Anurag Kashyap who was born on September 10, 1972 in Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh in an affluent family. His initial goal was to become a scientist but that changed soon after he got exposed to the works of Vittorio De Sica at a film festival in Delhi. He moved to Mumbai and began to work as a writer for TV shows. It was Manoj Bajpayee who recommended his name to Ram Gopal Varma for Satya in 1998. And the rest is history.

His filmography is ranked as one of the most influential in modern Bollywood. Most actors would give an arm and leg to do a project with him given his knack of extracting some superlative performances. Irreverent, gritty and realistic are some of the adjectives to describe his brand of cinema. Here is a look at his films that are rated highly by fans on social platforms like Quora and Reddit.

‘Gangs of Wasseypur’

Set against the backdrop of the coal mafia of Dhanbad, this is considered as the GOAT movie of Anurag Kashyap. A crime drama loaded with black comedy, Gangs Of Wasseypur (2012) is known for its acting talents, music and screenplay, which is the perhaps one of the best. Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Tigmanshu Dhulia, Richa Chadha, Huma Qureshi to Pankaj Tripathi, the number of standout performances in the film will make any fan giddy with happiness. The Guardian listed it 59th on the 100th Greatest Movies Of The 21st Century. It had a re-release in theatres recently. Anurag Kashyap Wants 'India' to Take NO Credit for Payal Kapadia's Cannes Win for All We Imagine as Light and He Explains Why! (Watch Video).  

‘Gangs of Wasseypur’ Has Become a Cult Favourite With Meme Makers

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by KhullarG (@thekhullarg)

‘Black Friday’

Anurag Kashyap’s Black Friday (2007) was a true labour of love. He persisted with the film despite the numerous obstacles that came in the way. It is based on the book of Hussain Zaidi, Black Friday: The True Story Of The Bombay Bomb Blasts. Kay Kay Menon played the role of DCP Rakesh Maria while Pavan Malhotra was Tiger Memon. International critics said it was in the same league as Munich (2005) and Salvador (1986).

Fans Hail ‘Black Friday’ as a Milestone Film in Indian Cinema

‘Gulaal’

Gulaal, which came in 2009 is one of the underrated movies of Anurag Kashyap. It is about student politics, the Rajput separatist movement and imbalance of power in society. It starred Raj Singh Chaudhary, Abhimanyu Singh, Ayesha Mohan, Jesse Randhawa, Deepak Dobriyal and others.

‘Ugly’

Many believe this ranks amongst his finest works, even ahead of Gangs Of Wasseypur. A crime thiller, Ugly (2013) was about broken marriages, vendetta, moral ruin told against the backdrop of the kidnapping mafia. It was based on what Anurag Kashyap heard about the Lucknow kidnapping mafia and how ransom was not often a reason for the abductions. Ronit Bose Roy, Rahul Bhat, Surveen Chawla, Vineet Kumar Singh, Tejaswini Kolhapure were in lead roles.

‘Ugly’ Ranks as One of India’s Most Disturbing Films Ever Made

‘Dev.D’

Abhay Deol, Kalki Koechlin and Mahie Gill played lead roles in this romantic drama that was a unique re-telling of Devdas, the novel by Saratchandra. Dev.D that came out in 2009 was a box office hit, and ranks along with GoW as a total crowd favourite.

His fans are now waiting to see Kennedy in theatres. It has Sunny Leone and Rahul Bhat in lead roles. We wish Anurag Kashyap a very Happy Birthday!

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Sep 10, 2024 08:40 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).