Anurag Basu

"The First time I ever went onto a film set, was when I was directing the film." -Anurag Basu

This self made man has never believed in short cuts. But yet his luck, talent and sheer hard work made him what he is today. He is a dream director for every upcoming actor and producer who believes in telling stories to the masses.

Anurag began his career directing the cult TV shows, Tara and Koshish Ek Asha when he was a mere twenty or so. He then proceeded to make a film, Kuchh To Hai with Tellydom's queen Bee, Ekta Kapoor. On the telly front, he tried his hand at all possible genres, ranging from thrillers (Saturday Suspense), to Horror (X Zone), to of course daily soaps.

"I started with television. I've directed hundreds of episodes of Kyunkii Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi, made a feature film Kucch To Hai , for Ekta Kapoor , and then moved on to do films like Gangster. But I never lost my links with the home medium. In fact while directing Gangster I also directed the TV series Love Story", muses Anurag. He is a man who loves his job be it films or television. He says this is something that he can never come over.

It was Basu's passion for direction that led him to drop out midway of a five year engineering course in order to get a degree from FTII, the degree however did not materialize. Reason: Kumar told him to get in-the-field training, rather than join some course - a decision he does not regret.

His film career took off when he first directed Saya for the Bhatt-camp in 2003, starring John Abraham and Tara Sharma. The film did not go down too well but he created a buzz in Bollywood and went on to create history by giving Malika Sherawat and Emraan Hashmi a dream debut in Murder. He carried on to be a successful filmmaker, directing blockbusters like Gangster and Life in a Metro.

He is a Director with no film school degree and no Gurus, the only guru he ever believed in is his father who is a hardcore theatre man and had absolutely no connection with films. According to Anurag, Gateway is a great platform to present to the world, directors with a new and fresh vision. Says Anurag, "These directors do not come from a family of filmmakers, nor have they been working with an established director for years, all they know is that they love films and that they are capable of creating good cinema. As a director, one should always have a fresh perspective, a unique style and a different story to tell."