Good cinema stands test of time: Anurag Kashyap

Now if you are the kind of person who picks a movie based on who made it rather than who acted in it, then the guest on this edition of Beautiful People will feature high up on the list of filmmakers you'd like to watch.

The poster boy of the next generation's version of alternative cinema since 2009, he has to fight, gripe and claw his way to earn the chance to express his vision. Meet Anurag Kashyap as CNBC-TV18 catches him in the middle of his latest experiment of releasing a movie in two parts. Kashyap has just released Gangs of Wasseypur: Part I and is all set to release Gangs of Wasseypur: Part II. Below is an edited transcript of the interview on CNBC-TV18. Q: Is 'inflict' the right word?
A: Yes, 'inflict' it is. Q: Things have changed so dramatically for you - from a struggler who couldn't manage to get a movie released, to a director who is releasing a movie in two parts. So you are doing pretty much what you want to, isn't it?
A: It is my revenge on the system. Q: Let's talk about Gangs of Wasseypur. I have watched the film and it is unlike any traditional film I have seen. But does that make it good cinema? How would you react to that?
A: I see Gangs of Wasseypur as a film that I wanted to make. Whether it is good or bad cinema is too early to say. It is always in retrospect. I think if 10 years from now people talk about it, then it is good cinema. Q: This is a new experiment. What makes you feel Indian audiences are ready for it?
A: The film had to be released in two parts out of necessity and not choice. Q: Was it so long?
A: Yes. The first cut was seven-hours long. We made it two parts simply because there is no way any theatre would release it. If the film had big stars like Amir Khan or Shah Rukh Khan, theatres would risk releasing a 5-hour-20-minute movie.
Theatres were also apprehensive as the film is in Bhojpuri. It was the most unreasonable film on paper. And in a way, of you see individually, part-I is a film which does not deliver on what it promises. The promise of revenge doesn’t take place unlike in conventional cinema. The characters rule their own world. Q: You infuse an air of authenticity when you discuss the characters in your films. But there have been some reactions to the film that suggest you are not really authentic.
A: Yes, I know. Q: For instance, some critics have said that the Hindi and vernacular media reacted very differently to your films.
A: There is one review I read while collecting reviews from the Hindi media by one  Choksey. The complaint is regarding the amount of violence. Across a span of 60 years, the incidence of violence has been. My story is about the chief events of those 60 years.
The act of stabbing the pehalwan happened in the early '70s. The film cuts to the next scene which happened three years later. So when all events are placed in a narrative, the film seems violent. Q: So it is an act cinematic time-compression?
A: Cinematic time has compressed a lot of events and a lot of Hindi reviewers were reportedly talking about how in Wasseypur, the people are upset with the film. This is not the story of Wasseypur. My film is about the Wasseypur's past. I am talking about one family versus another.