Today, Sep 10th marks the birth days of two members of the film fraternity who contribute to it in quite different ways. What unites them is that they stand-out in some ways from their peers in their respective fields. The point of this Birthday tribute is to bring to your notice some unique things that make them inimitable.

Anurag Kashyap:

A self-confessed Scorcese fan, Anurag Kashyap is known in India & even throughout the world as a non-conformist; a person who creates his own genre and never sticks to formula looking to challenge every preconception that ever existed, a person who unabashedly praises filmmakers who impress him however young they may be to him (he even says he envies Rajkumar Hirani and Dibankar Banerjee the most) , a person who believes Cinema is more than just Heroes & Villains, a person who is against the Anti-smoking disclaimers that come during the film and a person who believes the most unique thing about Indian cinema is the Music & the songs in it. While most film-makers these days try to reduce the song sequences in their films, Anurag celebrates them & embraces new composers with no focus on their reputations or lineage, just sheer talent. Our very own G.V.Prakash bears testimony to this having been roped for the background score of Gangs of Wasseypur & as the music director for Anurag’s yet to be released, Ugly.

His All-Time Bollywood favorites

3 defining films

  • Pyaasa
  • Bandit Queen
  • Sahib Biwi aur Ghulam

3 defining directors

  • Guru Dutt
  • Shekar Kapur
  • Bimal Roy

3 defining Actors

  • Dilip Kumar
  • Amitabh Bacchan
  • Nasseruddin Shah
His love for Pyaasa made him reuse the theme adding color to it and honor it using his Gulaal. Coincidentally, his Gangs of Wasseypur was the next film to be showcased in the Directors’ Fortnight at Cannes 2012 after Bandit Queen almost 15 years prior. He confesses to be a devotee of the fabulously shot Sahib, Biwi aur Ghulam which also features an iconic performance from Guru Dutt.

Views on Tamil Cinema

Anurag is a big fan of the kind of films churned out in Tamil Cinema so much so that he could not resist from watching the charming Azhagar Samiyin Kuthirai in spite of not getting subtitles. He is in awe of the fact that most of the scripts in Kollywood are written in the native Tamil language which is not the case in Bollywood where English takes over due to the tremendous western influence. He calls Chennai, the birthplace of a new language in Indian cinema & regards the audiences as some of the most evolved movie-watchers in the country.

The Madurai Triumvirate

He adores Bala, Ameer & Sasi Kumar who he fondly refers to as the Madurai Triumvirate. He mentions that their regional films, Paruthiveeran, Subramaniyapuram & Naan Kadavul, set off something within him inspiring his going back to his roots which is the prime reason in dedicating his revenge-saga, Gangs of Wasseypur to the three of them. He even distributed Bala’s Paradesi under his Phanton Film’s banner in North India.

On Aaranya Kaandam

When questioned about that one Tamil film which totally blew him, his prompt reply is Aaranya Kaandam. He proudly says that he possesses the Director’s cut of the film and is in awe of Kumararaja’s work.

We wish Anurag a very happy Birthday & hope to get more films from his stables that would make Indian Cinema even more proud.

Chinmayi:

We all have got to know what a talented singer Chinmayi is & the fact that her voice can be as attractive in dubbing as it is with singing can be ascertained with this tiny example from Vinnaithaandi Varuvaaya where Trisha mouths in front of the wondrous backwaters of Kerala, the dialogue.

“Oru vela un kannu vazxhiya avanga enna paakala polarukku”

as Chinmayi dubs this in background with an expert’s touch.

Her Intent towards Social Awareness

She is known to be an active social media person & she does interact a lot with fans and shares opinions on many things under the sun. The most interesting & appreciable are her messages intended to raise awareness on social issues/ events that deserve awareness. It is evident that she doesn’t just press the share , RT button for the sake of it. There have been instances when she has walked the walk as well.

Here is an example:
She has spoken of Stem Cell Banking/donation with an aim to raise awareness at various instances of time (2010, 2013):

but has not just stopped there. She had tweeted early this year that she got herself registered as a stem cell donor:

Her bit towards Philanthropy

She is also seen to actively promote charity. She is releasing a single on iTunes, the proceeds of which would be diverted to 17000ft, a philanthropic organization.

Her Entrepreneurial moves

Given the kind of career she has had, it would be normal to be tempted to feel content and not think beyond singing and/or dubbing. But she comes across as quite a workaholic – she has hosted a popular show on a Television channel, has played a Radio Jockey & important of all, has founded and leads a Translation Services organization Blue Elephant which led her to a SAARC Chamber for Women Entrepreneurship for Excellence award.

We wish a happy birthday to Chinmayi wishing her a lot more wonderful songs from the very many talented composers in the country & also wish that she continues her bit towards raising social awareness among netizens!