If Bombay Velvet didn't work, it is entirely my fault: Anurag Kashyap

Mumbai: Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap says the failure of his last film 'Bombay Velvet' is completely his fault as there were instances where he should have taken a stand but did not.

Starring Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma, 'Bombay Velvet' was a period-drama which tanked at the box office. Anurag said, "When a film fails, it is 100 per cent the director's fault. If 'Bombay Velvet' didn't work, it is entirely my fault. The director is the only one who has the power to say no. A lot of the places where I should've taken a stand, I didn't. So the mistake is mine. When a film is good, it's everybody's contribution."

Kashyap, 43, was speaking at the trailer launch of his upcoming movie 'Raman Raghav 2.0'. The 'Gangs of Wasseypur' helmer said directors need to often put their foot down and oppose anything which goes against the film they are making.

"What happens is, when you are making a film, you start it out and midway the process kind of changes. You forget why in the first place you wanted to make the film. A lot of the times we need to put our foot down and say 'no, this doesn't go with the film'. We give into a lot of pressure, we go on a back foot," he added.

Known for making small-budget independent films like 'Black Friday', 'Dev D', 'Gulaal', Kashyap's 'Bombay Velvet' was pitched as his biggest movie ever. The 'Ugly' director said sometimes a film's budget becomes so huge that a director starts feeling the pressure.

"When a film's budget becomes so huge that it is beyond your control, the pressure is so much that you go on the back foot. And that is the biggest mistake. However big a bowler is, (Virat) Kohli (cricketer) has to go in front and
play. When you go backwards you hit the wicket," he said.

'Raman Raghav 2.0' stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui as a serial killer while Vicky Kaushal will play the role of a troubled cop. The film, slated to release on June 24, is inspired by Raman Raghav, also known as Psycho Raman, a psychopathic
serial killer who terrorised the streets of Mumbai in the mid-1960s.

Anurag, who had run-ins with Censor Board on many occasions, said he did not want a single cut in his latest film. "Censor Board has been in a way kindest to this film. They actually liked it. For me, there are many things in the film I want them to stay intact. I would not be satisfied with a single cut. To avoid any kind of cuts whatever it will take, we will do," he said.

Kashyap said he was not trying to glorify criminals through the film, adding it is merely "inspired" from Raman Raghav and not based on him. "We are not glorifying. The film is not to glorify someone. You'll understand it better if you watch the film. It is in a fictionalised, thriller way where we have woven a story around the things we usually ignore," he said.

"This is not based on a real life character. It is inspired from a character who was in the 1960s, this film is based in today's times. It's difficult to make a film inspired by a real life character because you are treading a very dangerous line. You have your own sense of responsibility," he added.

The director said making a true blue biopic would have been "ten times more difficult" considering the details which go into the making. "If you are saying a story like this you need to do it in such a way that all the aspects come together to make an engaging film. It is very important to pay minute details in character developments. If it would've been a biopic, it would've been ten times more difficult," Kashyap said.

"Raman Raghav 2.0" will be showcased at Cannes' Directors Fortnight section. The festival will open on May 11.