“You’ll be shocked at the way Indian authorities handled Christopher Nolan,” claim
Anurag Kashyap, who claims that Indians are uninterested in empowering movies.
Important parts of Christopher Nolan’s science-fiction action movie Tenet were filmed in Mumbai, but Anurag Kashyap claims Nolan had a bad time there.
Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, who has been openly critical of Indian authorities taking ‘credit’ for the recent success of Indian filmmakers at the Cannes Film Festival, said one only needs to look at how director Christopher Nolan was treated while shooting his film Tenet in Mumbai to recognise the problems of the system. Key scenes of the 2020 science-fiction action film were shot in Mumbai, and according to Kashyap, Nolan and his crew did not have an easy time.
In an interview with Fever FM, the filmmaker said there was a time when there was a fair system to finance films, but times have changed. “There used to be a film body that supported people like Govind Nihalani and Shyam Benegal, but even the subsidies certain states offer to entice filmmakers take eight years to arrive,” he stated.
Many of these are merely tricks. One day, you ought to discuss the difficulties Christopher Nolan’s crew faced when attempting to film Tenet in India. You will be shocked at how they were treated. Their equipment was confiscated by customs. There are thousands of such stories. Let us stop fooling ourselves that there is a system that empowers cinema.”
Anurag further exposed the system for trying to take credit for Payal Kapadia’s recent win at Cannes; her movie, All We Imagine As Light, received the coveted Grand Prix prize at this year’s event. Anurag remarked,
“This year’s Cannes festival showcased an impressive lineup. Not a single film helmed by Karan Kandhari, Sandhya Suri, Payal Kapadia, Anasuya, or Anasuya clinched the best actress prize.”Payal didn’t even get the India exemption, even though it’s an Indo-French co-production.ame Without funding from France, it would never have been made.
The UK Lottery Fund is supporting Karan’s film, Sandhya’s film was produced in the UK, and Konstantin (Bozanov, director of The Shless, starring Anasuya) lived in my house and no actor approached him. It took him 10 years to make this film.
Anasuya was a production designer who became an actress. I’m sorry to say this, but India doesn’t support cinema, independent cinema… Our film was at Cannes, and everyone refused to make suits for Nawaz after seeing his face.”
