'When the UK team first saw Adolescence's script...': Netflix CCO on Anurag Kashyap's ‘morally corrupt’ comment
Talking about Netflix India’s variety, Bela said the platform offers different kinds of shows for different audiences, citing The Ba*ds of Bollywood, Black Warrant, and The Great Indian Kapil Show.
- Sep 25, 2025,
- Updated Sep 25, 2025 7:08 PM IST
Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria recently pushed back against filmmaker Anurag Kashyap’s criticism of Netflix India, insisting that the platform’s choices are driven by quality writing and the need to cater to a vast and diverse subscriber base.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter India after the release of the British series Adolescence, Bela described Kashyap as “very talented” but rejected his claim that Netflix India would never have approved such a show.
“When the UK team first saw the script for Adolescence, it was immediately clear how strong it was. It was an incredible piece of writing, and any leader anywhere in the world, including India, would recognize it as a show worth greenlighting,” she said.
Bela stressed that the platform does not chase a “narrow demographic” but instead serves a wide range of paying customers. “We also know that in India, there are many Indias in India. People have lots of different tastes and we don’t judge them from a very specific point of view. ‘Oh, we like this very specific thing because we might live in a big metropolitan city or we don’t like this’,” she explained.
Citing examples, she pointed to the platform’s variety with shows like The Ba**ds of Bollywood, Black Warrant, and The Great Indian Kapil Show.
Her comments came after Kashyap took a dig at Netflix India on Instagram.
Reacting to Adolescence, he wrote, “I am numb and envious and jealous that someone can go and make that. Netflix.in is a totally opposite s**tshow. If they were pitched this, most probably they would have rejected it or turned it into a 90-minute film… because it doesn’t have an ending that is black and white.” Addressing Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and Bela herself, he accused the company of hypocrisy and focusing only on subscriptions in the Indian market.
After Sacred Games, Anurag was also in talks with Netflix India to adapt Maximum City, but that project was eventually shelved.
Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria recently pushed back against filmmaker Anurag Kashyap’s criticism of Netflix India, insisting that the platform’s choices are driven by quality writing and the need to cater to a vast and diverse subscriber base.
Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter India after the release of the British series Adolescence, Bela described Kashyap as “very talented” but rejected his claim that Netflix India would never have approved such a show.
“When the UK team first saw the script for Adolescence, it was immediately clear how strong it was. It was an incredible piece of writing, and any leader anywhere in the world, including India, would recognize it as a show worth greenlighting,” she said.
Bela stressed that the platform does not chase a “narrow demographic” but instead serves a wide range of paying customers. “We also know that in India, there are many Indias in India. People have lots of different tastes and we don’t judge them from a very specific point of view. ‘Oh, we like this very specific thing because we might live in a big metropolitan city or we don’t like this’,” she explained.
Citing examples, she pointed to the platform’s variety with shows like The Ba**ds of Bollywood, Black Warrant, and The Great Indian Kapil Show.
Her comments came after Kashyap took a dig at Netflix India on Instagram.
Reacting to Adolescence, he wrote, “I am numb and envious and jealous that someone can go and make that. Netflix.in is a totally opposite s**tshow. If they were pitched this, most probably they would have rejected it or turned it into a 90-minute film… because it doesn’t have an ending that is black and white.” Addressing Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and Bela herself, he accused the company of hypocrisy and focusing only on subscriptions in the Indian market.
After Sacred Games, Anurag was also in talks with Netflix India to adapt Maximum City, but that project was eventually shelved.