Netflix released their highly anticipated Indian original series Sacred Games on Friday to the worldwide audience. Based on the 2006 novel by Vikram Chandra, Sacred Games is a thriller set in Mumbai with a cast of police officers, politicians and spies. Saif Ali Khan plays an honest but cynical police officer Sartaj Singh and Nawazuddin Siddiqui is most wanted gangster Ganesh Gaitonde. The storylines of the two characters cross path when Gaitonde warns Sartaj of a disaster waiting to happen for Mumbai. The countdown and the cat-mouse chase in the story make the thriller exciting.
While Indian media had only good things to say about the show, let's take a look at what International critics have to say.
The New York Times - Mike Hale
Replicating the constant juggle of styles and voices in “Sacred Games,” a feat stretched out over more than 900 pages in Mr. Chandra’s novel, is a major challenge on screen — despite its verve and visual inventiveness, the series feels muddled and a little wearying at times. (And a lot of cultural and historical references will go over the head of non-Indian viewers.) But as Gaitonde says, his story is like a scorpion — once it stings you, you’re done for.
The Hollywood Reporter - Tim Goodman
While a lot of references in Sacred Games might get lost in translation — and some of the deeper Hindu-Muslim divides might not register here the way they will with an Indian audience — the story (writers include Varun Grover, Smita Singh and Vasant Nath) is so timelessly American in its mob/cops/city thematic trifecta that any fan of The Wire or even Martin Scorsese can relate to it immediately. Having seen half of the first season, I'm still unclear on whether the greater mystery — Singh having 25 hours to save the city — is about defusing a holy war, a terrorism threat or something more weirdly genre-inspired. But the early ride is a dark bullets-blood-and-sex tale that gets a fresher patina thanks to Mumbai as a central character and the allure of looking at a well-worn story through an international lens.
Refinery 29 - Katlin Reilly
This ambitious series is also an important one. As its first Indian original (several more, including an adaptation of Salman Rushdie's novel Midnight's Children, are in the works) Sacred Games is expanding voices of Southeast Asia to a global audience. It may be "just" television, but it's also pushing forth important representation. TV is going global — and Sacred Games is just one way viewers can expand their worldview.
Metro - Adam Starkey
With criminal kingpins, authority conspiracies and likeable cop duos, it’s tempting to label Sacred Games as the Indian Narcos – but the first four episodes are more concise and stylishly executed than its Colombian rival. If you’re pining for a fresh, addictive thriller bursting with style, Sacred Games is the perfect excuse to shield from the summer heat.
