Mumbai:
Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap feels that audience and exhibitors in India believe that the films going to festivals are boring.
"In India, there is a psychological problem that movies going to film festivals are boring. It is a problem with exhibitors. Even I had a problem (releasing movies)... Every filmmaker has his own struggle. We are finding solutions on our own. Everyone has to work towards it," Anurag told reporters at an event.
The director's 'Murabba' was part of "Bombay Talkies", an anthology of four short films screened at the Cannes festival this year, as tribute to 100 years of Indian cinema.
Anurag feels these kind of films encourage those backing the project. "It gives encouragement to distributors and exhibitors with a film like 'Bombay Talkies'," he said.
Now, Anurag has co-produced five short films titled 'Shorts' with Viacom 18 and they have been released on YouTube.
"In this case, we had the material and we released itonline. But this is our first effort to put it out this way,"he said. "The screens are increasing and the duration of films is lessening. I guess short films have a bright future... The advantage is budget...At least good films are releasing," he said.
Meanwhile, Anurag seems quite excited about his next directorial venture 'Bombay Velvet'. Karan Johar will be seenplaying a villain in the period-drama. "We will start shooting next month. Karan has alreadylost ten kilos. He is on a spree of losing more," he said.
The film is set against the backdrop of love, greed, violence and Jazz...it tells the story of how Bombay became a metropolis.
Historian Gyan Prakash's book 'Mumbai Fables' forms the basis of the movie. Ranbir and Anushka Sharma play lovers whose lives intermingle with the evolution of Bombay, through the 50s to early 70s.
