Anurag Kashyap slams social media backlash against critics of Dhurandhar

Anurag Kashyap condemned the coordinated backlash against critics of Dhurandhar. He said that he was among the few industry members who shared the Film Critics Guild's statement addressing "targeted attacks, harassment, and hate directed toward film critics.

Director Anurag Kashyap condemned the backlash against film critics after the release of Aditya Dhar's Dhurandhar. He also admitted that despite a few problematic aspects, he also acknowledged Aditya Dhar's courage while making the movie.

Kahsyap, in an interview with Sucharita Tyagi, for her YouTube channel, highlighted the ongoing discourse surrounding the film, clarifying that his admiration for a project doesn't equate to ignoring its shortcomings. He mentioned that he had spoken about "problematic things" himself, emphasising a balanced perspective. “Jo cheez galat hai voh galat hai, jo sahi hai voh shi hai (What is wrong, it’s wrong, and what is right, is right). How I like something does not mean I will force my opinion on someone else," he said.

Kashyap also reacted to the online harassment faced by film critics after Dhurandhar’s release. He described the attacks as “uncalled for" and revealed that he was one of the few industry members who shared the Film Critics Guild’s statement addressing "targeted attacks, harassment, and hate directed toward film critics."

He added that he was even questioned for praising the film. According to Kashyap, much of the backlash was "all coordinated" and "not organic." He further remarked, "This backlash thing is a social media construct and a lot of it is not organic."

While addressing the controversial aspects of the movie, the 53-year-old recognised a rare quality in the film: courage. He mentioned that he wouldn't ignore the problematic parts but chose to focus on the creator's persistence. "I will not conceal the things that were problematic, but I am seeing something else as well. As a filmmaker, I see the courage. Somebody who has to fight through a system to do a certain thing and the belief in it when everybody backs out because the film is getting too long, putting in their own money, doing things," he added.

He pointed to the technical execution of the torture scene featuring Arjun Rampal as a standout moment of precision. “I know, as a filmmaker, how much time it takes. Any filmmaker would be like, ‘Let’s do this in VFX’. The patience and time to do it as a filmmaker and to be so precise. So for me, as a filmmaker, I am marvelling at that," the director said.