Anurag Kashyap Slams Netflix CEO As "Definition Of Dumb"

The Indian filmmaker and actor Anurag Kashyap lashed out at Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos as "the definition of dumb" over his recent comments on the Indian series "Sacred Games". The neo-noir crime thriller, directed by Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane, is Netflix's first original Indian series.

During his recent visit to India, Sarandos remarked on Netflix's early Indian content strategy on the launch of Indian series like "Sacred Games" in Nikhil Kamath’s podcast “People by WTF." Speaking about the series, he stated that if he “did it all over again,” he might have “done ‘Sacred Games’ a couple of years later and did some things that were a little more populist programming. Maybe. But we knew that India was going to be a slower journey to get to where we want to get to, but that it’s a great prize at the end of the day.”

Reacting sharply on social media, Kashyap mocked Sarandos: "He should have started with ‘Saas Bahu’ .. he would have done well. Which he is doing now. I always knew the tech guys are dumb when it comes to story telling but @tedsarandos is the definition of dumb is what I didn’t know. Good to discover that. This explains everything now.” The term "Saas Bahu" referred to Netflix India's recent collaboration with Ekta Kapoor’s Balaji Telefilms, known for early 2000s daily soaps like Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi introduced to Indian television. However, Kapoor responded to Kashyap's remarks, calling them "classist", and accused him of unfairly dismissing Indian family dramas and daily soaps.