He has always gone out of his way to push quality cinema. And that’s exactly what Anurag Kashyap seems to be doing as he decides to distribute the Tamil movie, Paradesi, in north India. The Gangs of Wasseypur (2012) director will distribute the Tamil film with English and Hindi sub-titles through his company, Phantom Films.
“Bala is one of the most talented filmmakers we have today. I had even dedicated Gangs of Wasseypur to him. When I saw Paradesi, I was awed and asked him why he wasn’t releasing the film in north India. And he told me that no one is interested in regional films. It’s true that Tamil Nadu is a huge market for Tamil films but film-going audiences need to watch quality cinema from all regions. I told him that people needed to see his film,” says Anurag.
Bala, the maker of movies like Sethu (1999), Nandha (2001) and Pithamagan (2003), is now waiting for the release of Paradesi, which is a tale about the plight of enslaved tea estate workers in pre-independence India. The film stars Adharvaa, Vedhika Kumar and Dhansika in the lead roles.
Interestingly, his film Sethu had inspired the Salman Khan-starrer Tere Naam (2003).
In one of his past interviews, Anurag had also praised Sethu, saying, “I remember the first time I saw Bala's film Sethu, which stars Vikram. I knew something had been set off in me as I watched the movie unfold.”
In one of his past interviews, Anurag had also praised Sethu, saying, “I remember the first time I saw Bala's film Sethu, which stars Vikram. I knew something had been set off in me as I watched the movie unfold.”