MovieChat Forums > Gulaal (2009) Discussion > Anurag Kashyap is over rated?

Anurag Kashyap is over rated?


Some one had to mention this. Let me be the one.

Anurag Kashyap has to be the most overrated writers in the world. I am glad he is giving up on writing and concentrating on directing from now on.

Let me sum up his style of writing. He throws in a few metaphors, never has closure in in his films, Far to many loose ends in the script. For example one loose end in Gulaal is why would Bati runaround looking for Kiran instead of shooting Dilip when Bana was dying. Earlier Bati cold bloodedly killed an innocent cop, He knew Kiran and Karan were playing Games but he still went looking for Kiran when Bana was dying. Who in the right mind would do that.


And the Anurag fans love this film (They will love any crappy movie that comes from him).They think he will be next Cohen brothers of India. If you want to watch good noir movies watch Fargo or Blood Simple. Seriously Anurag I am glad you are giving up on writing screenplays. Just stick to directing.


Don't you agree ?

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May be Bhati got confused and overwhelmed with what was happening, didnt get time to think straight and thought that it was right thing to do what Dileep Singh told him.

Personally, the things that I liked about this movie were the characterization and the songs and of course the direction. Even Anurag's previous movie Dev.D scores because of the technical aspects. The musical score, acting, the direction and the cinematography was brilliant in that movie. The one thing missing in both the movie is solid screenplay because if we leave other things the storylines of both the movies aren't sufficient to hold the attention of the viewers. I found Dev.D to be dragging on, Gulaal was much fast paced.
I liked Gulaal more than Dev.D

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Definitely overrated, perhaps we don't see a lot of open ended film noir experts in Hindi film industry to compare him with. Visitmario has derived a very precise pattern of his films being loose ended, metaphorical and lacking closure. This film, like his earlier films, do not leave the audience with any message or food for thought. They just inflict a well executed story (cinematically) where the focus is only on the dark characters and their dark deeds leaving the audience in despair and bitter. Personally, I consider this to be the worst kind of the noir genre, because at some point the film also stops being realistic anymore for general audience. How often do you find yourself surrounded in situations similar to the ones in his film ? Almost never

Another thing which I find irritating in his movies is that he serves the music and lyrics very raw and stale which often fails to lift the plot/situation and instead breaks the flow of the movie. I am not saying that his songs are meaningless, but in effort of making it realistic(in terms of dialect, slang, and band instruments used) it becomes difficult for an average audience to extract the essence out of it. Omkara is the best example where he should learn this from.

I rather prefer to watch movies like Oye lucky Lucky oye, Omkara, Manorama: 6 feet under or Strangers (starring KK and Jimmy shergill) again, which have realistic portrayal and make you feel connected instead AKs ones.

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One of the lesser known movies of this kinds has got to be Tigmanshu Dhulia's "Haasil". Dunno how many of you have seen or even heard about the movie, but its fantastic portrayal of small town and univ politics carried on by actors like Jimmy Shergill and Irrfan is excellent.

I have seen it so many times and still dont get tired by it.

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yes ive seen "Haasil" and compared to Gulaal, it looks like dog poop. A brilliant start victimised by the very cliches the director chose to avoid (or did he?). Haasil is a B Grade Bollywood Love story that revolves around College Politics. Gulaal is on a different level altogether. In a way, I could say that Gulaal was everything I expected Haasil to be. The only thing I'll never argue about is that... Irrfan Khan is effin brilliant!!! ARTIST HO BHAIYYA... HUM ARTIST KI KADAR KARTE HAI!!

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Music & Lyrics raw & stale?...
DD & Gulaal has the best music of recent time in Bollywood...& people don't dance around in these songs...they carry the narrative forward...

& those who are complaining about the director being overrated...this is common characteristic here...any new experimental director is tormented by censors & rejected by viewers at first...& when they get a foothold they are called individualistic, overrated etc etc...

Yes I have seen Haasil, Dil Dosti etc...& other such movies...they were pretty good ones, but Gulaal, despite some flaws, was more powerful...

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Dear Visitmario....
Whatever you think is right. And it applies for everyone around. Including me.
You find Anurag Kashyap overrated. You are right.
But since you want a discussion on your opinion....here it is....

I dont think he is overrated at all.
He is among the best writers in the Hindi film industry today, if not THE best...
Do you know what are the movies he has written? Plz let me remind you....

He started his career with Satya(1998)and followed it with Kaun (1999)
If you find the writing in these two films not worthy, you should not read my next words. Because if you feel Satya and Kaun were badly written, with "loose ends" and "no closure", that means you have a very different cinema sensibility and there is no need for us to talk further.

But if you accept the brilliance of these two scripts, plz read on...

He wrote the dialogues of 'Shool'(1999) and 'Nayak'(2001)...
And then brilliantly adapted the non-fiction work of Zaidi into an engrossing drama, which is known as 'Black Friday'(2007). If you can, please go through the book, and it will fall upon you, how amazingly he has crafted the screenplay, going backwards in each flash back to the point where it all started, and then jump cutting to the blasts and it ends...

Meanwhile, he wrote the dialogues of 'Yuva'(2004), 'Mixed Doubles'(2006) and 'Water'(2007). Have you seen these movies? DO you realize the importance of the dialogues in these films?

I have not mentioned his poor works. I do not think we can talk about 'No SMoking' here. It will trigger another debate altogether, coz believe it or not, there have been diametrically opposite views on this film as well.

'Dev D' and 'Gulaal', the latest of his offerings. Well. two complicated films. two difficult films. two films which improve with every subsequent viewing. layered characterization. grey tones. gutsy lines. inventive structure. but yet, flawed here and there.... I believe he could have written these two films better, just because he is co capable of doing it.....his capacity as a writer is yet to be explored....he is yet to do his best....

as a dialogue writer, I feel only Vishal Bhardwaj comes close to him....who is better is debatable, I will go for both.

as screenplay writer, he is the most inventive and innovative person in our industry....perhaps not as convincingly brilliant as he actually is....but anyone who knows film writing, knows what AK is made of....

By the way, I believe the recent Anurag-worshipping is happening more so coz of his directorial abilities....people actually fail to recognize his merits as a writer.....

I won't say he is underrated....i would just say that we have not yet seen the best of him as a writer....he will surely outdo his best work...'Satya' in the days to come....

and about him being overrated? just check this out:
remember the character of the broker, who took Dilip and his elder brother to 'Democracy Beer Bar' at the beginning....just go through that scene again...
In a film industry where even the lead actors do not have a defined character, this man, in this 2 minute part, has a character biography(his grandparent or someone was murdered by the maharaja), a point of view, clearly defined mannerisms and a personal sense of humour....
Well that is film writing, carving unforgettable characters out of nothing...

I know when the audio-visual runs, the merits of the words on the paper are lost...and hence this thread....

but yet,
whatever you think is right, and the same applies to everyone else.
this is cinema, a work of art.
if you are willing for a critical, constructive debate....most welcome...
if not....well we part ways....

see you soon....
as AK comes up with his next....

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I hated 'No Smoking' and 'Dev D' was very flawed but 'Gulaal' was wow!

(\__/)
(='.'=)
(")_(")

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@visitmario- i wouldnt have bothered replying to ur post if not for the mention of COEN brothers
first up,NONE OF kashyap`s movies belong to the NOIR genre[look at the camerawork of dev d,bright tones thruout in black friday and the lighting in paanch] unlike almost all of coen bros flicks

he has directed THE BEST hindi movie of all times [BLACK friday]...that movie hasnt used any metaphors and has a very good ending[i really dont know wat u mean by closure as i think theres closure in all of anurag`s movies[paanch,black friday,gulaal,dev d]...
GULAAL BOASTS OF THE BEST SOUNDTRACK OF ANY HINDI MOVIE I HV SEEN...I MEAN LISTEN TO O RI DUNIYA N U'LL KNOW WAT I MEAN...

cmn to the gulaal scene u wr talkin abt...bati dint kill dilip cuz bana was a shot away 4m death as he was bleeding profusely...even if bati wld have shot dilip it ws plausible dat dilip cld have finished off bana...also..in dat scene baati is a nervous wreck and wasnts to rush bana to d hospital asap...i guess ppl dont necesarily make the most logical/rational decision in high pressure situations[let alone a situation whr ur mentor/boss has been shot]...so baati`s actions are justifiable

now coming to ur mention of d coens...well i guess m one of d biggest fans f the coen brothers and FARGO AND NO COUNTRY RANK AMONG MY ALL TIME FAVOURITE MOVIES ALONG WID STUFF LIKE GOODFELLAS,RAGING BULL,TAXI DRIVER,THE KING OF COMEDY,ETERNAL SUNSHINE....AND U KNO WAT ? EVEN BLACK FRIDAY MAKES THE CUT FOR THIS LIST..I LOVE D COENS ESP FARGO,NCFOM,BARTON FINK,BLOOD SIMPLE,MILLER'S CROSSING,A SERIOUS MAN,THE MAN WHO WASNT THR BUT I THINK U'LL AGREE THAT SM DECISIONS PPL MAKE IN THEIR MOVIES ARENT THE MOST LOGICAL EITHER..
case in point-FARGO-wn jerry's father-in-law goes to buscemi to deliver he money...he shouldn't hv argued wid buscemi as he was puttin his nd his daughters' life in jeoprady...also sm actions of jerry baffle me...but dats not the point of the movie..the brilliance lies in depiction of the wrong choices in tense moments..same goes for gulaal
finally-ak is not overrated by any stretch of imagination...in fact he is d only movie director whuz movies get btr on repeat viewings a la coen brothers,martin scorsese,stanley kubrick..

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*beep* your movie sense ..u can say that he is certainly overrated but he is the baap of changing indian cinema. He is leading the whole new jamaat of his type of film makers like dibakar banerjy-vishal bhardhwaj -timangshu dhulia

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I have only one thing to say to those who call AK as overrated and like Cohen bro type ones. You would appreciate anything that Hollywood feeds you and have not appreciation towards some of those genuine Indian directors who are trying to change indian cinema. You people dont appreciate the raw brutality of music language and scenes in Gulaal. i pity you. AK is the godfather of revolutionary indian cinema. and i say indian cinema not bollywood. bollywood is for sissy people

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i don't agree with your opinion . and it seems u have no sense of Indian cinema .and AK fans atleast watching some original work and it's much better than pathetic work by others in bollywood .

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You say, "who in the right mind would do it?" Obviously Bhaati was not in his right mind. The only person he had all the respect for was dying and he did whatever the killer wanted. He didn't want to risk anything that could have led to Bana's death.

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