Anurag Kashyap compares streaming platforms to East India Company

Well-known Bollywood filmmaker Anurag Kashyap, whose film Kennedy premiered at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival, has equated streaming platforms to East India Company.

In a conversation with Forbes India, the filmmaker said, "All the streamers are like that. They come in, they are your best friends, then they are the colonisers and then they start ruling you."

He further added that independent cinema is in a "very bad and confused place" right now, because of the lockdown.

“Independent cinema, right now, is in a very bad and confused place, because of the lockdown. Streaming kind of became the space for Indian cinema, but during the lockdown, even mainstream cinema started going streaming. So, streamers also prefer that over a lot of independent cinema. Now, you have to grab attention to survive."

He added, "It’s like every business. They come in and they are your best friend. They are like the East India Company. All the streamers are like that. They come in, they are your best friends, then they are the colonisers and then they start ruling you."

Kashyap also did not rule out the possibility of theatres shutting business. "Slowly, you will see what will happen. They will shut down theatres because theatres are enemies," he said.

Interestingly, Kashyap has worked a lot with streaming platforms over the years. He partnered with Netflix for the streamer’s first Indian original series, Sacred Games. In 2020, his film Choked was also released on the streaming platform, followed by anthologies – Lust Stories and Ghost Stories.