I had to compromise: Kashyap on 'Ugly'

Anurag Kashyap, who lost the battle against an anti-tobacco disclaimer in all the scenes in his film "Ugly", says he has not given up on the issue, but admits he had to compromise.

Kashyap had challenged the rules under the Cigarettes and Tobacco Products Act, which makes it compulsory for filmmakers to crop or mask any scenes depicting ads of tobacco or its products. But the Bombay High Court refused to grant any interim relief to the filmmaker.

After fighting a battle for over a year, Kashyap is now set to release "Ugly", which is coming out on Dec 26.

"I am not giving up on the issue, but I had to compromise," said Kashyap about his much awaited directorial venture "Ugly".

Featuring Rahul Bhatt, Ronit Roy, Girish Kulkarni, Siddhanth Kapoor, Tejaswini Kolhapure among others, the film is a psychological thriller. "Ugly" was screened at film festivals and those who have seen the film can't stop raving about it.

"I didn't want the film to suffer. What happened to my film 'Paanch', I didn't want the same thing to happen to the film. I want to release the film for my actors who have given their time, but it is not that I will be quiet and give up.

"It was not such a big issue. They should focus on other things and not just on disclaimer," said Kashyap.

"Ugly" will come out a week after Aamir Khan's "PK".

When asked whether "PK" would affect the box office collections of "Ugly", he said: " 'PK' is going to be an advantage for us. The audience will watch 'PK' three to four times then they will watch my film, as the concept is different. I don't think because of the film we would have any loss.

"We would not have that many screens as 'PK', but we will try and book as many screens as possible."