Anurag Kashyap and Shubhra Shetty Open Up: Age Gap, Parental Approval, and Life Beyond Bollywood
Mumbai, India – Renowned filmmaker Anurag Kashyap and his partner Shubhra Shetty have candidly shared intimate details of their relationship, offering a rare glimpse into their life together, the complexities of their 20-year age difference, and how their romance blossomed. In a recent conversation with Janice Sequeira, the couple delved into everything from parental reactions to their unconventional first date and the eventual public revelation of their relationship.
Parental Approval and a "Bakra" Nickname
Despite the significant age gap, Shubhra Shetty revealed that her parents readily accepted her relationship with Anurag Kashyap. Far from needing convincing, her parents chose to meet the filmmaker themselves and formed their own independent opinion.
"My mom calls him a bakra (goat), because she said he is stupid enough to be with you," Shubhra quipped, highlighting her mother’s playful yet affectionate assessment of Anurag. "She thinks he is like a henpecked husband. My parents did a very good job. I didn’t convince them. They met him."
Shubhra recalled meeting Anurag during what she describes as "one of the best phases of his life," following the completion of his film Bombay Velvet and prior to its release. "He was in a very good phase. He was very fit, happy, reading books, and watching films. So, we bonded over all those things," she explained, suggesting a strong intellectual and personal connection from the outset. Anurag himself reportedly acknowledged this "golden window," telling Shubhra that had they met earlier, their relationship might not have transpired.
Navigating Romance in the Workplace
Before becoming Anurag’s partner, Shubhra Shetty worked as an assistant director at Phantom Films, the production company co-founded by Kashyap. This professional proximity presented unique challenges for their burgeoning romance.
"If you are dating someone within the office and you are the boss, everybody’s behaviour changes. Everything goes haywire," Shubhra admitted. However, she lauded the supportive environment at Phantom Films. "The office was really sweet, they were supportive and nice. We were transparent and open. He never did come to the office. He was a boss at the office, but he wasn’t my boss."
Interestingly, Shubhra initially harbored a fan’s admiration for Vikramaditya Motwane, another co-founder of Phantom Films, and confessed to never having watched an Anurag Kashyap film before their paths crossed professionally. Her initial impression of Anurag was one of eccentric amusement. "When he came to the office for the first time, I had only heard that he was a crazy person, a dark filmmaker. He was going to Paris, in a jacket and fancy glasses. He looked so funny. He was the most unserious person ever," she chuckled, recalling their first interaction where he famously asked, "What’s there for lunch?"
Anurag’s Self-Consciousness and an Unconventional First Date
Anurag Kashyap openly admitted to being "very self-conscious of the age difference" initially. He confessed to having a crush on Shubhra, which she was initially unaware of. His efforts to pursue her included deliberately avoiding the office when she wasn’t present and devising a strategy to ask her out.
Their first date, however, was far from traditional. "So, our first date was my friends and his 13-year-old daughter, who he was chasing around," Shubhra revealed, highlighting the immediate integration of his family life into their courtship.
The First "I Love You" and a Journalist’s Scoop
When it came to expressing deeper feelings, Shubhra confirmed that Anurag was the first to openly declare his love. "This is where the generation difference kicks in. He jumped in and told me that he was in love with me," she stated. Anurag, aware of their age gap, reportedly made it clear that he had no expectations from Shubhra, recognizing that she was still in her twenties and had much life ahead of her. He, however, was resolute in his feelings.
Despite their desire for privacy, their relationship eventually became public knowledge. Shubhra recounted how, after intentionally keeping a low profile, a journalist inadvertently exposed their romance. "One nosy aunty, a boy, came looking for a scoop and actually found it. The scoop decided they didn’t want to be the scoop, so they outed us," she shared, acknowledging the irony of their efforts to maintain secrecy.
A Change of Scenery and a Renewed Perspective
Anurag also shared a heartwarming anecdote about Shubhra’s visit to his ancestral village in Uttar Pradesh, where she embraced the rural experience like a curious tourist. "She was clicking pictures of women of the village, sowing the seeds. She was visiting the village like a tourist. The place where food is actually made on a chulha. They were all so happy that he actually came to a family gathering," he recalled.
More recently, the couple made the significant decision to relocate from Mumbai. Shubhra left the city around 2018-2019, with Anurag following last year. This move, it appears, has been transformative for the filmmaker. "It was her condition to come here. I resisted because I thought I was working and it will get sorted. But, eventually I realised that it wouldn’t," Anurag explained. "I came here last year, and since then, my depression is gone. I realised that I should have done this a long time back."
Prior to his relationship with Shubhra Shetty, Anurag Kashyap was married twice. He was first married to editor Aarti Bajaj, with whom he shares a daughter, Aaliyah Kashyap, before their divorce in 2009. He later married actress Kalki Koechlin in 2011, a marriage that ended in divorce after four years in 2015.
