'Besharam' director Abhinav Kashyap was a 'hooligan' in college

'Besharam director Abhinav Kashyap reveals his past life in a jolly good fashion when in 1989 he gave up St Stephens for Hansraj college where his elder brother, Anurag Kashayap, was studying. He recollects that he was part of Hansraj college illegal residents association, when he used to stay with his brother during the summer vacations.


He says that he gave up my Maths (Hons) in St Stephen's to study English (Hons) at Hansraj College because Anurag had studied here and I knew the college. Many people told me 'Tu toh Maths mein accha hai, English padhke kya professor banega'. But after he took up English (Hons), it was Dr Sanjay Kumar (his professor) because of whom he had my first exposure to philosophy and mentorship. He used to teach existentialism and he would always attend his classes.

Abhinav reveals that he was ragged for six months more than others. `Hamaare yahaan woh pratha thi ki freshers' party tak ragging hoti thi.` That was the year the Mandal Commission protests started, so their fresher's party got delayed to December. His ragging began in June, even before he had taken admission, and went on till December. I was ragged for six months, but I enjoyed it.

Abhinav says that Delhi University was politically charged at that time and he even stood for the college union's presidential elections. He lost by 10 votes. `Mera agenda tha pyaar baant te chalna. Us time budget nahi hota tha toh logon ko pushp nahi baant paaya tha. Pushp ke bina ladkiyan vote nahi karti. Us saal hostel ke votes divide ho gaye thae kyunki baaki candidates bhi hostel se hi thae` he remembers.
The director tells that he was a rich student as he took part in functions getting sponsorships, and besides that he was a sperm donor at Gauri Hospital. When asked whether he owed any money to the canteen owner Anthony, Abhinav said, "Maine kisi ke paise nahi khaaye. I was quite a resourceful guy. I would get the college T-shirts, sweatshirts made and would get sponsorships for college fests. So that ways, I would earn my commission in a legal way. Main to rahisi se rehta tha, mere kamre mein cooler tha. Mere paas bike thi. In fact, I used to do part-time jobs. I was a sperm donor at Gauri Hospital. I might be having some six-seven kids in Delhi` he admitted.

When asked about the most besharam thing he had done, Abhinav said, 'Teachers will get embarrassed hearing this. But I'd advise students not to do this. In the final year, I had only 13% attendance and I wasn't getting the examination ticket. We locked up the principal inside his room. At that time, there was no AC and it was quite hot inside. Unke room ke bahar hartal ki thi aur shor kiya tha, uske baad permission mili thi exam mein baithne ki`.