{"id":10287446,"date":"2025-10-04T16:00:30","date_gmt":"2025-10-04T10:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/?post_type=article&p=10287446"},"modified":"2025-10-04T16:00:37","modified_gmt":"2025-10-04T10:30:37","slug":"anurag-kashyap-on-monkey-in-a-cage-want-the-audience-to-be-uncomfortable-10287446","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/entertainment\/bollywood\/anurag-kashyap-on-monkey-in-a-cage-want-the-audience-to-be-uncomfortable-10287446\/","title":{"rendered":"Anurag Kashyap on Monkey in a Cage: ‘Want the audience to be uncomfortable\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

DAYS after Anurag Kashyap\u2019s Monkey in a Cage (Bandar) was showcased at the 50th edition of Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF), crime drama Nishaanchi,<\/a> yet another movie directed by him, released in Indian theatres in September. The world and narrative of these two movies are vastly different from each other. While Monkey in a Cage, headlined by Bobby Deol, is an unsettling examination of \u201cripple effects of #MeToo in digital-age India\u201d, Nishaanchi is a Kashyap-coded crime romp set in Kanpur that aspires to go past the enduring popularity of Gangs of Wasseypur I and II (2012).<\/span><\/p><\/ev-engagement><\/ev-engagement>

\n

\u201cMonkey in a Cage” came out of a reaction to what\u2019s happening on social media. Within minutes, people go viral. Similarly, within minutes they are cancelled. I was not trying to make a #mentoo or #metoo film. Sometimes people don\u2019t realise what they are doing. Everyone deserves a chance to correct themselves,\u201d says Kashyap, soon after the film\u2019s screening at TIFF.<\/span><\/p>\n

ALSO READ: Anurag Kashyap \u2018got a message\u2019 from people behind major Bollywood hit, was told to keep his \u2018genuine praise\u2019 for the film to himself: \u2018My jaw dropped\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0This film, which comes across as provocative and its theme polarising, revolves around Samar (Deol), an ageing, has-been television star, who meets a younger woman on a dating app. Just as he\u2019s settling into a relationship with the younger Khushi (Saba Azad), Gayatri (Sapna Pabbi), who he once dated, wants to be back in his life. After Samar ghosts and blocks Gayatri, she accuses Samar of sexual assault. He lands in prison and is faced with a judicial system steeped in corruption.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Monkey in a Cage talks about the cases where laws against sexual assault are misused. \u201cI wanted the film to highlight how broken our system is. Only 27 per cent of rape cases are reported. In small towns and villages, such cases often go unreported. In my view, the present law was a knee-jerk reaction to the 2012 Delhi<\/a> gang rape and murder case. Instead of strengthening police investigations, loopholes are being exploited by policemen and lawyers to target moneyed people,\u201dsays the director of Dev.D and Gulaal.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n\"Anurag A still from Monkey in a Cage.\n

Kashyap calls the film “a coming-of-age story of a man-child”, who does not realise his mistake till almost the end. The choice of Deol as the protagonist is deliberate. \u201cBobby understands what it is to be a loser. He once told me that at the age of five he knew he would be a star and he became one. One day, his stardom faded away. When he was 40, someone suggested that he needed to learn acting. Though he is a sensitive human being, the characters he plays in the web series Ashram and the 2023 film, Animal, are very different,\u201d Kashyap says.<\/span><\/p>\n

While he \u201cattempts to go back\u201d to his cinematic roots with Nishaanchi, Monkey in a Cage may be more personal<\/a>. \u201cI have gone through judgement myself. No one asked me: \u2018Are you unwell?\u2019 Or, \u2018Are you going through depression?\u2019 Instead, I faced criticism that as a filmmaker I\u2019ve lost my mojo,\u201d he says and adds that he has been judged for posting in favour of Sandeep Reddy Vanga\u2019s last movie Animal. Recently, he called out Vijay Subramaniam for his AI-generated movie Chiranjeevi Hanuman: The Eternal. \u201cI react because the industry does not come together. Subramaniam represents artistes, musicians and actors. When that person does an AI film, he should first quit his job.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While the second part of Nishaanchi is \u201cshot and locked\u201d, Monkey in a Cage will take a while to be released. Does Kashyap anticipate censor trouble since the film has some disturbing scenes and language? \u201cI want the audience to be uncomfortable. I will fight if there are any censorship issues but I won\u2019t be able to sanitise the film.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Gangs of Wasseypur director questions a culture that cancels and is judgmental and why he won\u2019t sanitise the 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