Anurag Kashyap says Netflix lacked 'courage', shelved Maximum City without warning

Filmmaker Anurag Kashyap has publicly voiced his frustration over his shelved Netflix project, an ambitious series based on Suketu Mehta’s Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found. In a recent interview with The Juggernaut, Kashyap spoke candidly about how the streaming giant's silence after months of intense collaboration left him emotionally and physically depleted.

Kashyap revealed that he had handwritten over 900 pages for the project, spending nearly one and a half years on the adaptation. “I’ve been with this book for 21 years. The scripts are done but the project is stalled. I desperately want to bring it to life. That’s why I imploded when it didn’t happen. There’s a reason I fell sick and everything happened to me,” he shared.

The filmmaker described the experience as one of the most draining chapters of his professional life. According to him, the Netflix India team ghosted him after initially commissioning the project. “When you put so much effort into something and someone ghosts you just to save their job, it breaks you,” he said.

Kashyap didn’t hold back when critiquing the platform's India operations. He questioned the creative judgement at play and accused the team of lacking basic decency and communication. “I challenged those people to write even 10 pages by hand. What I gave was not just work, it was an emotional investment. And they didn’t even have the courage to walk up and tell me they’re not doing it.”

Taking his criticism further, Kashyap called out Netflix’s global leadership. “Ted Sarandos doesn’t understand India. They believe whatever the India office tells them, and that’s the problem. They’re making the same mistakes as bad television in the country—only they’re charging more for it.”

Kashyap’s remarks have reignited conversations about the creative direction and decision-making at major streaming platforms. His claims highlight the recurring tension between Indian creators and global streamers over content curation, audience insight, and respect for storytelling effort.

With the Maximum City series currently in limbo and no formal response from Netflix, the fallout from this high-profile creative clash is likely to continue making headlines.