More than a decade later, Bombay Velvet continues to follow Anurag Kashyap — not as a forgotten experiment, but as a film many still blame for a turning point in his career. The filmmaker recently opened up about how the 2015 period drama, especially his collaboration with Karan Johar, became a long-running narrative around his so-called “downfall.”
A film that changed the conversation
Bombay Velvet was easily one of Kashyap’s most ambitious projects. Backed by a massive budget, headlined by Ranbir Kapoor and Anushka Sharma, and mounted on a sprawling retro canvas, the film was designed to be a landmark. Instead, it collapsed at the box office, earning just ₹43 crore worldwide against a reported ₹100 crore budget.
Over time, the failure grew into something bigger than numbers — it turned into a label.
“People thought I had sold out”
In a recent interview, Kashyap reflected on the backlash surrounding his decision to cast Karan Johar as the film’s antagonist. He explained that audiences had long viewed him and Johar as polar opposites — representatives of two very different schools of Hindi cinema.
According to Kashyap, many longtime followers felt disappointed, believing he had compromised his filmmaking identity by working with a mainstream star system and involving Johar. That perception, he said, became the story — one that refuses to fade even today.
The myth of a handshake
Kashyap shared that people still tell him his career declined because he “shook hands” with Karan Johar. His response now is simple confusion. For him, it was just a creative collaboration — two filmmakers coming together for a project — not a betrayal of ideology or craft.
Yet, that assumption stuck, shaping how Bombay Velvet is remembered in popular discourse far more than its ideas or ambition.
A unique acting turn for Karan Johar
Interestingly, Bombay Velvet remains Karan Johar’s only full-length acting role. Since then, he has limited himself to brief cameos while returning to direction with commercially successful films like Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Rocky Aur Rani Kii Prem Kahaani.
Kashyap after Bombay Velvet
Post-2015, Kashyap continued to make films that found strong critical appreciation, including Manmarziyaan, Kennedy, and Nishaanchi. While box office success has remained inconsistent, his voice as a filmmaker has never disappeared — only evolved.
Final words
Bombay Velvet may have failed commercially, but its shadow over Anurag Kashyap’s career arguably says more about how the industry views collaborations than about the film itself. For Kashyap, the irony remains clear: one film, one collaboration, and a narrative that still refuses to let go.
