‘You’ll be shocked how Christopher Nolan was treated by Indian authorities’: Anurag Kashyap says Indians have no interest in empowering cinema

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who has been openly critical of Indian authorities taking ‘credit’ for the recent success of Indian filmmakers at the Cannes Film Festival, said that one needs to only revisit how director Christopher Nolan was treated when he was shooting his film Tenet in Mumbai to identify the problems with the system. Key scenes in the 2020 sci-fi action film were filmed in Mumbai, and according to Kashyap, Nolan and his crew didn’t have an easy time.

In an interview with Fever FM, the filmmaker said that once upon a time, there was a proper system in place to fund films, but times have changed. “There was a film body that was supporting people like Shyam Benegal and Govind Nihalani, but now, even the subsidies with which certain states lure filmmakers take up to eight years to arrive. A lot of it is just pretence. You should some day talk to Christopher Nolan’s team about the problems they went through when they were trying to shoot Tenet in India. You’ll be shocked how he was treated. His equipment was held by customs. There are thousands of stories. Let’s stop bullsh***ing ourselves that there is a system that empowers cinema,” he said.

Also read – Anurag Kashyap says India doesn’t need masked superheroes, we have Shah Rukh Khan, Salman Khan: ‘We have low self esteem…’ Advertisement Anurag further exposed the system for attempting to take credit for Payal Kapadia’s recent win at Cannes; her film, All We Imagine As Light, won the prestigious Grand Prix award at this year’s festival. Anurag said, “We have had great representation at Cannes this year. Anasuya won the Best Actress, Payal Kapadia, Sandhya Suri, Karan Kandhari’s films… Not a single one of them was supported by India. Payal hasn’t even got the rebate due from India, even though it’s an Indo-French co-production. It wouldn’t have been made without French funds. Karan’s film has been made by the UK lottery fund, Sandhya’s film was made in the UK, and Konstantin (Bojanov, director of The Shameless, featuring Anasuya) lived in my house and no actors responded to him. It took him 10 years to make this film. Anasuya was a production designer who became an actor. I’m sorry to say this, but India doesn’t support cinema, independent cinema… Our film was at Cannes, and everybody declined to make a suit for Nawaz after looking at his face.” Dimple Kapadia plays the role of a Mumbai-based arms dealer called Priya in Tenet. (Photo: Warner Bros) Dimple Kapadia plays the role of a Mumbai-based arms dealer called Priya in Tenet. (Photo: Warner Bros) He concluded, “Let’s stop basking in somebody else’s hard work. They’ve done it on their own. Payal has won twice before, but her films haven’t even been released in India. The support that she gets is from outside. After her big victory, everybody wants a piece of her, but she had no option but to go out.” Previously, international productions such as Skyfall also backed out of conducting a planned shooting schedule in India, reportedly after experiencing difficulties with authorities. Former Union Minister for Railways, Dinesh Trivedi, was quoted by The Hollywood Reporter as having said in a 2014 parliament session that he put forth three conditions to James Bond producers, which included endorsing the Indian Railways. “I put three conditions: that they will not show that passengers in India travel on roofs of trains; that there will be no compromise with safety during the shoot; and that James Bond would sign up as a brand ambassador for Indian Railways,” he said. The scene was ultimately filmed in Turkey. Director Sam Mendes alluded to people ‘trying to sabotage the production’ in India, in a 2012 Hollywood Reporter article.

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