Abhinav Kashyap revisited his college days at the Hansraj campus recently. He opened his heart to students and shared that he once donated sperms at a nearby hospital. Iknoor Kaur was a part of the gathering
When Abhinav Singh Kashyap was in third year of college he had 13 per cent attendance and was not allowed to sit for exams. So, “we locked the Principal in his office, shut off the electricity and kept him there in the heat while we sat in protest. The next week I was writing my exams,” said the director while teaching the students of Hansraj College some besharami.
Being an alumnus of the college, Kashyap revisited old memories while promoting his forthcoming film Besharam.
He added that he was so shameless in his college days that while the lover’s point was his local spot, he had also donated sperms at the Gauri Hospital nearby. “I’m sure I have atleast six to seven kids in Delhi,” he quipped.
Kashyap hopes to rebrand the word besharam with his forthcoming film. He said, “I feel ‘besharam’ is an attitude. Even my film’s tag line says, ‘Na samman ka moh, na apmaan ka bhay’. When you want to do something, you should just go ahead and do it. Don’t fall prey to people judging you. Everyone always takes this word in a sexual context but it means you are relentless in your pursuits. I think being shameless is an extremely good trait.”
All of the director’s films start with a one-line idea. He explained, “Dabangg had a one-line idea — ‘thappad se darr nahi lagta, pyaar se lagta hai’. Similarly, Besharam started with the idea that ‘there is no right way of doing the wrong thing’.”
He added that Ranbir was the best choice for the role, “When there is an idea like this, you have to first create the wrong thing and then create a character who does it and thinks he’s doing the right thing. Then we look at how in his journey he encounters problems and then brings about change. That is exactly how the script evolved and I think Ranbir was apt for it. He is the biggest brand and the most popular personality amongst the youth today. I think the latest statistics say that 60 per cent of our population is below 25. So we need a youth icon that the people will relate to.”
Bollywood happened to Kashyap by chance. He said. “In my time people always grew up to be doctors or engineers so Bollywood was uncharted territory. But then things started changing. I had gone to Mumbai to study and my roommate was an FTII graduate. After studying English literature, I could definitely write. So I wrote for him and from there on it began.”
Kashyap credited his dramatics teacher, Dr Sanjay Kumar, for his success. “When I came to Hansraj, I was doing English literature and I had no idea what I was going to do in life. It was only when Sanjay sir took me under his wings that my horizon opened up. He exposed me to drama and philosophy,” he shared.
While his brother Anurag Kashyap is known for serious cinema, Abhinav does exactly the opposite. He said the reason for this is that as a team the two want to cover different genres.
“The two of us operate like mafia (laughs) who want to take over the entertainment industry. So tomorrow if you want to watch a serious film, or want entertainment, the Kashyap brothers have it all,” he added.
Besharam is releasing tomorrow on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti. Kashyap said that his film promotes the Gandhian philosophy.
“We have a dialogue in our film — ‘Main pyar se ladta hoon, hatyaar se nahi’. (I use love as my weapon). That is our way of being inspired by the Gandhian thought,” he signed off.
photos Pankaj Kumar