The secret is out: How Anurag Kashyap 'saved lakhs' in making Raman Raghav 2.0

In a recent interview, Anurag Kashyap had said, “When you don’t have money to build a set, the whole city is your set.” Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Kashyap's go-to actor for pivotal roles, has now revealed that what the filmmaker actually does in such situations can be described as guerrilla filmmaking. Siddiqui said the director is ready to go to any lengths to achieve this, even if it means putting the lives of his actors at risk.

During one of the sequences in their film Raman Raghav 2.0, which is scheduled to be released next week, Kashyap made Siddiqui shoot in the restricted areas of Mumbai airport without anyone’s knowledge. This was a huge risk as security personnel with sniper rifles keep a watch for any mischief and are ready to shoot suspects at sight.

Recalling this, Siddiqui said during a chat with Cinestaan.com, “Anurag is talented in guerrilla filmmaking. He shoots at public places but people don’t even realise a film was shot near them [laughs]. We completed the shoot in 21 days. If we had taken permission to shoot at some locations, we would have had to spend lakhs! We had taken permission for the film but not on all locations.” 

Siddiqui believes this is the reason why Raman Raghav 2.0, also starring Vicky Kaushal and Sobhita Dhulipala, appears like a big-budget film. “This film appears big because of this. You won’t feel as if it is made on a very low budget because of the locations we have used and that too without paying money [laughs].”