Anurag Kashyap says Netflix backed out of producing Maximum City, ‘policy changes’ post-Tandav caused Paatal Lok 2 to be stalled

Asked if he had an update about the project, Anurag said in Hindi, “It’s written, but we’re figuring out the next steps. Netflix was supposed to do it earlier, but they aren’t doing it any more. The project had been green-lit, but a lot has changed since then on streaming. Lots of projects have stalled, like Paatal Lok season two…” All of this, the filmmaker said, happened after Tandav was released in early 2021, and attracted controversy over one scene. Multiple police complaints were filed against creator Ali Abbas Zafar and stars of the show, leading Prime Video to make changes to the scene in question.

Anurag continued, “There have been leadership changes and policy changes at streaming companies. There was a show called Gormint which never came out. A lot has changed, and we’ve suffered because of it, on health and otherwise.”

Anurag made his streaming debut with Netflix’s Sacred Games, which he co-directed alongside Vikramaditya Motwane and Neeraj Ghaywan. He also directed the film Choked: Paisa Bolta Hai for Netflix. In a recent appearance on Mashable India’s The Bombay Journey YouTube series, the filmmaker revealed that Sacred Games was supposed to get a third season, but Netflix didn’t move ahead with it. He said in Hindi, “A season three was supposed to come out, but they shut it down, Netflix would know why.”

Anurag’s most recent film is Almost Pyaar with DJ Mohabbat, which was released in theatres last week to mixed reviews.