Censor Board has been kindest to Raman Raghav: Anurag Kashyap

Anurag Kashyap who has had a few bad run-ins with the censor board couldn’t be happier with the way the board has received his latest film Raman Raghav 2.0. “Censor Board has been the kindest to this film. They actually liked it. For me, there are many things in the film that I want them to stay intact. I would not be satisfied with a single cut. I’d do whatever it takes to avoid even a single cut,” he said.

Raman Raghav 2.0 stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui as a serial killer while Vicky Kaushal will play the role of a troubled cop. The film, slated to release on June 24, is inspired by Raman Raghav, also known as Psycho Raman, a psychopathic serial killer who terrorised the streets of Mumbai in the mid-1960s.

Kashyap said he was not trying to glorify criminals through the film, adding it is merely “inspired” from Raman Raghav and not based on him.

“We are not glorifying anyone. You’ll understand it better if you watch the film. It is a fictionalised thriller where we have woven a story around the things we usually ignore. It is inspired from a character who was around in the 1960s, but the film is based in today’s times. It’s difficult to make a film inspired by a real life character because you are treading a very dangerous line—it’s ten times more difficult.”

At the trailer launch of the film, the director once again addressed the debacle of Bombay Velvet. He said, “When a film fails, it is 100 per cent the director’s fault. If Bombay Velvet didn’t work, it is entirely my fault. The director is the only one who has the power to say ‘no’. A lot of the places where I should’ve taken a stand, I didn’t. So the mistake is mine. When a film is good, it’s everybody’s contribution.”

He continued, “What happens is, when you are making a film, you start it out and midway the process kind of changes. You forget why you wanted to make the film in the first place. A lot of the times we need to put our foot down and say ‘no, this doesn’t go with the film’. We give in to a lot of pressure, we go on a back foot. And that is the biggest mistake. However big a bowler is, (Virat) Kohli (cricketer) has to go in front and play. When you go backwards you hit the wicket.”