Top 65 Quotes & Sayings by Anurag Kashyap

One must go for a film with an open mind; a film best impacts you when your mind is a blank page to the film.

Conventional Indian cinema is about people falling in love. They sing, they dance.

We need to stop objectifying our women in what we call our second religion... Our films. And our TV shows.

The censor boards are mere redundant forces conspiring to keep the 'bold' films out of reach of the audience.

Fans are your greatest enemies because they tend to bracket you. And the moment someone expects I should do something, I break out. I often tell fans who say, 'Make a 'Gulal 2' or 'Gangs 3,' that I am living my dream, not theirs.

I think about my films for a long time, maybe years, but I write them in days.

Through movies, I have met nearly everyone I have wanted to, except Woody Allen.

Indian films have this obsession with hygienic clean spaces, even though the country's not so clean. They're either shot in the studios or shot in London, in America, in Switzerland - clean places. Everywhere except India.

Politicians need a film appreciation course.

It is an entirely selfish decision to turn producer because I want my kind of cinema to last and flourish, and helping young filmmakers make those kind of films is the best way to do it.

I am still where I started. I am still struggling. In fact, the struggle has only got bigger. I always try to go beyond my means, and this where the struggle comes in.

I've become a lot more tolerant; I think before I talk. I can take a lot now. I don't get as angry as I used to. Whenever I do, I channel my anger into my work.

Cinema is much more than heroes and villains.

All those pseudo-Hollywood movies set nowhere, with everybody good looking and having great physique - that's not working any more.

For me, any kind of thing that has stood for 100 years tells me of the health of that thing. So, cinema completing a hundred years in India just says that it is very healthy.

I love the digital camera because it makes shooting easier and economical. I shoot fast, and I can shoot a lot. I shoot rehearsal; I just keep on shooting nonstop.

Entertainment's definition has been reduced to making people happy.

I guess short films have a bright future... The advantage is budget.

When violence is real and you flinch away from it, violence does not push people to try and imitate that. Often, we shun the violence that makes us flinch, because it disturbs us. And what makes us uncomfortable and disturbs us is not often bad. What disturbs us will not make us imitate that.

It was only in the early 1990s - during my student years as an aspiring scientist at Delhi University - that I discovered the world of cinema.

It is very good to bridge the gaps between Indian and international cinema.

The West sometimes doesn't understand Bollywood, but they can definitely understand how Bollywood influences people.

I'm very emotional and possessive about all my films.

I shoot reality-based movies, and in actual locations, shooting them with a star is next to impossible.

I don't know if I'd ever want to show my college life in the films I make. I think I've passed that stage long ago.

I was 16 when I got admission in Hans Raj College. I completed school when I was 16, so everyone in my class - Zoology Honours batch 92 - was 18, and I was often treated like a kid.

The quality of mainstream cinema has changed. A lot of independent voices feel they can leave everything behind and make independent films.

To get noticed, I had to take my films in a space which was much more democratic in terms of cinema - the international film festivals.

When I'm making a film, I don't want my producer to be on the sets. So when I'm producing a film, I don't want to be on the sets!

People always accuse me of making these dark, depressing movies. 'Why do you have to pick up on real issues? People are so exhausted and miserable.'

Politicians take something out of context to create problems.

'The Dark Knight' is a really good movie that reached both critics and mainstream audiences.

I think the perspective that small-town directors bring to films is very different.

Chennai is the birthplace of a new language in cinema. The audiences here are the most evolved moviegoers to be found anywhere in India.

Cinema is an art form.

India needs better producers than screenwriters. No producer wants to invest in out-of-the way scripts.

'Aiyyaa' is a very quirky film.

The lower the cost of the film, the more you can experiment.

'Bombay Velvet' is my first film in a trilogy about Bombay, before it became a metropolis.

There is more to Indian cinema than just Bollywood. I think regional cinema, especially Tamil and Marathi cinema, are exploring some really bold themes.

I didn't ask anyone to make me a poster boy, because poster boys always end up on dart boards.

Films are like oxygen for me.

Independent graphic novelists have already achieved good work in terms of design, but all these great minds are writing in English. There is a need for people to write in Hindi.

I want my films to be seen everywhere.

I love travelling, and most scripts have been written while I have been travelling.

I'm a huge Coppola fan. But more of 'Apocalypse Now' and 'The Conversation.' 'The Godfather' for me is, like, number three or four on the list.

When you are very idealistic, but caught in a world which is all about business, it creates anguish.

I love Back Stage. I have lots of theater friends and actors who depend on Back Stage.

I think I had more freedom when I began making films. I did not know what could not be done. I was naive. I did what I wanted to. As you gain awareness, you start losing freedom.

I am not born to make dreamy movies.

My cards and flowers always got rejected on Valentines Day.

In 'Gangs of Wasseypur,' I wanted to take violence forward and play it up.

I am a straight talker. I am not politically correct or diplomatic.

There shouldn't be any censorship on making a film.

I used to spend a lot of time cutting out film posters from papers and putting them up on the wall in my room.

Every film has an origin. It is made under certain circumstances, and that is a very important point that should be kept in mind during a review.

In India, there is a psychological problem that movies going to film festivals are boring. It is a problem with exhibitors.

Studios never put pressure. They know the kind of films I want to make.

I do not make movies to send any message, but my treatment makes my viewers think on the subject.

When people who are seeking change start out, they are driven by commitment to a cause. But as internecine power struggles take over, one-time idealists fall prey to corruption. They become just as corrupt and manipulative as the system that they want to overthrow.