Anurag Kashyap slams ‘dishonest, morally corrupt’ Netflix India as he praises Adolescence: ‘It frustrates me that…’

Anurag Kashyap blasts Netflix India

Anurag Kashyap on Wednesday said he binge watched British crime drama Adolescence on Netflix and feels “numb, envious and jealous” that someone could make that. The filmmaker said a show like Adolescence, which has received universal acclaim and glowing reviews from Kashyap’s seniors and colleagues like Shekhar Kapur, Hansal Mehta, and Sudhir Mishra, is not possible to pull off without a great team and determination.

The show, with each of its four episodes shot in single take, centres around a 13-year-old schoolboy Jamie Miller who is arrested for the murder of a classmate. “Just binge watched Adolescence. I am numb and envious and jealous that someone can go and make that. The performances from the Child actor Owen Cooper and Stephen Graham, who is not just playing the father but is also the co creator of the show,” Kashyap wrote in an Instagram post praising the cast and crew of the show.

He then explained that he had a “grouse” with Netflix India. “Now coming to my envy and jealousy. Ted Sarandos recently put a post where he says – ‘Every once and awhile one comes along that pushes into brand new territories, defies the limits of creativity and features career defining performances.’ And I hope he means it. Because his Netflix.in is a totally opposite s**tshow. If they were pitched this, most probably they would have rejected it or turned it into a 90 minute film (that too seems like an impossibility because it doesn’t have an ending that is black and white”, he added.

Kashyap, who showrun the streamer’s first India original series Sacred Games, shared his experience with Netflix after the two-part show ended. “Having gone through twice with them post Sacred Games and dealing with total lack of empathy, courage and dumbness mixed with immense insecurity of the series head and the team that keeps getting fired. It frustrates me. How do we ever create something so powerful and honest with a bunch of most dishonest and morally corrupt @netflix.in backed so strongly by the boss in LA.”

The director then claimed that Sarandos and Bela Bajaria’s only interest “is an increase in subscriptions and nothing else”. Bajaria is the Chief Content Officer of Netflix. Giving the example of critically-acclaimed shows such as Delhi Crime, Black Warrant, Kohrra, and Trial By Fire, Kashyap said either they were acquired or the streamer did not believe in them enough.