The chronicler of Uttar Pradesh’s akhara politics and the man who introduced most of us to Dhanbad’s coal mafia sprawl now lives a writerly life in the heart of Bengaluru’s Central Business District. You may spot him nibbling on Burmese small plates at cocktail bar Dali & Gala or catching the late-night show of a film at the PVR on Brigade Road. One autowallah he often encounters insists on giving him a ride, even when the Gangs of Wasseypur filmmaker says he prefers to walk. His Versova duplex days, with young Bollywood filmmakers, hungry writers, fans hanging on to their mentor’s every word, eagerly absorbing all he has to give, staying over, wanting more, are on pause for now. One friend described that house as a “throughfare”.
He says “Mumbai depresses me”; in Bengaluru he feels happy and is able to focus on his mental health. These days Anurag Kashyap is praising Malayali filmmaker Chidambaram’s Balan: The Boy (2026) and urging anyone he meets to watch Pallaburusu (2026), a slice-of-life family-son Telugu comedy where a toothbrush takes on epic proportions. Not just the unofficial ambassador, today he’s also a prolific character actor and talent scout for the Malayalam, Telugu, Tamil, and Kannada industries—you could call him the new hype man of south Indian cinema.
