Anurag Kashyap is known as someone who has tried to bring a different kind of cinema to the Indian audience. Over the years, Anurag’s films have created headlines for their unique subjects, and some of them remain a topic of discussion for various reasons. While his films have managed to leave an impression on critics, the response has never converted to good box office results, and the reasons remain unknown until today.
Anurag Kashyap’s hits and flops present one of the most unusual career graphs in Indian cinema, while Anurag Kashyap’s filmography continues to be studied for its artistic ambition and experimentation.
Anurag Kashyap’s latest film, Bandar, has had a similar fate at the box office to his previous movies. Despite receiving praise for the performances and the subject, the film did not perform well as expected. While the underwhelming performance of Bandar has once again brought him into the limelight, let’s have a look at the director’s filmography since the beginning.
Despite limited commercial success, Anurag Kashyap’s filmography has played a major role in shaping modern independent cinema, and Anurag Kashyap’s hits and flops reveal the constant gap between critical acclaim and box office performance.
1) Black Friday (2004)
While Anurag Kashyap’s Paanch failed to make it to the big screen due to censorship issues, he took a good start with Black Friday. It focused on a controversial subject, which was based on the 1993 Bombay blasts. The movie tried to bring an honest picture of what led to the incident, followed by its investigation. It faced a few hurdles before release. But it eventually did not work as expected.
Verdict: Disaster
2) No Smoking (2007)
Considered to be one of the most underrated films of Anurag Kashyap, No Smoking brought a completely different side of direction from Anurag. It followed the life of a common man who is rich. But he must leave his smoking habits to ensure that his marriage survives. However, the decision lands him in another kind of trouble from which he might not escape so easily. While critics did not like the film in the beginning, it slowly became a cult classic.
Verdict: Disaster
3) Return of Hanuman (2007)
Anurag Kashyap directing an animated film is something that no one can expect. But it happened. While it was not a direct follow-up to Hanuman, Return of Hanuman aimed to send a message related to environmental pollution. All of this was done in the midst of Hanuman’s birth as a normal human being on Earth. While the kid tries to live a normal life, he ends up entering a battle with an evil gang and facing the demons in the end, who enter Earth to recover something that they have lost.
Verdict: Disaster
4) Dev.D (2009)
Anurag Kashyap once again attempted to make a different kind of cinema. He adapted the classic Devdas into a modern world story. The characters here were Dev, Paro, and Chanda. The film’s soundtrack grabbed a lot of attention for featuring 18 songs, and it was even nominated for a few awards. The novel concept surprisingly helped the film to survive at the box office for some time, as it recovered the budget to some extent.
Verdict: Semi Hit
5) Gulaal (2009)
Anurag Kashyap decided to explore the world of politics with Gulaal. The themes were similar to what we have seen in other films in the past. But the presentation was new. A student unexpectedly becomes a victim of a gang, following which he enters politics, aiming to take revenge on all those who did wrong to him. Despite positive reviews, the lack of promotions and buzz prevented the film from working at the box office.
Verdict: Flop
6) That Girl in Yellow Boots (2010)
Anurag Kashyap never depended on star power. The Girl in Yellow Boots was another example to prove the same. Featuring Kalki Koechlin in the lead role, the movie focused on a girl who arrives in India to find her father, who had separated from her a long time ago. However, the search won’t be so easy for her as troubles are waiting on her way. During a period where people were enjoying masala entertainers featuring big names in the lead, the thriller failed to attract audiences to the big screen.
Verdict: Disaster
7) Gangs of Wasseypur (2012)
Anurag Kashyap had possibly never expected that Gangs of Wasseypur would turn out to be meme material one day. He ensured to add the best of the best veterans to the cast, including Manoj Bajpayee, Piyush Mishra, Pankaj Tripathi, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and many others. The first part was based on the coal mafia of Dhanbad, and it focused on the politics and other themes that were a part of the same. The movie gained recognition for its authenticity and was a recipient of multiple awards and nominations.
Verdict: Below Average
8) Gangs of Wasseypur 2 (2012)
Released within a gap of only a month, people who did not see the first part were confused as to why a sequel arrived so soon. However, they learned that the original cut crossed the mark of 300 minutes, and it was eventually split into two different films. While the first entry covered the story between 1941 and 1990s, the sequel continued from 1990s, focusing on everything that happened until 2009. Compared to the first one, this failed to attract audiences.
Verdict: Average
By this stage, Anurag Kashyap’s hits and flops had already established a familiar pattern, with critically acclaimed films struggling commercially despite strengthening Anurag Kashyap’s filmography.
9) Ugly (2013)
The best thing about Anurag Kashyap is that he can present a simple story in a new form, keeping it engaging at the same time. Ugly once again proved his best skills as a director. The plot was simple, where an actor’s daughter goes missing. A certain section of the audience believes that it was the unpredictable and depressing ending that led to the failure of the film at the box office, even though it featured the best performances from all the actors.
Verdict: Flop
10) Bombay Velvet (2015)
Ranbir Kapoor has always been considered someone who can play any kind of role. Anurag Kashyap undoubtedly brought a new side of the actor on screen with Bombay Velvet. It focused on the life of a normal guy who always dreams big. While he gets an opportunity to fulfil his dreams, it brings troubles for him at the same time. The film’s release time was considered to be wrong as Gabbar is Back and Piku were doing well at the box office. Eventually, Anurag’s film was completely ignored by the audience, making it hard to recover the reported heavy investment of Rs. 120 crores.
Verdict: Disaster
11) Raman Raghav 2.0 (2016)
After Bombay Velvet disappointed the audience, Anurag decided to go back to the genre where he is an expert. Taking inspiration from the real-life case of Raman Raghav, he created a story that featured the chase between a police officer and the serial killer. Anurag took a lot of precautions while making the film, including that he decided to set the storyline in a contemporary period. However, nothing worked in favour of the film as it went completely unnoticed.
Verdict: Flop
12) Mukkabaaz (2017)
Compared to Raman Raghav 2.0, Mukkabaaz was a fictional story. However, Anurag attempted not to repeat any mistakes that he made in his previous movies. He even selected underrated actors such as Vineet Kumar Singh, Ravi Kishan, Zoya Hussain, and Jimmy Shergill to leave an impression. The story was about a boxer who develops feelings for the niece of a person with whom he is already having a lot of trouble. Despite being praised for its action, the movie did not work at the box office.
Verdict: Flop
13) Manmarziyaan (2018)
Manmarziyaan was considered to be a big shift for Anurag Kashyap compared to his previous films. This one was not violent or inspired by a real-life incident. Instead, this was a love story. Featuring Abhishek Bachchan, Vicky Kaushal, Taapsee Pannu, and many others in the lead, the film was an effort from Anurag to bring a new love story. It was about two individuals whose romance came out in front of their parents, leading to unexpected consequences. Although it had a fresh concept, it failed to draw crowds to the big screen.
Verdict: Flop
14) Dobaaraa (2022)
When his original efforts did not work as expected, Anurag Kashyap opted to do a remake of a Spanish film. Producers invested almost Rs. 30 crores on Dobaaraa, which had Taapsee Pannu in the lead role. The movie turned out to be another example that proved that Bollywood did not learn a lesson from its failures. Following the pandemic, random subjects were not working among the Hindi audiences anymore, and Dobaaraa turned out to be one of those films.
Verdict: Disaster
15) Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat (2023)
Indian cinema used to be different many years ago. The sudden debut of any actor worked at the box office because people were not addicted to social media and had a habit of visiting theatres. But the situation has changed now. Promotions are important, and this is something that Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat completely ignored. Featuring an unknown face like Karan Mehta, people were not even aware that the film had arrived on the big screen. The collections were reported to be Rs. 25 lakhs.
Verdict: Disaster
16) Nishaanchi (2025)
The trailer of Nishaanchi was impressive. It took audiences back to the period of Gangs of Wasseypur. It took people back to the time when Anurag’s films used to attract in some manner. The trailer even raised hopes that a magic was expected to happen. However, the result was worse than what was expected. The long runtime and confusing events in the film were hard for the audience to follow. The situation was so bad at the box office that the sequel, planned for a theatrical release, was brought directly to Amazon Prime Video.
Verdict: Disaster
17) Bandar (2026)
Featuring Bobby Deol in the lead role, Bandar was in discussion before it arrived in theatres. The main reason was that it impressed a lot of people at the film festival. On the other hand, there was a demand for Bobby after Animal, and people already saw him playing negative roles in two Telugu films and one Tamil film. Unfortunately, the movie faced competition for screens from two other big films. Although the occupancy was much better, it did not turn out as big box office success in the end.
Verdict: Disaster
Anurag Kashyap has clearly not given up. It looks like the success of his work on OTT, including the iconic Sacred Games, has inspired him to stay as active as possible. It seems like the guy does not care about box office numbers and all that matters to him is appreciation.
A closer look at Anurag Kashyap’s hits and flops suggests that artistic recognition has often taken precedence over commercial success, even as Anurag Kashyap’s filmography continues to influence filmmakers across generations.
Let’s see if he can deliver something for the box office with his next film.
