Anurag Kashyap tells E Agha that young people in India are busy partying and have no time to spare for social issues
Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap says it’s difficult to engage youth in social causes since all they want is to party and indulge in modern-age leisure. “Youth just wants to party now. Actually, it is an outburst of years of repression. So they find idealism uncool. I remember in our days, it took 10 years of hard work to get an amount of Rs 10,000, but today it is not the case. After the economic boom, youngsters are earning well. So, they want to have fun! The cycle has also changed! Puberty sets in at the age of 12 while they get mature at 30. What can anyone talk to them in such a scenarioIJ” said the director who was in Capital to inaugurate a public health awareness campaign ‘Who CaresIJ’ by Doctors Without Borders/Medecines Sans Frontieres (MSF). On how cinema can help in creating awareness for a healthy society, he added, “A neglected tale can be made into a powerful film. But films alone can’t fight this battle. The contribution should be collaborative. I feel the first step is to start talking about it.”
Kashyap said since past 15 days, when he was approached for the campaign, he has just been reading on MSF’s doctors’ works. “I realised that there is so much I don’t know. My mother suffered from tuberculosis (TB). It took us eight months to treat her. I never knew that one can have TB even at the hip, which my mother suffered from. This ailment has evolved and can affect any part of the body. We need to be aware of these things,” he said.
Actor Farooque Sheikh was also present at the event. He urged audience to get more sensitive towards good cinema. “We don’t mind spending money on a bad film. We are ready to sit through the torture of a weak story but it pinches our pockets when it comes to donate some amount for the cause. Also, for us to make a discerning cinema, we need to have discerning audience,” he said.