Filmmaker and actor Anurag Kashyap has revealed that being repeatedly offered similar roles pushed him to deliberately step away from acting for a period of time. Speaking candidly about the pressures of typecasting in the Indian film industry, the Gangs of Wasseypur director says he refused to be trapped in one version of himself, on screen or off it.
Why did Anurag Kashyap take a break from acting?
In an interview with the HT City, 53-year-old filmmaker-actor Anurag Kashyap, who recently made his Telugu debut in ‘Dacoit’ alongside Adivi Sesh and Mrunal Thakur, said that he began noticing a familiar and frustrating pattern in the roles being sent his way. “People tend to see you in a certain way, and you keep getting similar roles,” Kashyap said, noting that the offers gradually began to feel like “different versions of the same character.“
Anurag Kashyap talks about not getting challenging roles
For Kashyap, the issue was never about the quality of the roles on offer; it was about the lack of creative stretch. “It’s not about whether those roles are good or bad, but that they don’t challenge you anymore,” he explained. This made him consciously say no to projects coming his way.Rather than continue accepting work out of habit or visibility, Kashyap decided to choose to pause. “I didn’t want to keep doing something just because it was coming to me. There has to be a reason beyond just being visible,” he said.
Anurag Kashyap reveals why he came back to acting
Kashyap’s return to acting was guided by a desire for roles that genuinely challenged him and broke away from the mold audiences had come to associate with him. Reflecting on his journey in the industry, he offered a broader perspective on survival and reinvention: “In my journey, I’ve seen all kinds of waves… Nothing is permanent, not trends, not perceptions. Every Friday is new. And maybe that’s why you have to keep reinventing yourself as well, because if you don’t, you just get stuck in one version of yourself.“
More about ‘Dacoit’
Directed by Shaneil Deo, ‘Dacoit: A Love Story’ stars Adivi Sesh and Mrunal Thakur in the lead roles. It also features Anurag Kashyap, Prakash Raj, Sunil, Zayn Marie Khan, and Atul Kulkarni in supporting roles. It was released in theaters on April 10, 2026.
