In 2004, when Suketu Mehta launched his book Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found, filmmaker Anurag Kashyap was desperate to bring it to life. He spent nearly two years on the project, handwriting a 900-page script. Anurag envisioned it as a three-part, nine-hour series intended for Netflix. However, his hopes were crushed when the OTT platform abruptly cut off communication without offering any explanation
In a recent interview, Anurag Kashyap shared his pain and frustration with the streaming platform. He told The Juggernaut, “I was working with Suketu and I was researching the book, and I have been wanting to do it ever since 2004. I have adapted it. 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.”
He added, “It was an 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 have the courage 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.”
Anurag Kashyap claimed that he hasn’t received any email from the streaming platform. When asked if the project can be brought back to production, a disappointed Anurag shared, “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. My emotional investment was just a simple decision without even reading it, or feedback or notes. That has been my biggest heartbreak in life.”
‘All good shows on Netflix are acquired’
Ever since the incident, Anurag Kashyap has been quite vocal about his frustration against Netflix. Sharing the reason behind it, Anurag said, “I started the debate because they don’t understand India. They do the same kind of shitty stuff. What India office tells them, they believe that bullshit. They are doing exactly what bad television was doing to India. And they are charging money for it. They are not understanding why they are losing value in the country. What makes me angry is they pat their own back for the show that they didn’t have the courage to produce. They acquired it. All good shows on Netflix are acquired.”
The filmmaker further shared, “Squid Game was acquired, but when they produced it, you saw the result. The second season. Adolescence, Black Warrant, and all the good shows are acquired. What they don’t believe in is the only thing that works. They won’t promote shows like Kohhra, Trial by Fire. And these are the shows that actually work for them. They are so driven by algorithm. They are only interested in subscriptions.”
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Anurag Kashyap lastly shared that Netflix doesn’t know how to handle things. “They panic. Most of the people there are only trying to save their jobs. Nobody is interested in the quality of cinema or storytelling.”
