Anurag Kashyap shared, "The budget for Bombay Velvet went from Rs. 28 crores to Rs. 90 crores, and I couldn’t process that change.
I called up Karan Johar, Aditya Chopra, etc." He also said, "Ranveer Singh was my first choice. Directors called him 'treadmill' because he has so much energy!"
Anurag Kashyap had an interesting chat with Komal Nahta and talked about the tough time he had while directing Bombay Velvet (2015), which starred Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma.
#Ranveer Singh Anurag Kashyap revealed, "The budget for Bombay Velvet went from Rs. 28 crores to Rs. 90 crores, and I couldn’t process that change.
I called up Karan Johar, Aditya Chopra, etc." He also added, "Ranveer Singh was my first choice. Directors called him 'treadmill' because he has so much energy!"
Anurag started by saying, "Bombay Velvet had a huge budget.
In such a situation, the film doesn't behave like a normal film. The focus is on the opening. The final edit was not as I wanted. The film was almost three hours long. The fear was that it would get fewer showings because of the length. In such a case, tension builds up."
He said, "In the end, I made the film I wanted to, but at a very high budget.
The film could have been made with a lower budget. The original budget wasn't much. But then the studio got involved, and I was surrounded by ambition on all sides."
Anurag revealed, "Originally, the budget was Rs. 28 crores, and it went up to Rs. 90 crores!
Yet, the studio bought the film (laughs). Then I had to justify the cost. I had done preparations for 7 years with the idea that I had Rs. 28 crores. I had planned to show parts of Bombay in the 1960s. This is how Anurag Basu managed to make Barfi (2012) with a controlled budget. But now, to justify the cost, we had to build a set and a studio in Sri Lanka. Earlier, we used to reach the sets by auto rickshaw. But for Bombay Velvet, we used to arrive in a Mercedes (laughs)! Even a resort was built at the location for accommodation. I used to believe this before and after this experience, I believe even more strongly that the amount of money you spend should reflect on screen by 3 or 4 times."
Anurag Kashyap further said, "I waited for 1 ½ years.
I pushed the release of Bombay Velvet. In between, I made Ugly (2014). I wasn’t able to process the increase in budget. I spoke to everyone in the industry. There wasn’t anyone in the industry I didn’t talk to. I called up Karan Johar, Aditya Chopra, etc. Everyone told me, 'You’ve gone mad. Go for it. This is correct. Work with a bigger actor.'"
He continued, "I had considered a small actor for this role.
His name is Ranveer Singh. No one had any faith in him. All the big directors used to call him 'treadmill' because he has so much energy! Meanwhile, Ranbir Kapoor is a fantastic actor. It took me a year to move from Ranveer to Ranbir mentally and emotionally. Ranbir was dedicated. I assumed I was wrong. The whole industry also said the same thing. They told me, 'The studio is experienced. Whatever decisions have been made for you are right. You are just scared to make a big budget film with a big star.' I bought into it."
At another point in the interview, Anurag Kashyap stated, "Everyone on this film was scared.
They feared it was too long, the hero and heroine’s entry happens late into the story, etc. I was told to cut down their childhood portion. What was more important than the opening was the collection of the film over the first weekend. I was scared and felt burdened. I had to remove 25 minutes from the film."
