Anurag had 2 heart attacks during THIS time

Following the controversy involving Saif Ali Khan and

Mohd Zeeshan Ayyub

in the web series ‘

Tandav

,’ numerous filmmakers found themselves compelled to either put certain projects on hold or make revisions to their scripts. This response was driven by the need to avoid facing similar public criticism and

backlash

.
This also included

Anurag Kashyap

who had to stop making his adaptation of

Suketu Mehta

’s ‘

Maximum City

‘ after a streaming giant backed out of the project.

Talking about its impact, Kashyap told The Washington Post that it was his best work and he has never done such honest and important work. Anurag added that the

OTT

backing out of ‘Maximum City’ after the Tandav backlash is a form of “invisible censorship”. He said that while the OTT giant did not give him any specific reason, he thought that either the script was too sensitive for the country’s political climate or they didn’t want to associate themselves with Anurag back then.

Elaborating further, Kashyap added that ‘Maximum City’ was where all his energy went. He was heartbroken. Anurag added that after the film got shelved, he went into deep depression and took to drinking alcohol. He also revealed that he suffered two heart attacks during this period. He believed that streaming was finally the space he was waiting for. According to him, the disappointment is that it was supposed to be a revolution, but it was not. Like social media, it was supposed to empower people, but it became a tool.

In another interview with The Lallantop, the filmmaker shared that the film was written, but they are still figuring out the next steps. According to him, the project had been green-lit, but a lot has changed since then on streaming. Lots of projects have stalled, like Paatal Lok season two and others.

‘Maximum City’ is a non-fiction novel that depicts four perspectives on how people live in Mumbai. The book is also a Pulitzer Prize finalist.