think that I can make anybody a star; I can’t. They don’t realise that these actors are genuinely talented artists. I’ve only made films with them; I haven’t made their life.”

Anurag Kashyap on rising entourage cost

Talking about this phenomenon, Kashyao stated how producers are to be blamed for it. He exclusively told Bollywood Bubble, “This environment has spoiled and I blame OTT surge for it. See kaam toh sab karte hai aur sabko uss hisaab se paise milne chahiye. Jo actors ko jyada paise milte hai wo isliye ki unki kharab film bhi opening leti hai. Jaise ki Salman Khan hai, unki kharab film bhi opening leti hai. Toh agar app film open kar sakte ho, toh fir lelo. Isse problem nahi hai. (Everyone works and should be paid accordingly. And the actors who get paid more it’s because their bad film also takes good opening. For eg Salman Khan, no matter what his films have a good opening. So if you can do so, then demand the money).”

He further adds, “Abhi I think more than actors’ problem is also producers. To run their house and company producers prefer taking actors in a project, for which they even fulfill their demand. Toh spoil karne wale 2 log hote hai, agents aur producers. Aur jo BTL (Below the line) hote hai jaise ki assistants aur technicians, unko wo negotiate karke kam dete hai. Toh kya hota hai ki actor ka entourage bada hojata hai. (Producers and agents have spoiled everything. They negotiate a lot with technicians and assistants and this raises entourage cost).”

Also read: EXCLUSIVE: Anurag Kashyap reveals Shah Rukh, Salman and Aamir Khan are cost conscious as he talks about actors’ rising fees