Known for his unconventional cinema, Anurag Kashyap was one of the first filmmakers to explore the world of OTT with Netflix India’s first original web-series Sacred Games starring Saif Ali Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. The filmmaker recently discussed the evolution of the platform wherein he asserted that the medium has undergone extensive changes and is on the verge of turning into TV. He explained that it is being controlled by algorithm which is preventing many creators from exploring and experimenting with their content.
In an interaction with Radio Nasha, Anurag Kashyap told, “I think we are past the golden time of OTT. Now OTT is starting to turn into TV. Long-format storytelling has always had potential but now it is not dictated by quality, it is dictated by algorithm. And that’s where the problem is.” He compared it with TV and added, “TRPs started deciding what kind of television should be made. When shows were being on Doordarshan, they had a certain quality. Until the time they need new subscribers, they will experiment with new things. When they have exhausted that, then it turns into TV. This is a cycle.”
Further, mentioning that he has been here for around 32 years, Anurag continued, “Now the same multiplexes will play the same film on four screens. They are not supporting the films they were initially doing. When the studios came in, they were also making new kind of films, but then they also started catering to the same formula.”
He opened up about the time he created Sacred Games with Vikramaditya Motwane and said, “Me and Vikram made the first Netflix India show and that kind of a sensibility and support, we will not get anymore. Because that sensibility has changed. People who have no experience in filmmaking are now running the department of shows. And they have come from television. So their sensibility is television. Any creative person will tell you that when you are dealing with them, sometimes it’s like hitting your head against a wall.”
“I don’t think that the kind of long format I want to make, I will get to make it. And they are also scared. Maximum City is one of the examples. An approved green lit show, that got dropped with no official communication. They only want to do what their algorithm dictates,” he concluded.
Meanwhile, currently, Anurag Kashyap will be seen as a grey character in the upcoming Disney+ Hotstar web-series Bad Cop featuring Gulshan Devaiah in a dual role along with an ensemble cast.
Also Read: EXCLUSIVE: Gulshan Devaiah on working with Anurag Kashyap on Bad Cop: “We spent a lot of time talking about many things, which, in a career of 13 years, I never had the opportunity to do”
