Anurag Kashyap is a prolific filmmaker, but how good is he as an actor? Kashyap's long-time friend and collaborator Gulshan Devaiah, who is also now his co-star on the Disney Plus Hotstar series Bad Cop, said the filmmaker understands the "craft" of acting well thanks to his early theatre days but since his career doesn't depend on it, he may not be "very interested" in it. On Bad Cop, Devaiah features in a double role while Kashyap plays a gangster. Devaiah had worked with Kashyap in his directorial That Girl in Yellow Boots and starred in his productions, Shaitan and Hunterrr. In an interview with Indianexpress.com, Devaiah spoke about the filmmaker's acting talent, describing him as a "pretty good" actor. Gulshan Devaiah said, "He is not very interested in it, but he understands the craft because he has done quite a bit of theatre before. You can see that he has the requisite knowledge. But he is not really interested in acting. "I feel if he really starts thinking as an actor and starts taking interest in acting, then he can do far better. But it is just my opinion. Whether he should do it or not is his choice, we would really like him to keep making wonderful films, that's what even he would really want." Devaiah was joined by his Bad Cop co-stars actor Harleen Sethi and Animal actor Saurabh Sachdeva, who also echoed a similar sentiment. While Sethi said Kashyap has "no inhibitions on screen and that helps him as a performer", Sachdeva, who is also an acting coach, said his command over filmmaking is "far, far better." As an actor, Anurag Kashyap has featured in films like Sonakshi Sinha starrer Akira, AK vs AK, Leo among others. "He thinks like a director more than an actor. He also gets annoyed as an actor, that all I do is wait in the vanity van but in direction my mind is thinking about everything. That's what he is, he is constantly thinking about something and every (department) but as an actor, you are mostly waiting in the vanity and that can be difficult for people like him. Those who want to do something, create something, watch or read something, they get restless," Sachdeva said. Reacting to it, Devaiah added, "He doesn't want a career as an actor, it is something he enjoys doing with people (he knows). Recently while we were promoting, we talked about this. He used to endlessly whine, 'Oh everyone wants me to act.' I am like, 'Don't sit in the middle of actors and whine about how you are getting all these acting jobs! Chup raho! Chup chaap kaam karo aur dafa ho jao,'" Devaiah said and laughed. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Disney+ Hotstar (@disneyplushotstar) Gulshan Devaiah then recalled the first time he met Anurag Kashyap at a private screening of his unreleased film Paanch. "He used to organise these screenings and get people to watch his film. He had told Kalki to call all her friends. So, all of us who were friends with Kalki had gone to see the film. Of course I knew a lot about him but that was the first time I saw him, I had pretty much watched everything that had come of him. I thought he is cute but full of himself! And it is true also," he laughed. Produced by Fremantle India and directed by Aditya Datt, the Rensil D’Silva penned series is a reimagination of the original German drama of the same name. Bad Cop also stars Aishwarya Sushmita.
