Anurag Kashyap is the man of the moment. His much-awaited Gangs of Wasseypur ( GOW ) received a rousing welcome in Cannes, and was the opening movie at the London Indian Film Festival (LIFF) on June 20. Shreshtha Trivedi caught up with him at BAFTA for a quick chat:

Twenty-five songs, over five hours long, set in nondescript Wasseypur, without a big star cast barring Manoj Bajpai ... and this film – out of all of yours’ and your contemporaries’ – goes global! First, the rousing reception at Cannes, and now, the world premiere at the London Indian Film Festival. Ironic?

I needed this to happen. I always argued with the studio bosses, with every film I was pitching, that movies which changed the entire scene were the ones without stars – ones which were risky. Our country needs a film like that. I'm lucky it's happening to me. We struggled a lot with finances during the making of this film. I hope GOW makes pots of money so that it gives us a lot of freedom to do stuff we want to do.

You're releasing the film in India in two parts. In this age of instant gratification, don't you fear the move might backfire?

No, I don't think so. If you're telling a good and interesting story, people will go and watch it. If people can wait year after year to see Harry Potter after having read the books, which were infinitely better, then why wouldn't they come to watch GOW ?

The soundtrack of GOW is all the rage, but it's the lyrics that have captured popular imagination. 'Womaniya', 'nervous-ana' and 'emosanal atyachar' have entered the contemporary lexicon. How did that come about?

When I hear my dad speak in English, it's very funny. And when I speak in English, Kalki (Koechlin, his wife, and an actor) always makes fun of me. So I thought, the way the world looks at the English of the North Indians, let's make music like that. The first time Sneha (music director of GOW ) said ‘ womaniya ,’ I was like ‘wow!’. It's all about listening to your gut instinct. Now the entire country is reacting like that.

You don't just depict sex; the characters in your films talk sex – dirty, rough, graphic sex. There is no sugar coating, it's not slick. Is this to shock and awe, to jolt the Indian viewers?

Indian viewers are shocked by anything that is ‘adult’...it's the ‘hawww!’ mentality. But I'm not thinking about the Indian viewers when I'm making my movie; I just want to make an honest film. It's the freshness, the genuineness, which will attract them – it doesn't matter what's the subject, treatment, or the milieu.

Why 25 songs, and why Sneha Khanwalkar as the music director?

I actually wanted 28! When I started the movie, I knew it would be long, I knew it would have music but I didn't know what it would look like. It took us three years to come up with the music. And Sneha has done a brilliant job. She is a very talented, bohemian girl. When composing, she starts dancing – she can't sit still! She went to Trinidad and Tobago, and used some of the singers there. The melody is steeped in Indian folk, but the words are a mixture of English and Bhojpuri.

Do people still confuse you with your namesake, director Anurag Basu (of Gangster , and Life in a Metro )?

All the time. I've once given an interview as Anurag Basu and how I made Gangster . And they published it with my photo ! In fact, I sometimes confuse people by identifying myself as Abhinav Kashyap (his brother, who directed the blockbuster Dabangg ) by telling them I made Dabangg , I get away with a lot of stuff.

Oh, come on!

No, I'm serious. Abhinav and I do look similar, so even Googling doesn't help! Though they do comment: Haan thoda chehra mota lag raha hai .

Gangs of Wasseypurhas been passed by the Censor Board in India without any cuts, despite the violence and graphic language. Why can't the same rules be applied toPaanch ?

The people at the Censor Board are not the same as they were 12 years ago. People at the helm now are much more liberal, intelligent and aware. Lots of things have changed. And I don't know when it'll be released. It's owned by the producer, it's in his hands. I can't do anything.

Will you ever make a proper song-and-dance Bollywood potboiler?

I don't know about that, but my films will always have music. I can't do without it. But I'll do it my way – figuring out ways so that it doesn't come in the way of storytelling.

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