Caution– This is my experience. This one contains criticism and cuss words. Proceed with caution. Adult show, thus a matured piece of writing.
Adaptation – Vikram Chandra’s Sacred Games
Writers – Varun Grover, Smita Singh and Vasant Nath
Genre – Crime, Thriller
Directors – Anurag Kashyap & Vikramaditya Motwane
Players – Saif Ali Khan, Radhika Apte, Nawazuddin Siddique among others
Music- Alokananda Dasgupta
Original Network – Netflix
Number of Seasons – One (6th July, 2018)
Number of Episodes – 8
Country – India
A sinister plot to wipe out the city, the eccentric villain with God complex, a protagonist searching for some answers, terrific love affairs, exuberant ecstasy, an elegant eunuch and so on…
Well, that is the basis of DC Comics and other science fiction works. Look deeply, you find the above mentioned recurring patterns in them.
So Sacred Games is not something new or noble. The show is based on the novel by the same name which chronicles the life of a mafia and a police officer in the Maximum City. Well if you go through Hussain S Zaidi’s Dongri to Dubai, you would be able to relate to all the fictitious element in the plotlines of both the novel and the show. Ironically, the author of Sacred Games Vikram Chandra wrote the foreword to Zaidi’s book.
The eight-hour-long series falters mid-way when parallel plots pop up and slow hinder the pace of the show. Well, so many articles about Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s performance, yes he is every bit of God complex wala Gaitonde. He is the actual star of the show and naturally, he has been given the best dialogues and the one-liners. But, don’t you think he is repeating himself? Faizal Khan is Ganesh Gaitonde, Babumoshai Bandookbaaz is Ganesh Gaitonde, Liak (Badlapur ) is Gaitonde, Ramaan (Ramaan Raghav) is Gaitonde and so on…
But he is never boring, he manages to woo and I’ve been mouthing his dialogues among friends. Moreover a mafia, Gaitonde is a philosopher.
Saif Ali Khan as Sartaj Singh provides a stellar performance. He is troubled, he suffers owing to his honesty and he is not at all flawless. Saif provides a performance of a lifetime, he reacts, he blinks, he shows frustration, cries out in pain and gets stupefied in the end. He is the most realistic protagonist in the show. He makes ‘Behenchod’ sexy. Saif comes up with one of the most authentic portrayals of an Indian Police officer.
Radhika Apte’s act could have been much better, I somehow missed the angst of a R&AW officer and she is a staunch feminist over here, leading to the tragic plight in the end.
Neeraj Kabir as the DCP is one hell of a corrupt officer, a bloody bastard. Keep it up.
We have a gullible and honest sidekick of Saif Ali Khan, the constable Katekar aka Jitendra Joshi, such an effortless and brilliant portrayal of loving husband and dutiful cop.
You are here to stay.
How can I forget Bunty bhai ? the staunch Hindu extremist but loyal to the core. Jatin Sarna is the next big thing. The violent women abuser, the foul mouthed gangster.
Well, Kubra Sait as Kuckoo steals the show, the eunuch eats up all the scenes and she is an onscreen magic. She turns the show, hard-hitting portrayal of the third gender. Well, remember Khushwant Singh’s Bhagmati, the ultimate Hijra? Is she the fourth witch of Macbeth?
Shalini Vatsa as Kanta Bai, such a daredevil act. Anushree Deshpande aka Shubadra instigated the manhood and vengeance of Gaitonde, limited screen time and the boldest screen presence, you have got guts.
And then there is one man, who juggles efficiently between fakht Marathi and Bombaiya Hindi. The underdog organiser of Ganesh Mitra Mandali to the top-notch minister in Mantralaya. Girish Kulkarni proves that he is the bloody best as if the role was written for him. I don’t know, why the media is not mentioning his killer performance over here. Girish Bhau..bahot khub. The hero in Deool to the sarcastic cop in Ugly, from the jackass coach in Dangal to the Machiavellian Minister Bipin Bhosale, you are fucking fantastic dude.
There is no complain about direction and execution by Motwane and Kashyap, but they have come up with better stuff. Somehow the screenplay falters between fourth and sixth episodes. The narrative technique is brilliant and it keeps the audience looking for more and more. Varun Grover, keep it up.Loved the gory texture of the series.
But the most striking features of the shows are background music and the credit designing. The Mandala art is impressive and the last episode reveals some brilliant insight about them and Aloka Dasgupta, what a beautiful and haunting composition? You are a pure sweetheart. Just remove the background music, the show will fall flat. Try it.
Verdict– Behenchod faad ke rakh diya..mazza aa gaya.
One of the best, Bose- Dead or Alive is also at par with Sacred Games.But this is pure sensation, you will love it. We want more stuff like this….
Pros
Awesome Acting.
Realistic Violence and Nudity.
The third gender, sensitively dealt with.
The screen colour turns red when Gaitonde starts slashing the inmates in jail.
Gripping Background score.
The historical juxtaposition with the major events of Postcolonial India.
Do not miss Rajiv Gandhi’s presence in the show.
Dashing Dialogues.
The cross-references with mythology, dam attractive..
The real picture of Indian Police Services.
Cons
Editing falters.
The screenplay could have been crispier in few places.
Pankaj Tripathi, the Guru, aur chahiye tha.
Those who watched the show in English, silent sobbing for them.
Ratings- 9/10
Disclaimer – Images from the internet.
