“Success has many fathers but failure is an orphan”. This quote really suits for path breaking director Anurag Kashyap. His name is well versed with every film lover and he is one of the idols for many aspiring filmmakers.
Failure may kiss you in private but failure always kicks you in public and the same is happening to Anurag as well. His much ambitious project Bombay Velvet has been declared a disaster at the box-office. With a mammoth budget of Rs 120 crores, the film failed to generate minimum double figure openings in the first weekend. Trade pundits opine that it would be the biggest surprise of the season if the film collects about Rs 35 crores in its life time.
This is the bitter reality that any filmmaker finds hard to digest but fyi, this is Anurag Kashyap! The director looks absolutely undeterred and he indeed came up with a long text message on his Facebook account thanking his team and reasserting that he still believed in the film. The message ends in style with the famous Schwarznegger’s Terminator dialogue – “I WILL BE BACK”.
“Its time to close the book and move on. its been a journey, as if one life is over with Bombay Velvet. a lot of people do not connect with it and a small number of people did. Maybe when the shock of the narrative wears down , you will revisit it in the calm of your homes and will get into it. Maybe our experimenting with the narrative didn't work for most but i firmly believe in the film. This is the film i wanted to make and i am glad i got to make it. I am very happy that all those who have been part of this journey firmly stand with it. No i am not depressed or hiding, this has taught us a lot and is my absolute personal favourite, there have been no regrets whatsoever. i want to thank Fox Star, Phantom, Vikas Bahl, Vikramaditya, Madhu Mantena, Vivek Agrawal, Sonal Sawant Rajeev Ravi Kunal SharmaGyan Prakash Vasan Bala, Thani Mudaliar Niharika Bhasin Khan and team Deepika Gandhi Kshipra Jain Prerna Saigal Thelma Schoonmaker , Bharati Bahrani Padmini Nandakumar, Karuna Dutt , Smrutika Panigrahi Saqib Pandor Kulish Kant Thakur Vicky Barmecha, Sabrina Khan, Utsav Singh Hada Vyshakh RV , Dhara Jain Chuck Picerni Shilpa Srivastava Vishal Tyagi,Naveen Reddy, Navit Dutt Prana Studios, Mehma Sachdeva Kunal Ahuja, Mukti Mohan Neeti Mohan Amit Trivedi, Krutee Desai-Trivedi Amitabh Bhattacharya, Shaira Kapoor Shikha Kapur and teamErrol Kelly and team, Vijay Singh, Pathak, Harsh Kapoor, Satyadeep Misra Kay Kay Menon RK, Anushka, Karan, Manish Prakash Chaudhari, Vivaan, Vicky Kaushal and all the actors, Shrikant Desai and team, everyone else who i can't find on my Facebook, Every one who believed in the dream and lived it together, Ranjan Singh who stood behind us, Tanvi Gandhi, and the Film Team from Srilanka, Sarada Narayan Madhulika Jalali Gabriel Georgiou Puneet, Soumyajit Nandy , thank you all of you, and all the others who i can't think of at the moment. Thank you for your pride and love in what we did together, the process was beautiful and we have all come back richer from it. i think i am very rich today for having so many friends and people in my life and their faith. now lets get on to the next and lets kick ass. Films is what i breathe, what i live for, does not matter where i go and where i stay , i will only make films , and no i am not done with making films in and about my country, rest is just a little detour. none of you need to worry about me, we have survived so much, have been standing 22 years in the face of adversity and rejection. and i am still free with my choices. Bombay Velvet has been worth all the heart ache and pain and a memory to cherish for life. i love you all so much and i also feel all your love. Let my silence not worry any of you. i am solid, we are solid. The Applause or Brickbats do not matter, what matters is who is standing in the arena. its us who go out there and risk it, its us who choose not to take the easy route, its us who stand tall when they let the lions loose on us, we are and will be the gladiators, lets just keep playing the sport.. lets continue reinventing, lets give everything our best. and like Schwarznegger said, I WILL BE BACK..”
We hope and wish Anurag bounces back in style very soon.