Anurag Kashyap is back in his comfort zone. The director behind “Gangs of Wasseypur” and “Dev.D” has created another typical North Indian tale with “Nishanchi” on Amazon MGM Studios India, but this time they’re swapping gangsters for a family drama.
Set for a theatrical release on September 19th, “Nishanchi” stars newcomer Aishbury Thackeray in a dynamic dual role as twin brothers Babru and Dabru.
“‘Wassepur’ was like a gangster movie about a very stupid and very low IQ gang,” Kassyap tells Variety. “And this is a film about family. About her mother, her two sons, falling in love with one girl, Kanpur and Lucknow.”
This project took a long time for Kashyap, who wrote the script while working on “Mukkabaaz” in 2016. Originally devised as a simple story about two brothers who fell for the same girl, the story evolved into something more complicated.
“I was looking for a real-life sibling,” Kassiap recalls of the casting process. The solution came through serendipity when Kashyap discovered Thackeray through a YouTube video introducing monologues of actors from various films, including the real Bihar set works of Manoj Bajpayee’s “Shool”. After that, he had four years of commitment from his debutant.
“He gave me four years of his life. 2020 was when I met him and 2024 was when we went into filming,” Kashyap points out. “He and Vedica went to Kanpur with one of my co-writers, Ranjan (Chandel). They invited Kanpur to them so that they could not be seen by Kanpur.”
The technical challenge of performing dual roles has led to an innovative approach to shooting. Director of Cinematography Sylvester Fonseca first shot a longer-haired, bearded version of one brother, and suggested that he return for the second character after Thackeray physically transforms two months later.
The film’s soundtrack, featuring the contributions of Dhruv Ghanekar and Anurag Saikia, has become another collaborative element. “I kept meeting them, I shared the script with them, and they started putting out songs themselves,” says Kassyaup.
The casting of Monica Panwar as the family head has proven particularly important. Her characters range from 20 to 50 years old. This is a challenge Kashyap came closer by casting younger and aging rather than the other way around. “It’s easy to make older people older than 20. It’s more cost-effective,” he explains practically.
The Amazon MGM Studios Partnership occurred through a random encounter on a flight in Melbourne. Kashuyap pitched the script to senior executives halfway through. “I think this film was green light by the time the flight landed,” he recalls.
For Kashyap, the film represents both homecoming and evolution. This is your chance to revisit the local storytelling that established his reputation while exploring the intimate dynamics of family relationships.
“It’s very North India. North India is within me,” the film director regrets. “When I make a film in North India… I feel like I’m hitting half pitch.”
