Anurag Kashyap recalls big directors calling Ranveer Singh ‘treadmill’, reveals why Ranbir Kapoor replaced him in Bombay Velvet

In an industry driven by glamour and grand expectations, sometimes even the most celebrated filmmakers make mistakes that turn out to be a lesson for them. One such story is that of a famous filmmaker who found himself losing creative control amid big budgets and external pressures. Kashyap, known for his powerful narratives like Black Friday and Gangs of Wasseypur, recently revealed how his film Bombay Velvet, which was supposed to redefine period cinema, ended up being one of his biggest professional regrets.

In an interview, Kashyap opened up about the behind-the-scenes struggles, casting changes, and lessons learned from his most talked-about failure.

Bombay Velvet, which featured an ensemble star cast like Ranbir Kapoor, Anushka Sharma, and Karan Johar. However, despite the stellar cast, the film turned out to be one of his biggest box-office failures. Kashyap attributed this downfall to the movie’s excessive budget of Rs 90 crore, which, he said, caused him to lose creative and narrative control.

He said, “The original budget was quite low. But as soon as the studio entered, I got surrounded by ambition. The budget went from Rs 28 crore to Rs 90 crore. Then, to justify that, I had to erect a set. The recce I did across Mumbai, keeping the Rs 28 crore budget in mind, went out of the window. Suddenly, we went from rickshaws to Mercedes to go to the set. Suddenly, a resort was made in Sri Lanka near the set.”

Learning From Mistakes

Kashyap confessed that despite the chaos, he still believes that the money spent on a film should reflect on the screen. “I still believe money should be spent on the film. Whatever amount you’ve spent, three times of that should reflect on the screen,” he said.

Anurag also revealed that he delayed Bombay Velvet by nearly eighteen months to reassess the big budget. During that period, he made the smaller-scale film Ugly (2013). To navigate challenges, he even took advice from Aditya Chopra and Karan Johar, who advised him, “They told me you’ve gone mad. They said just try it out, and do it with a big actor.”

Why was Ranveer Singh replaced by Ranbir Kapoor?

Kashyap revealed that instead of Ranbir Kapoor, it was Ranveer Singh who was the first choice for the lead. “Mere paas chota ek naya actor tha, uska naam tha Ranveer Singh, uspe kisi ka faith nahi tha. Usko bade directors treadmill bulaate the… kyuki usme energy itna jyada he. So Ranveer se Ranbir tak pahunchne me mujhe ek saal lag gaye mentally, emotionally. Toh mujhe laga main galat hoon and ey baat poori industry ne bola ki jo ye sab decisions he sab sahi he (I had a small and new actor that time who was Ranveer Singh. But no one had faith in him, and big directors used to call him a treadmill because he had so much energy. So the shift from Ranveer to Ranbir took me 1 year. I thought I was wrong after the whole industry said that these were the correct choices that were made for me)”, he shared.

According to him, the industry’s perception influenced the change.

Reflecting on his early filmmaking days, the director said his approach used to be very guerrilla-style. Talking about Black Friday (2004), he said, “All you need to make a film is a camera. I kept it in the car or kept it hidden, then I didn’t need any permissions. The whole city was my set.”

Anurag Kashyap on Filmmaking

Sharing his perspective on filmmaking, he said, “My thing is I want freedom to make my kind of film. Because I don’t follow trends or don’t make films to cater. So, if I know I’m making a new kind of film, then I need to control my budget to increase my freedom. And I’ve learnt this from filmmakers overseas. It’s not an India(BHARAT)n problem; it’s universal.”