Sacred Games 2: Ganesh Gaitonde In The Book Vs. The Show
Nawazuddin Siddiqui aced Ganesh Gaitonde in Netflix’s Sacred Games. How does the character differ from the book?
Over the past couple of years, Ganesh Gaitonde has received almost cult status. Netflix’s Indian Original Sacred Games hit the screens last year and the memes started rolling out. You hate him, but you look up to him, said everyone on the Internet as the line “kabhi kabhi lagta hai, apun hi bhagwan hai” started trending. Gaitonde was on everyone’s mind.
Ganesh Gaitonde in the show is an unapologetic gangster who leads the way for his underlings to commit some of the most heinous crimes imaginable. He is a powerful villain who we can’t help but look up to by means of the sheer weight of the character and the incredible performance by Nawazuddin Siddiqui.
Gaitonde of the book differs on this count. There is no doubt about the power he holds, among members of his company, rival gangs, the police, the underworld, but he is portrayed under a more human light in the book. Ganesh effortlessly switches between giving death orders and having moments of vulnerability with equal ease. Sometimes, he seems to be as emotionally motivated as anybody you know and at other times, he seems like the face of pure evil. These nuances make the book such a compelling read, keeping you in two minds about every character, every event.
Gaitonde in the book is the most vulnerable around his love interests and we see him almost behave like a teenager who is in love for the very first time around them. His romance with Kukoo (Kubbra Sait) is not a part of the novel and has been added to the show. This addition works wonders because Kukoo and Gaitonde’s track in the show is one of the most interesting ones.
To conclude, Gaitonde in the show is mostly driven by a sense of revenge while Gaitonde in the book is motivated by greed, lust, love, a strong moral code, apart from just revenge. The latter half of the book explores Gaitonde’s story even further and so we can’t wait to see how the writers have decided to explore his arc in Season 2!
Season 2 is out on 15th August 2019 and will be streaming on Netflix.
Image Source:- instagram/sacredgames_tv
