Renowned filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has made a startling revelation about one of Bollywood's most high-profile failures - Bombay Velvet. In a candid admission, the director described the 2015 period drama as the "worst experience" of his life, a professional setback so severe it reshaped his entire approach to filmmaking.
The Trauma of Failure
Kashyap didn't mince words when discussing the impact of Bombay Velvet's box office disaster. The film, which featured A-list stars Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma, was made on a massive budget of approximately ₹90 crore but failed spectacularly at the box office.
"The failure was so traumatic," Kashyap confessed, highlighting how the experience forced him to completely rethink his filmmaking strategy. The psychological impact was profound enough to make him question his methods and approach to cinema.
Drastic Budgetary Shift
The most telling consequence of the Bombay Velvet debacle was Kashyap's dramatic shift in budget scale. From helming a ₹90 crore magnum opus, the filmmaker scaled down to making films for as little as ₹3.5 crore.
This represents a staggering 96% reduction in budget, underscoring how deeply the failure affected his filmmaking choices. The experience taught him valuable lessons about financial prudence and creative freedom in the film industry.
Lessons from the Setback
While Bombay Velvet remains a painful chapter in Kashyap's career, the filmmaker has used the experience as a learning opportunity. The failure prompted him to:
- Reevaluate his approach to big-budget filmmaking
- Focus on more intimate, content-driven projects
- Embrace financial constraints as creative challenges
- Rediscover his filmmaking roots
Despite the trauma, Kashyap has continued to create critically acclaimed work, proving that even the most devastating failures can lead to artistic growth and renewal.
