Anurag Kashyap says Netflix ghosted him after he sent a 900-page script: ‘Ted Sarandos doesn't understand India'

Hindustan Times

11-07-2025

Director and screenwriter Anurag Kashyap has opened up about being frustrated with Netflix and why he chose to cut off from the producers and team associated with the platform. In an interview with The Juggernaut, Anurag shared that he spent a year and half of his life in writing a 900-page script for a series with Netflix, which went nowhere as he was 'ghosted' by them. Anurag Kashyap lashed out at Netflix and slammed Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos in a new interview.
What Anurag said about Netflix
During the interaction, Anurag opened up about his adaptation on Suketu Mehta's Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found, and said, "I have done the adaptation, but it's stuck. I have been with the book for 21 years. The scripts are done but the project is kind of stalled. I am desperately want to bring it to life. This was the reason why I imploded when it didn't happen. There's a reason why I fell sick and everything happened to me. I had invested over one and a half year in Maximum City. I hand write my scripts. I handwrote 900 pages. So when you put so much effort in a project and for other it's just a matter of… like you can't evaluate that in money. Somebody just to save their jobs put it aside and ghosts you… it breaks you.'
'They are doing exactly what bad television was doing to India.'
He went on to add, "I challenged those people to write 10 pages by hand. It was total emotional investment. Till date, Netflix doesn't understand what makes me so angry about them. Somebody's one and half years of work where you write with your hand was disregarded. It was supposed to be a Netflix project, and they ghosted me. They didn't even dare to walk to me and tell that 'we are having a problem. Can we solve it?' or even 'We are not doing it.' They didn't have the courage. I don't know if they can bring it back. There's a whole policy. I don't understand it. I have cut myself off from the producers and everybody else because I don't know what the producer did on it… I started the debate because they don't understand India. They do the same kind of s***ty stuff. I wrote about Ted Sarandos, he does not understand India. What India office tells them, they believe that bulls**t. They are doing exactly what bad television was doing to India. And they are charging money for it. They don't understand why they are losing value in the country.'
Recently, Anurag was one of the executive producers for the debutant director Karan Tejpal's Stolen. Anurag's last directorial Kennedy is yet to get a release date in India. As an actor he was recently seen in Rifle Club and Viduthalai Part 2.