Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has reacted to the statements made by Pankaj Jha about him recently. Pankaj had called the director spineless in a conversation. He said that he did not keep his word. He was cast for the role of Sultan Qureshi in ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, which was later played by Pankaj Tripathi. These days Pankaj Jha is in the news for his brilliant performance as MLA in the new season of Panchayat.
Pankaj Jha
Pankaj Jha had claimed that when Anurag Kashyap approached him for a role in ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’, he was shooting in Patna. The actor claimed that he had told Anurag that he was in the middle of shooting, and would return in a day or two. But later he came to know that Pankaj Tripathi had already been cast in his place. Now Anurag Kashyap has spoken about this.
Anurag Kashyap
Anurag Kashyap said, ‘When he was shooting for his 2010 film ‘The Girl in Yellow Boots’, Jha had gone to the Osho retreat in Pune. He said, ‘We were on a tight budget and could not wait for him. We made the film in a very different situation and budget. Now he must be thinking after 20 years that he could have become Pankaj Tripathi.’ Pankaj Jha had taken a dig at Kashyap in a conversation. He had said, ‘There are so many timid and spineless people here that they cannot even put their point across.’ He further said, later I came to know that the director himself was in bad condition, he was not getting any work and he was working on 36 different projects on this project.’
Pankaj Jha
He clarified the matter and said that his statement was misrepresented. The actor claimed that he has not even taken the name of any Tripathi in any of his interviews so far. Pankaj Jha said, ‘You can listen to all my interviews. You will know that I have not taken anyone’s name. This is very childish. Why would I say all this to anyone? The media always wants masala. I never said anything like this, they just made it up.’