Anurag Kashyap has never been one to mince words, and his latest remarks have sparked a fresh debate in the entertainment industry. The director accused Netflix of forcing filmmakers to compromise on their storytelling. He also criticised the platform for snatching shows like CID, The Great Indian Kapil Show and Crime Patrol from television and charging a premium fee for content that audiences once watched for free.
"Our worst experiences have been with Netflix. Isko cast karo, aise kahaani bolo, ye saari cheezein, aise mein I stepped back (Cast them, tell the story this way, all these things). Not just me, but lots of filmmakers have stepped away. Baki toh jo hain so hain (Rest of them are there). Hotstar is not pretending to be elite. It is massy, it was always massy. MXPlayer is free. Baki log ha ya na karte hain (Others say yes or no)," Anurag Kashyap said in a conversation with Komal Nahta on his podcast, Game Changers.
"Yaha pe aapko subscription ke liye itna paisa chahiye, and then ek point pe massy banane ke liye Kapil Sharma, Crime Patrol, aur CID apne platform pe le aaye. Mere perspective se woh saari audience ko free available thi. Apne audience se chheeni he unko available nahi kiya hain! Ab bol rahe ho paise leke aao, and nahi jaa rahe log. Nahi dekhenge. Aapne unse cheen liya. Aap massy game khelna chahte ho at a premium cost (Here you need a subscription amount, and then after a point they take The Kapil Sharma Show, Crime Patrol, and CID on their platform. That was available to the audience for free. Now they are demanding money to watch it, and people are not coming. They won't watch. They have taken it away from the audience. They want to play a massy game at a premium cost)," he added.
Anurag Kashyap has previously collaborated with Netflix on projects like Sacred Games and the anthologies Lust Stories and Ghost Stories. His recent release, Nishaanchi, will make its OTT debut on Prime Video on November 14.
