TV Review – Sacred Games – Phantom Films2 min read

After investing in the Indian soap opera demographic, Netflix has come up with another original crime drama in early July based on Vikram Chandra’s award-winning novel – Sacred Games.

At the helm of production is arguabley two of Bollywood’s best filmmakers in the present day, Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane.

After entertaining us with films such as Gangs of Wasseypur, Black Friday, Trapped and Udta Punjab, the duo have taken to the small screen to give us eight episodes of pure gold.

The series stars fan favourite Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte and Saif Ali Khan in one of his best roles to date.

Sacred Games finally breaks the lock of stereotypes associated with Indian series being overdramatised and at times ridiculous.

The story follows a Mumbai police officer who has his life turned around after an anonymous phone call warns him about a catastrophic event that will effect the city in a matter of 25 days.

We follow Khan and Siddiqui as they go back and forth in the past and present to gradually reveal the event that will lead to great loss.

Ganesh Gaitonde (Nawazuddin) does a great job in narrating the important parts of his life which lead to the turning point of the story.

While we as the audience follow Sartaj Singh (Saif) in an intense battle to figure out the truth to try and save Mumbai.

The camera work as always is beautiful in Kashyap’s pieces as well as the accompanying background score which really compliments the scenarios our characters face.

Contextually there is a lot of real life Social, Religious and Political backdrop that has stirred controversy for Sacred Games but fit perfectly to tell us the story.

Spanning over three decades, the Netflix series shows a lot of promise and has introduced a new demographic to the Indian crime genre.

With a tense cliffhanger ending at the end of episode eight, we can’t wait for season two of this series.

 

Photo by Parth Vyas on Unsplash