Ekta Kapoor slams Anurag Kashyap for mocking her 'saas-bahu' shows in Netflix debate

Dubai: Indian television mogul Ekta Kapoor just clapped back with full sass after Anurag Kashyap took a cheeky swipe at her legacy—those melodramatic, mascara-heavy saas-bahu [mother-in-law vs daughters-in-law] soaps that ruled Indian TV in the early 2000s.

The drama reportedly began when Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos admitted—on a podcast, no less—that launching Netflix India with Kashyap’s 2018 crime thriller Sacred Games might not have been the smartest move. According to Sarandos, they could’ve gone with something “more populist” (read: more Tulsi, less Sartaj Singh). Kashyap, never one to hold back, went full firestarter mode, posting:

“He should have started with Saas Bahu… which he is doing now. I always knew tech guys are dumb when it comes to storytelling, but @tedsarandos is the definition of dumb.”

Cut to Kapoor responding like any queen would—without naming names but fully naming vibes:

“Ur so dumb… saying this put u on an advantage ‘I’m smarter cooler’ but naaaa! Darling how about gracious!!! N self aware??? An art a lot of artists don’t have,” she fired back on Instagram Stories.

She even pulled out academic receipts, referencing a Chicago study that credited her soaps with helping Indian women find their voice.

Kapoor also threw in a subtle jab about artists who “preach inclusivity” but practice elitism.

But before you go thinking Kashyap’s just in a trolling mood, let’s rewind to my recent interview with him for Rifle Club, where he’s busy turning villainy into an art form—literally in his boxers.

In the boldest move of his career, Kashyap makes his Malayalam acting debut in Aashiq Abu’s wild, gun-blazing satire Rifle Club.

He plays a morally bankrupt arms dealer who shows up in tiger-print shirts, American flag boxers, and enough gold chains to rival Bappi Lahiri. It’s unhinged, hilarious, and brilliant—and yes, his potbelly is a statement, not an accident.

“I was told, ‘We’ll take revenge on you by putting your pot belly on full display.’ And they did! People have six-packs; I had a family pack. But it was liberating,” Kashyap told me with a laugh.

In one scene, his character—coked-up, broken, and terrifyingly ambitious—tells his son, “I’ll give you your first kill. But wait till I get there.” The power play, the manipulation, the toxic parenting? Shakespearean, but with more guns and less iambic pentameter.

The best part? Kashyap landed the role after sliding into Aashiq Abu’s DMs:

“I saw the poster and wrote, ‘Do you want a Hindi-speaking actor?’ That’s how it started,” he revealed.

He didn’t even hear the full script. “I just knew with Aashiq and Syam [Pushkaran], something good would come out of it.”

And good it was. Kashyap's performance is raw, messy, and magnetic—nothing like Bollywood’s slick, sanitised villains. In fact, he’s done with all that gloss.

“Vanity doesn’t exist in Malayalam cinema. Here, it’s all about character. Hindi cinema could never make a Rifle Club. They’d rather remake it with a six-pack hero and call it a day,” he said.

But the fire doesn’t stop at Bollywood’s doors. Kashyap also critiqued the industry’s obsession with box office numbers, formulaic plots, and the star system that isolates actors from their crews.

“Everything is about crores and mass appeal. Originals don’t get greenlit unless they have a reference point.”

Compare that to the camaraderie he felt on Rifle Club: “No entourages, no egos. Everyone’s in it for the story.”

In fact, he’s even considering moving to Kochi, where he says he’s found his creative tribe. “Kochi feels like a place where I can truly write,” he said, adding that he’s felt emotionally unmoored since his daughter’s wedding. “The house felt empty. I was in bed with anxiety. Rifle Club pulled me out of that.”

So yes, he’s trolling Netflix and taking potshots at populism, but it’s also coming from a place of creative frustration—and maybe even a little heartbreak.

Whether or not Ekta’s soaps are your cup of filter coffee, the real drama here isn’t just saas versus sass—it’s about who gets to decide what populist looks like in India’s evolving content ecosystem.

And honestly? We’re here for the tea, the talent, and the tiger-print boxers.