Ted Sarandos hinted that ‘Sacred Games’, although critically acclaimed, wasn’t exactly the “populist” choice the platform perhaps needed to gain mass appeal.
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Anurag Kashyap is not one to hold back, especially when it comes to defending the legacy of ‘Sacred Games’, India’s first Netflix original that shook up the streaming landscape back in 2018.
Now, the filmmaker has taken a direct shot at Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, after the executive suggested that launching the platform’s India journey with ‘Sacred Games’ may not have been the smartest move.
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In a recent conversation on a podcast hosted by Nikhil Kamath, Sarandos reflected on Netflix’s early strategy in India. He hinted that ‘Sacred Games’, although critically acclaimed, wasn’t exactly the “populist” choice the platform perhaps needed to gain mass appeal.
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The implication? That the gritty, complex, and layered crime drama wasn’t mainstream enough to hook Indian audiences at the time.
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Anurag Kashyap, co-creator and director of ‘Sacred Games’ along with Vikramaditya Motwane, didn’t take the comment lightly. He responded with a scathing Instagram post, calling Sarandos’ take “dumb” and sarcastically suggesting that the platform should’ve just gone with a typical “saas-bahu” serial instead, a clear dig at formulaic Indian television.
“He should have started with ‘Saas Bahu’… he would have done well. Which he is doing now,” Kashyap wrote. “I always knew tech guys are dumb when it comes to storytelling, but @tedsarandos is the definition of dumb, that I didn’t know. Good to discover that. This explains everything now.”
‘Sacred Games’ starred Saif Ali Khan as police officer Sartaj Singh and Nawazuddin Siddiqui as gangster Ganesh Gaitonde. It was a milestone for Indian OTT content.
Based on Vikram Chandra’s novel, the show combined politics, religion, crime, and mythology. It was a heady mix that appealed to critics and global audiences.
The show’s success paved the way for more experimental and boundary-pushing content on streaming platforms in India. Despite a more uneven second season and the series not being renewed further, ‘Sacred Games’ remains a cultural landmark.
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