Kashyap got his major break as a co-writer inRam Gopal Varma's crime dramaSatya (1998) and made his directorial debut withPaanch, which never had a theatrical release due to censorship issues. He then went on to directBlack Friday (2004), a film based on thenamesake book byHussain Zaidi about the1993 Bombay bombings. Its release was held up for two years by theDistrict Board of Film Certification because of the pending verdict of the case at that time but was released in 2007 to critical appreciation. Kashyap's follow-up,No Smoking (2007) met with mixed reviews and performed poorly at the box-office. His next ventureDev.D (2009), a modern adaptation ofDevdas received positive reviews and was a commercial success; followed by the socio-political dramaGulaal (2009), and the thrillerThat Girl in Yellow Boots (2011).
He did his primary schooling from Hillgrange Preparatory School in Dehradun, and grade seven onwards, from theScindia School inGwalior.
Some of the locations used inGangs of Wasseypur are also influenced from his own old house where he himself lived with his parents, sister, Anubhuti Kashyap, and brother,Abhinav Kashyap.[11][12] Abhinav is also a filmmaker, who made his directorial debut with themasala blockbuster,Dabangg (2010). Anubhuti has been his assistant in most of his films.[13] She made her directorial debut withDoctor G (2022), a medical campus comedy, starringAyushmann Khurrana,Rakul Preet Singh,Shefali Shah andSheeba Chaddha.
"As a 19-year-old student ofzoology at Delhi'sHansraj College, I had no desire to be a filmmaker. Till I watchedBicycle Thieves, a 1948 Italian film directed byVittorio De Sica, at a film festival in Delhi in 1993. After the film got over, I decided to chuck it all and leave bag-and-baggage for Bombay to be a filmmaker."
After the de Sica experience, Kashyap arrived inMumbai in 1993 withINR 5,000 in his pocket.[17][20] Soon the money ran out, and he spent months on the streets, staying in lofts, "sleeping on beaches," "under a water tank and in theSt Xavier's [college] boys hostel."[12] He then managed to find work atPrithvi Theatre, but his first play remained incomplete because the director died.[15]
In 1995, an acquaintance introduced Kashyap toShivam Nair. The day they met, Kashyap watchedTaxi Driver (1976) at Nair's place, and the film inspired him to "write something". The team ofSriram Raghavan, Sridhar Raghavan and Shiv Subramaniam were working on two projects, one of which was a short TV series,Auto Narayan, based on the life ofserial killerAuto Shankar; the second one was a film scripted by Kashyap.[16]Auto Narayan got delayed because the script written by Subramaniam was not "working". Kashyap rewrote the script and got credit for the same, but it was scrapped.[17][19] In 1997, he wrote the screenplay ofHansal Mehta's first film,Jayate which failed to find a theatrical release;[21] and episodes of the TV seriesKabhie Kabhie (1997).[22]
In 1998, actorManoj Bajpayee suggested his name toRam Gopal Varma to write a film.[23] Varma liked Kashyap'sAuto Narayan and hired him, alongsideSaurabh Shukla to write the script for his crime film,Satya (1998).[15][17]Satya was a critical and commercial success,[24][25] and is regarded as one of the best films of Indian cinema.[26][27] He later collaborated with Varma in scriptingKaun (1999) and writing dialogues forShool (1999). In 1999, he made a short film, titledLast Train to Mahakali for television.[28]
While working with Nair, Kashyap came across files related to theJoshi-Abhyankar serial murders that took place inPune in 1976, which became the inspiration for his directorial debutPaanch.[29][30] Acrime thriller about a group of five friends of a rock band who turn into criminals.[31] The film faced trouble with theCentral Board of Film Certification[32] because the board felt that it dealt unapologetically with sex, drugs and celebrated violence.[33]It was cleared by the Board in 2001,[34] but remains unreleased due to some problems faced by the producer.[19] In these years, he also wrote dialogues for many films includingPaisa Vasool (2004),Mani Ratnam'sYuva (2004), the Canadian filmWater (2005),Main Aisa Hi Hoon (2005) andMixed Doubles (2006).
After a failed attempt to makeAllwyn Kalicharan in 2003,[35] Kashyap started working onBlack Friday, a film based on thenamesake book byHussain Zaidi about the1993 Bombay bombings.[36][37] The Bombay high court put a stay on the release of the film, until the judgement in the bomb blasts case was delivered. It was decided after a petition filed by a group of 1993 bomb blasts accused, challenging the release of the film based on their case.[38] The film got censorship clearance in 2007, and was released after two years meeting universal acclaim.[39][40]Nikhat Kazmi gave the film a three star out of five rating and mentioned: "It was indeed a difficult film to make, yet the director has managed to grapple with all the loose threads and put them together in a composite whole. So much so, the film moves like a taut thriller, without ideology coloring the sepia frames."[41]
In 2009, Kashyap had two releases.Dev.D, a contemporary takes onSarat Chandra Chattopadhyay's novelDevdas. It was the twelfth film adaptation of the Bengali novel.[48] StarringAbhay Deol who actually pitched the original idea of the film to Kashyap, withMahie Gill and newcomerKalki Koechlin portraying the characters of "Paro" andChandramukhi respectively.[49] The film met with generally positive reviews and strong box office results.[50][51][52]Gulaal, a political drama, was his final release of that year. Kashyap started working on the film in 2005 and had finished 70–80 per cent of the film in 2006, when its producer fell ill. Later on, Zee Motion Pictures took over the project and was finally finished in 2008 and released on 13 March 2009.[19][53]Anupama Chopra gave the film three stars and referred to Kashyap as "the Anti-Yash Chopra".[54] Despite positive reviews, the film underperformed at the box office.[55]
In 2013, Kashyap directedThat Day After Everyday, a 20-minute short film that was released onYouTube; starringRadhika Apte,Geetanjali Thapa andSandhya Mridul. It showed the story of three working women facing troubles every day, both inside and outside their houses and how they overcome them. Dealing with issues likeeve teasing and public molestation, the video got four lakh hits in two days.[73] Speaking about the purpose of the project, Kashyap showed his intention to make people feel angry without offering a solution.[74] The same year he teamed up withDibakar Banerjee,Zoya Akhtar andKaran Johar to direct "Murabba", one of the four segments of anthology filmBombay Talkies. It was made to celebrate the 100 years of Indian cinema,[75][76] and was screened at the2013 Cannes Film Festival.[77] The film did not perform well at the box office,[78] but was well received by critics.[79][80]
His next film wasUgly (2014), a thriller about the kidnapping of a struggling actor's daughter, and the events followed by it. It was screened in theDirectors' Fortnight section at the2013 Cannes Film Festival, receiving astanding ovation.[81] The film's theatrical release was halted for over a year regarding censorship issues over depiction of smoking in it.[82][83] Though it was released on 26 December 2014 to generally positive reviews.[84][85]
Kashyap at the second trailer launch ofBombay Velvet.
Kashyap's next release wasBombay Velvet (2015), aperiod film set in Bombay in the 1960s, based onPrinceton University HistorianGyan Prakash's bookMumbai Fables. It starsRanbir Kapoor,Anushka Sharma and Karan Johar.[86] The film was co-edited by theAcademy Award winner editorThelma Schoonmaker, who is known for her collaboration withMartin Scorsese.[87] Released on 15 May 2015, some critics appreciated its retro-look, performances, styling and music, but criticized its faltered storytelling.[88][89] It also emerged as a box-office failure.[90][91]Bombay Velvet was Kashyap's dream project and its failure was a huge disappointment to him. In an interview with criticRajeev Masand, Kashyap stated that at one point he wanted to leave India because he felt that people here did not understand his films but then realized that he did not manage the budget of the film.[92]
After working onRaman Raghav 2.0, Kashyap received a script from Vineet Kumar Singh ofMukkabaaz. He did not like the initial script but was excited by a "10-minute chunk" that he had not come across before.[95] He then rewrote the script with his team having the 10-minute as a base.[95] Singh trained himself for six months for the film.[96] The film was screened at2017 Toronto International Film Festival, theMumbai Film Festivaland was released theatrically on 12 January 2018.[97] Saibal Chatterjee ofNDTV called it "one of the more important films to have come out of the Mumbai movie industry in recent times."[98] In 2018, Kashyap again collaborated with Banerjee, Akhtar and Johar for the anthology filmLust Stories. Based on the theme of lust, it had stories told from the female perspective.[99] Kashyap's story hadRadhika Apte and Akash Thosar. The film was released onNetflix on 15 June 2018.[100] It was followed by India's firstNetflix Original series, the crime thrillerSacred Games, based onVikram Chandra'snovel of the same name.[101] Kashyap co-directed the series withVikramaditya Motwane. The show received critical acclaim,[102][103] with Lincoln Michel ofGQ calling it the "best Netflix original in years."[104] His final directorial venture of the year wasManmarziyaan, a love triangle set inPunjab, starringAbhishek Bachchan,Tapsee Pannu and Vicky Kaushal. Written byKanika Dhillon, the film was premiered at the2018 Toronto International Film Festival and was released in India on 16 September to positive reviews.[105][106] In December 2019, Kashyap launched the audio web-series titledThriller Factory which he directed forAmazon's Audible Suno application. It features voices ofTabu and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.[107]
The next year, Kashyap reunited with hisLust Stories team to direct the horror anthology filmGhost Stories. His story was about a pregnant woman going through anxiety. It was released on Netflix on 1 January 2020.[108] He continued his association with Netflix and released his directorial ventureChoked (2020) on the same. StarringSaiyami Kher andRoshan Mathew, the film tells the story of a bank cashier who finds a stash of cash hidden in her kitchen sink.[109]
In 2022, Kashyap directed the science fiction thrillerDobaaraa. The film is an official remake of the 2018 Spanish filmMirage; it opened at theLondon Indian Film Festival and was released theatrically on 19 August 2022.[110]Dobaaraa met with mostly positive reviews with Tanul Thakur ofThe Wire writing: "A sharp adaptation, the film is deeper than it cares to admit and never slips into an instructional mode."[111]
Just months after releasingDobaara, Kashyap released another directorial venture titledAlmost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat. The musical romantic drama starredAlaya F and debutant Karan Mehta. It had its world premiere at the 2022Marrakech International Film Festival and the film was released theatrically on 3 February 2023.[112]
In 2023, Kashyap wrote and directed the thriller filmKennedy. He initially wanted to castVikram and had named the film after Vikram's real name. However, they could not work together because of some miscommunication.[113] The role eventually went toRahul Bhat;Sunny Leone also appears in a pivotal role. The film had its world premiere at the2023 Cannes Film Festival.[114]
In 2015, Kashyap co-produced Anushka Sharma's production debutNH10, and the sex comedyHunterrr. Both films proved to be successes.[136][137]Masaan, was Phantom's fourth release of the year. The film won theFIPRESCI Award and the Promising Future award at the2015 Cannes Film Festival.[138] The final release of Phantom of 2015 wasShaandaar, which proved to be a box-office flop.[139] In October the same year, Kashyap teamed up withRidley Scott andRichie Mehta forGoogle, as the executive producer for the documentaryIndia in a Day.[140] The project was for people across India to film a snapshot of their day and upload it on Google's official website.[141]
The following year, Kashyap collaborated again with Ekta Kapoor to produceUdta Punjab (2016), a crime drama by the directorAbhishek Chaubey that documents thesubstance abuse endemic in the Indian state ofPunjab.Udta Punjab generated controversy when the Central Board of Film Certification demanded extensivecensorship before its theatrical release, citing that the portrayal of Punjab in it was negative.[142] After Kashyap filed a lawsuit against the board, theMumbai High Court cleared the film for exhibition with a single scene cut.[143] His company, Phantom Films, also produced aGujarati filmWrong Side Raju, that same year.[144] Kashyap co-producedHaraamkhor (2017), the survival dramaTrapped (2016) and the superhero filmBhavesh Joshi Superhero (2018).
Phantom Films was dissolved in October 2018,[145] largely in response to the sexual assault allegation on Vikas Bahl by a former Phantom employee, which was reported in 2015.[146] Kashyap, and the other three founders issued statements on Twitter confirming the company's disbanding and moving on to independent projects.[147]In 2020, Kashyap launched another production company titled Good Bad Films with partnership from Dhruv Jagasia and Akshay Thakker. Their maiden production wasChoked.[148]
In 2016, Kashyap starred inAR Murugadoss'sAkira, starringSonakshi Sinha; where he played the role of a corrupt police officer.[152] In 2017, he acted in the short film titledChhuri, alongsideTisca Chopra and Surveen Chawla.[153] He also played the role of the antagonist in the Tamil-language thrillerImaikkaa Nodigal (2018) directed byR. Ajay Gnanamuthu.[154] In 2020, Kashyap played an exaggerated version of himself inAK vs AK directed by Vikramaditya Motwane, oppositeAnil Kapoor.[155] He also wrote the dialogues and served as one of the executive producers.[156]
In June 2024, Kashyap starred as Selvam in the Tamil movieMaharaja alongsideVijay Sethupathi.[158] He received widespread critical acclaim for essaying a layered negative role.[159] His performance also garnered international attention with directorAlejandro Gonzales Innaritu offering Kashyap a role in his upcoming project.[160]
Kashyap was first married to film editorAarti Bajaj, with whom he has a daughter, Aaliyah Kashyap.[161] They divorced in 2009.[162] He later married actressKalki Koechlin, whom he first met during the making ofDev D, at her maternal home inOoty.[163][164] In 2013, Kashyap and Koechlin announced that: "they are taking time apart from their more than two-year-old marriage."[165] In May 2015, they were divorced at theBandra family court in Mumbai.[166]
When asked about his religious views, Kashyap replied: "I am an atheist. Cinema is the only religion I believe in."[167]
On 3 March 2021, the Income Tax Department raided 28 locations in Mumbai and Pune in connection with tax evasion by firmPhantom Films connected to Anurag Kashyap.Income Tax Department said it found a discrepancy of around ₹300 crore which the Kashyap company official has not been able to explain.[168][169]
Kashyap is regarded as anauteur and is credited for pioneering India's indie scene in the early 2000s.[170][171] While promotingBombay Talkies inAnupama Chopra's show,Dibakar Banerjee described Kashyap'saesthetics as "purely new age or purely Indian"; projecting "modern post independence India" in his films.[172] He prefers shooting on real locations by employingguerrilla-filmmaking techniques with hidden cameras,[173] and often makes his actors improvise their dialogues on set.[174][175] InUgly, he did not show the script to any of the lead actors.[175][176] He frequently useshand-held camera and experimental soundtracks.[177][178]
Film maker Zoya Akhtar wrote: "He has a very strong storytelling style and he proved that you could tell a great story with not a lot of money."[179] Actor Ranbir Kapoor said, "All his films may not be big money spinners but the impact Anurag has, his contribution to Indian cinema, is immense."[179] Canadian film critic and festival programmerCameron Bailey has called Kashyap as "one of the most knowledgeable filmmaker".[180]
The protagonists of his films often deal with excessive drug, smoke or alcohol consumption, personal guilt, extreme rage and arrogance which leads them into self-shattering situations.[181] Often portrays small but strong female characters.[182] Most of his films deal with realistic scenarios and take clues from real incidents.[183] Like the 1976–77Joshi-Abhyankar serial murders reference inPaanch,[30] the1993 Mumbai bombing inBlack Friday,[15] the1999 Delhi hit-and-run case andDPS MMS Scandal inDev.D[184] and the depiction of real life gang wars inGangs of Wasseypur.[185]Ugly came from his "personal guilt" of not spending enough time with his daughter and the fear of losing her. With several real-life incidents like IAS officer whose wife filed a case of brutality against him.[161] A song "Sylvia" inBombay Velvet was named after theNanavati case, where Sylvia Nanavati was K. M. Nanavati's wife.[186]
Kashyap's work inspired British directorDanny Boyle, who has citedBlack Friday andSatya as the inspirations for his Academy Award-winning filmSlumdog Millionaire (2008). Boyle stated that a chase in one of the opening scenes ofSlumdog Millionaire was based on a "12-minute police chase through the crowdedDharavi slum" inBlack Friday.[187] He also describedSatya's "slick, often mesmerizing" portrayal of theMumbai underworld, which included gritty and realistic "brutality and urban violence," directly influenced the portrayal of the Mumbai underworld inSlumdog Millionaire.[187]
Kashyap has expressed dissatisfaction at the current state of Hindi cinema, citing a "toxic" environment focused on high-grossing films at the expense of creativity. He has relocated from Mumbai toBengaluru and is exploring opportunities in South Indian cinema.[188]
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