Anurag Kashyap: Anurag Kashyap's Toughest Days Filming Gangs of Wasseypur

Anurag Kashyap's Toughest Days Filming Gangs of Wasseypur News Update on SerialBoosters.com

Filming Anurag Kashyap's epic crime drama, Gangs of Wasseypur, was far from a comfortable experience. Known for its raw, gritty portrayal of a decades-long feud in the coal town of Wasseypur, the film demanded an authenticity that came at a significant cost to the director and his crew. Kashyap has openly discussed the sheer difficulty of the shoot, with the challenges extending well beyond typical filmmaking headaches.

One of the most frequently cited and visceral challenges involved shooting a sequence set in an abattoira slaughterhouse. In an effort to capture the unhygienic, realistic world of the main characters (one of the central clans in the film are butchers by trade), the crew filmed at an actual location.

The director recalled the overwhelming and terrible smell of the place. It was a constant, assaulting presence for the entire team. While filming, the crew witnessed the slaughter of approximately 60 buffaloes and a camel right before their eyes. This harrowing experience had a profound emotional and physical impact.

Kashyap mentioned that the crew was so traumatized by the experience that they couldn't bring themselves to eat meat for an entire month following that shoot. This level of exposure to harsh reality pushed the boundaries of standard filmmaking.

Beyond the sensory shock, the act of filming in real locations with hidden cameras—a necessary component to capture the authentic, non-filmy look—posed significant security risks, highlighting the real dangers present in the area the film depicted.

 The crew, including then-assistant director Vicky Kaushal, ventured to locations connected to the film's subject matter, such as areas where illegal sand and coal mining were rampant.

During one particular attempt to secretly film the massive scale of the illegal sand mining, the team was confronted and surrounded by a large group of people, reportedly around 500, who were associated with the local sand mafia.

 The situation escalated quickly. A camera attendant was allegedly slapped, the camera was seized, and the crew was threatened with violence. On a separate occasion, Vicky Kaushal was reportedly arrested for filming without permission in an illegal sand mining location. 

The crew had to escape, with one wrong move potentially leading to a severe physical assault. Kashyap himself has acknowledged that the raw, risky nature of the shoot was a constant source of stress.

Emotional Fatigue and The Film's Legacy
Anurag Kashyap's "worst experience" is also colored by his later frustration with the film's initial theatrical performance. Despite the intense, grueling, and dangerous effort that went into creating the cinematic masterpiece which was initially screened as a five-hour single film at the Cannes Film Festival to an overwhelming reception it ran in Indian theatres for only a short period before being overshadowed by bigger, more mainstream Bollywood films.

In subsequent interviews, Kashyap has candidly expressed a feeling of intense dislike or 'hate' towards the film's title when fans mention it, not because he dislikes the art, but because he feels the audience failed to support his and the crew's monumental effort when it mattered most. 

He felt that if people had watched it in theaters, it would have fundamentally changed his career's financial stability and livelihood. This emotional burden, combined with the extreme physical difficulty of the shoot, contributes to the overall narrative of Gangs of Wasseypur being one of his most challenging, and in some ways, most scarring, professional experiences. To know such latest updates, stay tuned to serialboosters.com Thank you!