Anurag Kashyap ADMITS Bombay Velvet’s failure was traumatic: “Opening on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday was more important than the film itself”

November 4, 2025 - 6:14 PM IST

Acclaimed filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has candidly described the making and aftermath of his 2015 passion project Bombay Velvet as “the worst experience” of his professional life. In a recent interview with journalist Komal Nahta, Kashyap revealed that the film’s box-office debacle was not only traumatic on a personal level but also led to dramatic changes in his approach to filmmaking, with budgets plummeting from Rs 90 crores to just Rs 3.5 crores for his next project.

Anurag Kashyap ADMITS Bombay Velvet’s failure was traumatic: “Opening on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday was more important than the film itself”

Bombay Velvet, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, and Karan Johar, was envisioned as a grand, retro-noir homage to 1960s Bombay based on Gyan Prakash’s ‘Mumbai Fables’. Despite its ambitious scale and star cast, the film was panned for its storytelling and became one of Bollywood’s biggest financial failures.

The filmmaker recalled, “I understood my audience, and then I started working backwards. I asked the production house, ‘How much money will you give me if I don’t tell you what is the script, and I don’t tell you who I will cast in the film, but you feel that I will recover the money.’ This was 2016 post-Bombay Velvet. They gave me Rs 3.5 crores. After Rs 90 crores, I went straight to Rs 3.5 crores because I didn’t want to get trapped.”

He further added, “Many of my filmmaker friends and even my brother… so when you make a big film and that didn’t work you get trapped. After that, you keep trying to prove one point your whole life — about trying to make a hit big film.”

During the conversation, Anurag was also asked to name the film in which he felt let down by the producer, Anurag candidly said, “Bombay Velvet is the biggest example. Everyone was scared. They found the film’s length very long, they wanted me to cut the childhood story of the lead actors. They wanted me to do all of these things because the film’s cost was a lot more. The opening on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday was more important than the film itself, which is why I got nervous even before the release of the film. I had to cut the film. If I would have retained those 25 minutes, it would have been a better film and maybe it would not have seen this much loss.”

He continued, “If I could have owned this failure, this film wouldn’t have been a trauma for me. It became a trauma for me.” When asked if it was the worst experience in his 32-year career, Anurag replied, “Yes, in the post-production stage, not the shooting. I went on the back foot. This was the first time I saw so much negativity in my life.”

Speaking of the professional front, Anurag was last making headlines for his directorial venture, Nishaanchi.

Also Read: Anurag Kashyap reveals, “Bombay Velvet’s budget jumped from Rs. 28 cr to Rs. 90 cr; was not able to process it. I called up Karan Johar, Aditya Chopra…”; also adds, “Ranveer Singh was first choice. Directors called him ‘treadmill’ as he has a lot of energy!”