Bollywood filmmaker and actor Anurag Kashyap stated that the decision that Netflix made was impacted by the goals that the company had in the market at the time. 

Anurag Kashyap, a filmmaker, recently said that the Malayalam actress Manju Warrier and the Tamil actress Nayanthara were among the first contenders for the character of RAW agent Kusum Devi Yadav in the Netflix original series Sacred Games.  

Amruta Subhash, who had previously portrayed the character in the second season of the critically acclaimed series, was finally chosen by the streaming giant as the actor to reprise the role.  While participating in a roundtable discussion with the Press Trust of India (PTI), Kashyap, who is currently serving as the Hindi presenter for Warrier's 2024 Malayalam film Footage, provided some insights on the casting process for Sacred Games. 

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He recalled, “We were trying to get her (Warrier) for Amruta Subhash’s role… Different language actor… We were auditioning for Sacred Games. We gave them (Netflix) three options. We gave them an option of her, Nayanthara, and one more person."

Kashyap explained that Netflix’s decision was influenced by its market priorities at the time. “At that time, Netflix didn’t have an India office. So, everything was going to the US. And at that time, OTTs were not really looking at South films. They were not looking at the South market. They wanted an actress to be picked up from where their market is. It was limited to Maharashtra or anywhere. Their choices are always based on algorithms where they are getting subscribers," he said.

Manju Warrier has recently approached Kashyap for comments on Footage, which she intends to release in the Hindi market. Even though Nayanthara did not make it to Sacred Games, both Manju Warrier and Nayanthara have continued to succeed in their own businesses. 

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“Manju and I, we go (way) back… We first met in 2011-2013… We have common friends between us, Geetu Mohandas and Rajeev Ravi (Moothon director and cinematographer, respectively). And we (Warrier and Kashyap) share the same birthday," he added.

For a long time, Anurag Kashyap has been a fan of Malayalam cinema, and he has regularly worked together with performers and filmmakers from the industry.