‘Salman is the biggest star’

Anurag Kashyap says large chunks of Gangs Of Wasseypur is a tribute to Salman Khan, Sanjay Dutt and Amitabh Bachchan’s stardom.

Anurag Kashyap has not had a great equation with Salman Khan in the past. However, the director is all set to pay tribute to the Dabangg star in his next, Gangs Of Wasseypur. He says, “A large chunk of the film pays tribute to Salman Khan’s stardom. The gangs mouth Salman’s dialogues, dress up like him and have his hairstyle.”

HT Image

Is he paying tribute to other actors as well? He says, “Yes, to Sanjay Dutt and Amitabh Bachchan. My film is quirky and revolves around the strange world of idiotic gangsters, who are brought up on Hindi cinema.” The film stars Manoj Bajpayee, Richa Chadda, Nawazuddin and Hema Quereshi, and is expected to release at the end of December or early next year.

In the past, Anurag had publicly ostracised Salman for removing brother Abhinav from Dabangg’s sequel. However, after director Abhinav admitted he had walked out of the film, the matter was resolved. Is this his way of patching up? Anurag says, "It is a real film about the real world where Salman is the biggest star."

However, Anurag denies any possibility of the two working together. He says, “Salman doesn’t see cinema the way I do. Even if I go to him, he will never say yes to my film and I can’t bring myself to work like him.” And would he like to remake a popular South film and follow the current trend? He says, “I am scared that the Himmatwala (1983) days will be back.

That was the forgettable decade of cinema. But thankfully the other kind of cinema is also being made and we are surviving.”