Anurag Kashyap is making headlines at Cannes. Kashyap has now become a significant creative force in Indian filmmaking although he bitterly acknowledges that Bollywood left him in the cold for decades. For years he has had to seek financial support for his films outside India. His perseverance and vision have finally paid off. His rise to stardom and recognition as a filmmaker has been built on his unconventional approach to Indian cinema and his dedication to indie film. Kashyap is doing it without Bollywood money. This year Kashyap, just 40 – years old, has two, no, make that three films to present at Cannes, and he acknowledges that this means a great deal to him. He also has Oscar winning director Danny Boyle and Sony Internationalon board for two of his next films.

Anurag Kashyap is no stranger to Cannes. In 2010 his co-production with debutant director Vikramaditya Motwane, “Udaan” represented India in the official section for the first time in seven years.

Anurag Kashyap (Dev D, That Girl in Yellow Boots and Shaitan) is known as a director drawn to the gritty, realistic, passionate aspects of Indian culture and life. He is no Bollywood sellout. He uses unconventional filming techniques and expeditiously uses whatever opportunity he can to powerfully tell his story on film.Kashyap is also no stranger to censorship. Black Friday (2003) his directorial debut was banned from theatres until 2007; Gulaal was banned for 5 years before a 2009 release and Gangs of Wasseypur was on hold for a year. Anurag Kashyap is making his next movie Bombay Velvet with Oscar winner Danny Boyle (Slumdog Millionaire) and has another, Doga, in the works with Sony International.

Anurag Kashyap is the first to praise the importance of international film festivals, and can justifiably credit his success and exposure at Cannes and TIFF among other film fests with increasing his recognition at home in India. Anurag Kashyap and award winning wife/actress/ screenwriter Kalki Koechlin brought their film That Girl In Yellow Boots to TIFF in Toronto. They both have a great sense of humour and an intense passion for telling stories set in Indian culture that lie outside the Bollywood norm.

Kashyap says Gangs of Wasseypur is a departure from the indie filmmaking that has made his mark and is his first ‘commercial, mainstream Indian film’. Knowing Kashyap’s style this will surprise Bollywood. The soundtrack alone is unusual with 25 songs composed by Sneha Khanwalkar, lyrics by Varun Grover. The songs are full of double entendres and puns. The cast is huge with 370 characters of which 280 have speaking parts. Gangs of Wasseypur is the first Indian film to be screened at the Cannes Directors’ Fortnight. The movie will enter into competition in Australia at the Sydney Film Festival June 6 – 17^th after its premiere in Cannes.