Indian filmmaker Anurag Kashyap on why Bollywood can't ever beat Malayalam cinema

Dubai: There’s a scene in Malayalam director Ashiq Abu’s absolutely audacious Western Adventure-like film Rifle club, where its wacky anti-hero, played wickedly by Anurag Kashyap, strips down to his boxers.

His potbelly and his stack of chunky gold chains and rings are his only accessories on this morally bankrupt arms dealer. His naked, raw ambition to wipe off a gun-owning clan in Kerala who killed his cocaine-snorting son shines through his every pore. It’s Kashyap’s acting debut in Malayalam cinema, and he has killed it. In this violent dark satire about power, control, and nuttiness, Kashyap has broken most villain tropes that exist in cinema. He isn’t some sleek and mean killing machine, but a big, broken man with some questionable parenting skills and a penchant for guns.

When I caught up with Anurag Kashyap, the enfant terrible of Bollywood in Mumbai over a zoom video call, he was in a reflective mood.

“Can you believe it? I haven’t seen the movie yet,” he began with a laugh.

“But I hear good things from people watching it,” said the director, clearly amused by the irony of being praised for a performance he hadn’t revisited in its entirety.

Kashyap, however, is chuffed by the enthusiastic reactions from audiences who’ve embraced the audacity of his character. One of the film’s most gripping moments is a confrontation between Kashyap’s character and his gun-toting son, played brilliantly by rapper Hanumankind. It’s a moment that revealed the morally gray world of Rifle club and the complex relationships within its core family.

Sample this dad-son scene in the first half of this movie where Anurag Kashyap, ‘appa’ to his spoilt son, tries to dissuade his seed from going on a killing rampage in this guns-and-glory spectacle.

“Who gave you the first line, or your first girl, your first foreign girl?” he asks, his voice oscillating between cajoling and commanding.

“I will give you your first kill. But just wait till I come there,” he adds.

As a father who’s both manipulative and authoritative, Kashyap's character exerts control, signaling that vengeance will only happen on his terms. This scene, Kashyap explained, captures the essence of his flawed and terrifyingly ambitious character.

His seamless delivery of such emotionally charged lines in Malayalam was a feat that impressed many. But did you know that Kashyap took this plunge without even hearing the full script?. The story of how Kashyap landed the role is as unconventional as the man himself.

“When they announced the movie, I went to Aashiq Abu’s Instagram page and wrote, ‘Do you want a Hindi-speaking actor?’ on his post. That’s how it all started,” he revealed with a grin.

For Kashyap, the sheer intrigue of the title, Rifle club, was enough to spark his interest. This stylish ensemble actioner is written by Syam Pushkaran, Dileesh Karunakaran, and Suhas and boasts a raft of talents like Vani Viswanath, Surabhi Lakshmi, Darshan Rajendran, Dileesh Pothan, Vijayaraghavan, and Vineeth Kumar.

“I thought Rifle Club sounded so cool. I knew Aashiq and Syam, and I thought, ‘Something good will come out of this.’”

The preparation for the role was anything but ordinary. Kashyap recalled his first day on set, where he was asked to make a significant transformation.

“The very first day, Syam and Aashiq came tentatively and asked, ‘Sir, do you mind shaving your beard?’ I said, ‘You’re the director and writer. I’ll do anything.’ So, they made me shave my beard, wear a tiger-skin shirt, and these American flag boxers. My first scene was walking out in those boxers and shooting,” he recounted with a laugh, fully embracing the eccentricities of his character.

His bold look in the film—complete with his potbelly on display—became a defining feature of his role.

“I was told, ‘We’ll take revenge on you by putting your pot belly on full display.’ And they did! People have six-packs; I had a family pack. But it was liberating. I’ve had weight gain post-COVID, and I’m not ashamed to put it out there,” he said, laughing at himself.

This willingness to shed vanity reflects Kashyap’s broader appreciation for Malayalam cinema’s priorities.

“Vanity doesn’t exist in Malayalam cinema … None of us were picture-perfect. But the characters’ sass and moral ambiguity really worked,” he observed, pointing to the film’s emphasis on substance over style.

Kashyap’s morally ambiguous arms dealer is a stark counterpoint to his opposing clan’s patriarch, played efficiently by Vijayraghavan. The family of skilled shooters with some brassy women and fierce men is led by a wheel-chair ridden patriarch who’s able to anchor his family when they are threatened by Kashyap’s manic avenging antics.

“Rifle club patriarch holds everything together, while my character falls apart. But Syam’s genius is in lines like my character asking my son, ‘Who gave you the first line?’ It’s audacious,” Kashyap remarked, praising the script’s sharp and fearless writing.

He says he felt a certain kinship with the likes of director Ashiq Abu. They are all outliers who are trying to do original cinema and are often misunderstood, and penalized.

“I’ll be honest—I didn’t know the entire story. I trusted Sham and Aashiq. They’ve been written off, just like I have. But that bond as filmmakers made me jump in blindly,” he said.

For Kashyap, the collaborative working patterns of Malayalam cinema stood out starkly against the star-driven culture of Bollywood. He was impressed how the actors and crew were united in their efforts to make a good film, without being encumbered by star systems or egos.

“The working ethics are phenomenal! There’s no star system, no massive vanity vans. Everyone’s together. Compare that to Bollywood, where actors are isolated, with entourages and vanity. That camaraderie reflects in the film. Hindi cinema could never make a Rifle Club. They’d rather remake it,” he said, critiquing Bollywood’s penchant for formulaic storytelling and obsession with box-office numbers.

When asked why Bollywood struggles to break free from its commercial trappings, Kashyap didn’t mince words.

“It’s all about money—obsession with box-office crores. Everything is a formula. Filmmakers can’t sell originals without a reference point,” he said. He takes the example of the 2024 Malayalam blockbuster ‘Manjummel Boys’ and how Bollywood was keen to get its rights for a re-make but will eventually fail at capturing the original’s essence or spirit in the quest for making the movie commercialized or blockbuster-friendly. It looks like Kashyap is done with the transactional nature of Bollywood where box-office numbers and star egos thrive.

“Honestly, I feel more at home in South India, where I’ve found my tribe … Here storytelling trumps all.”

His disillusionment isn’t limited to Bollywood either. A few days ago, his daughter got married leaving him with an empty nest.

“After my daughter’s wedding, something shifted. I fell into this hollow, empty feeling—anxiety took over. I couldn’t leave my house. It wasn’t physical sickness; it was emotional. The house felt empty, and I was just in bed. But projects like Rifle Club helped me climb out of that phase. Being part of something exciting gave me purpose,” he said, highlighting how art and creativity have been crucial in his journey toward healing.

He didn’t rule out the prospect of moving to Kochi either.

“I’d love to. Kochi feels like a place where I can truly write. The people, the environment—everything fits,” he said, describing the city as an ideal space for creative work. While he’s rattled by his daughter’s leaving to the US after marriage and is making sense of his new vacuum at home, Kashyap is eager to do a lot more.

“I’m waiting for exciting projects, whether in Malayalam or Hindi. I want to do fun, challenging work.”

Don’t Miss It!

‘Rifle Club’ is out in UAE cinemas now