Thaindian News

Mumbai, July 6 (IANS) “Gangs of Wasseypur”, based on real-life story, has collected Rs.10 crore in the opening weekend. Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap is satisfied and says the crime thriller is his first film to earn so much at the box office.

“We thought that people were liking the film, but in the first three days, we didn’t collect so much. But even that collection has been the biggest of my life. The kind of film this is and the kind of actors there are, the collection was big,” Kashyap said at the success party of the film Thursday.

Recently many mainstream commercial ventures like “Singham” and “Rowdy Rathore” crossed the Rs.100 crore mark.

But Kashyap, known for giving hits like “Dev D” and “Udaan”, said: “Rs.100 crore is too much of an expectation. If it happens, it is good. I want that whoever has worked in the film should earn a lot of money.”

The gang war drama based in Wasseypur in Dhanbad district, Jharkhand, has non-commercial names in the cast such as Manoj Bajpayee, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Piyush Mishra and newcomer Richa Chadha. Despite that it is luring people.

“It is a film where barring Manoj, people don’t know anyone. In addition, the film had everything going against it - the two parts, one part being an incomplete story, the kind of language and adult certificate. People see the negative points more. So, even if we don’t cross Rs.100 crore, it is fine with us,” he said.

He also feels that comparing “Gangs of Wasseypur” with commercial blockbusters like “3 Idiots” is unjustified.

“…This comparison is unfair. If you compare my film with ‘3 Idiots’, then I should compare that with ‘Avengers’. See the picture according to its budget,” he said.

What makes Kashyap happy that the industry has finally accepted his kind of films.

“I have got acceptance after a long time and I am happy. I always wanted to get accepted for the films I make. A lot of directors, who I think very high off, have called me (to congratulate). Bachchan saab also (Amitabh Bachchan) tweeted (praising the film). It made so much of a difference,” he said.

“A lot of things have happened with the film. I also got the freedom to make a film which I believe in,” said Kashyap adding that he did without any “market pressure”.

“This is the only way this kind of cinema will go ahead and we would be able to do new things,” he said.