Anurag Kashyap slams Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos over ‘Sacred Games’ remarks-OxBig News Network

Anurag Kashyap
| Photo Credit: MURALI KUMAR K

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has lashed out at Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, calling him “the definition of dumb” after Sarandos suggested the streaming platform may have made a misstep by launching in India with Sacred Games.

Speaking on Nikhil Kamath’s podcast, Sarandos reflected on Netflix’s entry into the Indian market, saying that the decision to lead with Sacred Games, its first Indian original, may have been too ambitious. “For me, if I did it all over again, would I have done Sacred Games a couple of years later, and did things that were more populist (instead)? Maybe,” Sarandos said, adding that Netflix was trying to find the right product-market fit in a “unique and complex” country.

That comment didn’t sit well with Kashyap, who co-directed the show with Vikramaditya Motwane. Taking to social media, Kashyap fired back: “I always knew the tech guys are dumb when it comes to storytelling but @tedsarandos is the definition of dumb is what I didn’t know. Good to discover that.”

Doubling down, he quipped, “He should have started with Saas Bahu… he would have done well,” mocking Netflix’s recent collaboration with TV czarina Ektaa Kapoor, best known for her formulaic family dramas.

Sacred Games, based on Vikram Chandra’s novel, was released in 2018 and quickly gained attention for its gritty, cinematic quality. The neo-noir thriller starred Saif Ali Khan as Sartaj Singh, a troubled Mumbai cop, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui as the gangster Ganesh Gaitonde.

Despite Sarandos’ hindsight regret, Sacred Games is often credited with putting Indian content on the global streaming map. The show’s ensemble cast also included Radhika Apte, Pankaj Tripathi, and Kalki Koechlin, among others.