Anurag Kashyap, who likes to think of himself as an ‘outlier’ in the Indian film industry, solely carrying the mantle of ‘independent film making’, in an interview to NDTV on Thursday exposed himself as a vile, distasteful and jealous man. A day before Sushant Singh Rajput’s ‘Dil Bechara’ was slated for the release of Disney+Hotstar, Kashyap, in the interview, attempted to portray the late actor as a desperate individual looking to work only with big production houses in Bollywood. Needless to say, Anurag Kashyap refuses to accept and remains ignorant about the fact that a major reason why he must have been refused indulgence by Sushant Singh Rajput was his mediocre scripting.
Apparently, Sushant walked out on Kashyap’s ‘Hasee Toh Phasee’ to work with YRF on Shuddh Desi Romance. Ranting about the same in a distasteful manner, Kashyap said, “Mukesh Chhabra used to work from my office. We, at Phantom, were making ‘Hasee Toh Phasee’. We started that film with Sushant Singh Rajput. We then went to Parineeti Chopra. I said here’s this actor, he’s doing Kai Po Che and then PK is coming out. He then went to speak with YRF, Parineeti was handled by YRF. YRF then called Sushant Singh Rajput and gave him a deal to do ‘Shuddh Desi Romance’. Sushant, who used to sit in my office, me and Mukesh used to talk to him. He signed up with YRF and dropped ‘Hasee Toh Phasee’ – a film of an outsider.”
In a condescending tone thereafter, the serial propagandist goes on to speak on behalf of Sushant Singh Rajput, almost guessing as to what the late actor wanted back then. “Because he wanted YRF’s validation, this is with every actor, and I’m not holding any grudges. He was a very talented actor. It’s all about the choice you make. He chose ‘Drive’ over a film that I was doing. He chose ‘Drive’ because he’s been dying to work with Dharma. People are now using someone’s death to drag everybody down.”
Prior to the release of MS Dhoni: The Untold Story, Kashyap alleged that his team had approached Sushant with a script for a film in which he wanted to have an actor based out of Uttar Pradesh. “Sushant heard the script; Dhoni released, Dhoni became a super-hit, he didn’t call me back. I’m not upset, I moved on and went ahead with Mukkabaaz.”
Had Kashyap not been affected by the behaviour meted out to him (which should not come as a surprise to the man), he would not be talking about a deceased actor and passing judgments on him merely a month after his demise. Why Kashyap would want to reveal these details a day before Rajput’s last film is released is something that we fail to comprehend. Perhaps, it is an attempt at portraying the Sushant Singh Rajput as an egotistical and desperate person. Shame, if that is what Anurag Kashyap’s motives were.
Anurag Kashyap is not the first personality from Bollywood who has been slinging mud on Sushant Singh Rajput. Earlier, alleged film critic Rajeev Masand, whose hobby has been to take sly digs at the late actor, in a derogatory article, had asked why Sushant was still in the industry. He further added that such is Sushant’s reputation in the industry, that even his family has been keeping an eye on him.