Updated on: Aug 22, 2025 07:08 pm IST
Anurag Kashyap said that shooting for his Malayalam debut Rifle Club was a ‘life-changing experience’ because of the love and care he received from the team.
In December last year, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap revealed in an interview that he was planning to relocate to South India. Now, in a chat with Sudhir Srinivasan on his YouTube channel, Anurag has revealed how he faced a lot of judgmental behaviour from people in the Hindi film industry. He went on to share that in the South, people were loving and accepting of him. (Also read: Anurag Kashyap confirms he’s left ‘toxic’ Bollywood and Mumbai: ‘Everyone is trying to make ₹800 crore films’)

What Anurag said
Anurag admitted that he has emerged from depression and is doing better. When asked what helped him, the director said, “One thing I did was I stopped watching Hindi films. I started watching a lot of first-time filmmaker films and a lot of Malayalam films. Something very strange happened when I went to shoot Rifle Club, that was a life-changing experience for me…”
‘They think I am bad news’
He continued, “So many filmmakers who I am inspired by came to the screening of my film Kennedy. But in the Hindi film industry, people have been avoiding me. Because they think I am bad news. Because I have no filter, and if they get associated with me, then they might not get backing from a studio. But here in the south, they have so much love for me, and they are saying that we are here because we used to watch your films. Suddenly, things like [that made me think] why am I in a place where I am told that people are talking about your alcoholism, people are talking about your depression, people are thinking that you are losing your way. They are coming to be my saviour, to save me from myself.”
Anurag said that he felt the love from the South without any judgment, and they were no reminders of his alcoholism or anything else. Anurag said that he automatically stopped drinking and started writing and exercising.
Anurag is set to release his directorial feature Nishaanchi on September 19. The film features debutant Aaishvary Thackeray alongside Vedika Pinto, Monika Panwar, Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, and Kumud Mishra in pivotal roles.
