Okay, so there are two ways to watch Netflix’s latest
show Sacred Games. Grab the farthest chair from someone who’s seen the Netflix
giant Narcos, while you haven’t for whatever reason. And if you HAVE seen
Narcos, spare yourself some comparative analysis because either way, Sacred
Games has ushered a new era of storytelling in the Indian content business.
Now I, belonging to the second category, tried to stay as objective as I could
during the entire run time of Season 1 of ‘Sacred Games’ spread over 8
episodes. But sometimes a piece of art becomes so big in its genre, that the
rest of the content brochure has to march around in its shadows for a long
time. Netlfix, the online content streaming giant, has created a monster in
Narcos and it looked an uphill task even for them to top their best gangster
saga ever. And in their bid to do that, they turned their heads to India. A
country which would give them Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Nawazuddin
Siddiqui, Saif Ali Khan & most importantly a canvas so gritty that people
would be reminded of the ugly underbelly of Colombia.
Saif Ali Khan In Sacred Games
Enter Mumbai...errm... Bombay, the temptress to a generation of scheming
politicians, corrupt cops and fierce gangsters. Described in various
superlatives in a number of Bollywood movies before, Bombay plays the most
pivotal character in the cocktail of events and characters that cross paths in
the journey of morality, corruption, terrorism and faith. Right from the first
frame, which shows a dog being reduced to pulp after free falling from a
multi-story building, the story jabs you in the gut multiple times and intends
to make you uncomfortable from the word go. While the plot is complex and can’t
be reduced to two lines, unlike most of Bollywood movies these days; it pushes
all boundaries of storytelling which sucks viewers into two parallel tracks:
the present and the flashback. Bombay is under imminent mass destruction
threat. Crores of fake currency waiting to be found. Gang wars, political
pressure and personal agendas brewing every minute. And at the centre of it all
is Sartaj Singh and his nemesis, the dreaded mafia Ganesh Gaitonde who gives
our sombre turbanator 25 days to solve it all and save the city.
Radhika Apte In Sacred Games
Direction
Sacred Games could very well have been a formula gangster film with characters
and situations to draw from movies like Vaastav, Once Upon A Time In Mumbai,
Badlapur & Gangs of Wasseypur, except it’s not. In fact it’s much more and
that’s purely because of the genius of two maverick filmmakers, Anurag Kashyap
& Vikramaditya Motwane. While the directors may have collaborated on
‘Sacred Games’ due to logistical limitations, the audiences couldn’t have asked
for a better deal. Anurag, who masters the dark world of mafia land, has
directed Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s flashback while Vikramaditya Motwane, whose
romanticism of Mumbai is evident from his earlier work like Trapped and Bhavesh
Joshi Superhero, has brought the present day Mumbai to life. As a result, you
get to see a city you so dearly love and live in and the one you wish and pray
never existed in real life.
Casting
Saif Ali Khan plays a Sikh cop Sartaj Singh and does a bloody good job at it.
Honestly, he owed this for a long time to the Sikh community after the
disastrous Veer Singh from Love Aaj Kal. Much like his film career, Saif as
inspector Sartaj is struggling for validation and is desperate to catch one big
fish. And boy does he catch it with both his hands as Sartaj & as Saif, as
he sinks his teeth so deep into his role with such a simmering sincerity, you
can almost feel him making a meal of it. Despite being in almost every frame of
the show, Saif never stands out as ‘the hero’. In fact, he surrenders to his
character Sartaj, a vulnerable, pill popping, out of shape cop, so much that he
blends into other characters and you don’t even seem to notice until situations
knock him down once again and throw him in the centre of the mix.
Saif Ali Khan Plays A Cop In Sacred Games
Nawazuddin Siddiqui is pure delight. You give him 10 more gangster roles and
this guy can make all of them feel different. His stereotype doesn’t hold him
back, but only bolsters him to get even more menacing with each act. So when
Netflix gave him the perfect wicket to bat on with no rules and limitations,
Nawaz hit the ball so high, it could have brought an airhostess down with it.
As Ganesh Gaitonde, Nawaz is unpredictable, terrorising & motivated. He
knows his end en route his plans of Mumbai domination, but plays along anyway
because it’s the process he enjoys more than the outcome. Just like how Nawaz,
the actor, likes it.
While there could be a separate article on just the casting of the show, some
other notable mentions would be Radhika Apte as RAW’s star analyst. It’s safe
to say Radhika has decoded the formula of acting without really acting.
Carrying her amazing form from Lust Stories, Radhika once again is spontaneous,
often mumbling and fumbling, yet very effective as a RAW analyst trying to
prove her on field as well. Neeraj Kabi as Parulkar, Jeetendra Joshi as
Constable Katekar, Aamir Bashir as inspector Majid & Jatin Sarna as Bunty
among others are as terrific as casting director Mukesh Chhabra for fitting
these amazing pieces in the puzzle.
Nawazuddin Siddiqui In Sacred Games
The Netflix effect
The opening title video, production scale, and the entire background score of
Sacred Games screams Netflix. And yet, there’s enough desiness for a new
Netflix user to come and subscribe to watch the show on its own merit. There is
little doubt that the show pushes the boundaries in various aspects like
language, violence and nudity and it’ll be interesting how Indian audiences
receive it; what’s even more amazing is that the actors let themselves go
completely and explore shades in them they couldn’t earlier just by the virtue
of uncensored language. In hindsight, it was a wise call by directors Anurag
Kashyap and Vikramaditya to put their foot down and ask Netflix for a global
show in Indian language and not vice versa.
While Netlfix has already commissioned three more seasons of Sacred Games, the
big question still looms large. Is Sacred Games really at par with Narcos? The
answer is no. It is not. But it is certainly the best show to come out of India
on any platform available today and that in itself calls for a celebration.
Doesn’t it?
Image Source: youtube/netflix