Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has launched a sharp critique against Netflix and its co-CEO Ted Sarandos, accusing the platform of lacking a genuine understanding of Indian audiences and storytelling. In a strongly worded statement, Kashyap alleged that the streaming giant continues to rely blindly on inputs from its Indian office and delivers subpar content that fails to reflect the tastes and expectations of viewers in the country.
“The Netflix CEO has no grasp of Indian narratives or creativity. They keep serving repetitive and inferior content because they don’t understand what Indian viewers want. Instead, they blindly trust whatever the India team says. What we’re getting on OTT is often repurposed content similar to what we see on television, but we’re being charged for it. There’s more focus on subscriptions than on delivering meaningful content,” Kashyap said.
He also noted that globally successful titles like Squid Game, Adulthood, and Black Warrant were not Netflix Originals but acquired content, while well-received Indian series such as Kohrra and Trial by Fire were not promoted adequately by the platform. Kashyap, who has previously criticised Netflix on similar grounds, pointed out that Indian OTT content was once fresh and innovative but has since declined in quality. The filmmaker further remarked that viewers now prefer Korean dramas over local offerings on the platform.
Apart from his work as a director, Kashyap has acted in recent films like Maharaja and Viduthalai Part 2. He is currently working on a Telugu film titled Dacoit.
