Much Awaited Season 2 Of Netflix’s Sacred Games Is Almost Here!

Love per Square Foot was India’s first and official entry into the coveted space of Netflix original series. It was, however, Sacred Games that hit the bull’s eye and got hundreds of Indians hooked to the web series world. The series, based on a book by the same name written by Vikram Chandra uses Mumbai as the thrust of its narrative. It is surprising for me that a beaten to death background of Mumbai in Indian Cinema still manages to hold a charm over the viewers, and that we still enjoy the ‘ghisi pitti(done to death)’ stories that revolve around the city of dreams, ‘mehbooba(beloved)’ of the mafia and the mother to the underdogs.

A statutory warning comes up with Sacred Games. It is that you have to watch it while keeping the earplugs on, all the time. Hands free will result in something of a cultural shock in the bourgeoisie spaces that Netflix users populate. The reason? Every second sentence begins and ends with some of the choicest of Indian gaalis. Of course, by the time we get down to the third or fourth episode, we more or less get used to it.The violence is graphic and gory; the sexual scenes are raw, somewhat devoid of passion and can appear even virulent to some. There are times where you could get repulsed by the sheer objectification of women in scenes like these; they are showcased in a way where the desires of the women were simply not taken into account over the pleasures of the men who lead the act.

Corruption and the nexus between crime and film industry and crime and politics are brazenly exposed. Surprisingly then, the same series managed to portray the feelings of a transgender person with a rare sensitivity. However, it is hardly possible that this tiny little part would suffice to divert the attention of the viewers from the scenes which normalize violence, crime, systemic corruption and the objectification of women throughout the series.

Indeed Sacred Games plays on the dark side of the human mind, where the fear of being unworthy rules and the need to suppress and eliminate others becomes paramount to your own survival. All the three of its main characters in this way are lured by this feeling of proving their mantle to the world and to themselves. Daljit Singh (Saif Ali Khan) struggles with his principles which come in the way of his success as a police officer. Radhika Apte who plays a RAW Agent is marred by the usual insecurities that women undergo while trudging on an unconventional career path. Ganesh Gaitonde (Nawazuddin, his usual brilliant self) wants to wash down his past and become a bigshot in the world of crime. The three traverse through issues that are larger than life and bigger than their imagination.

Scared Games is as much about their journey against all the odds as much as it is how the characters deal with the rights and the wrongs that their rationality and conscience let them decide. Thus, those who are willing to look beyond what may appear as the cheap thrills and explicit sexual scenes that Scared Games seems to sell, it also offers a deeper insight into human psychology. It exposes the unpleasant truth that we already know, of how the thirst for power, attention, and glory often define people’s choices in life over what is just and right.

In Ganesh Gaitonde’s aspiration to become the man that his father could not, we see the extent to which a person can be willing to go in bypassing what is right for his personal ambitions. If characters like Ganesh represent the sadistic side of the human mind, the one which derives pleasure in the suppression of others, we also have others to advocate for the humanity that still exists in the darkest of the alleys.

Finally, the series clicked because of its enticing storytelling that hooks the viewers. The unique and somewhat compelling personalities of several of its characters are the subject of many memes and jokes on social media. This is just the reflection of the popularity of Scared Games. Like many others, I am also waiting for the second season of the series.