Anurag Kashyap admits leaving with ‘folded hands’ after a streaming platform wanted to turn his new show into Money Heist

Anurag Kashyap is one of the acclaimed filmmakers in Bollywood. He is known for being a part of several acclaimed ventures — be it in directorial front or acting front. He wears his heart on his sleeves and most recently once again he spoke his heart out. The filmmaker recently admitted leaving with folded hands after a streaming platform wanted to turn his show into Money Heist. 

During a recent conversation with The Hindu, Anurag Kashyap revealed that he had written a film for Malayalam star Mohanlal and desired his longtime cinematographer, Rajeev Ravi, to direct it. Nonetheless, the project couldn’t materialize, and he refurbished the story for Sunny Leone and Rahul Bhat starrer Kennedy.

He explained that the central character of Kennedy, an undercover cop named, Uday Shetty, had stayed with him for a long time. It was narrated to him by Sudhir Mishra. He even had a sequel web series in mind where the character survives the event of Kennedy.

The filmmaker added that he had tried pitching another show to a streaming platform. He revealed that the involved platform “really wanted it”, but the feedback he got was “too insecure and algorithm-based.”

“It was destroying the soul of the show. I was pitching something else, and they wanted to turn it into Money Heist. I folded my hands and left,” he further added. During the conversation, Anurag stated that the content is shaped by the data sheets that are removed from second-by-second user behavior.

In addition to this, he also talked about the delay in Kennedy's release, the film which has been screened at prestigious film festivals like Cannes and MAMI. Kashyap shared that Kennedy’s release was delayed due to financial troubles at Zee Studios, further adding that he has come to terms with such obstacles.

The Gangs Of Wasseypur director mentioned that the film was locked and cleared by the censors. However, he revealed Zee had lost money on their recently released films. On the other hand, the people who produced the film also left the company.  

Notably, Anurag has faced similar challenges with his earlier films like Black Friday and Gulaal while his debut feature film, Paanch remains unreleased. 

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