| Sacred Games | |
|---|---|
&sq=Facebook&lang=en&file=File:Sacred_Games_Title.png) Series logo | |
| Genre | |
| Created by | Vikramaditya Motwane |
| Based on | Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra |
| Written by |
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| Directed by |
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| Starring | |
| Theme music composer | Alokananda Dasgupta |
| Composers | Songs: Phenom Divine Rachita Arora Background score: Alokananda Dasgupta |
| Country of origin | India |
| Original language | Hindi |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 16 (list of episodes) |
| Production | |
| Executive producers |
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| Production location | India |
| Cinematography | Swapnil S. Sonawane Sylvester Fonseca Aseem Bajaj |
| Editor | Aarti Bajaj |
| Running time | 43–58 minutes |
| Production companies | Phantom Films Reliance Entertainment |
| Original release | |
| Network | Netflix |
| Release | 6 July 2018 – 15 August 2019 |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
Sacred Games is an Indian neo-noir crime thriller television series based on Vikram Chandra's 2006 novel of the same name. Produced and directed by Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap under the banner of Phantom Films, it is India's first Netflix original series. The novel was adapted by Varun Grover, Smita Singh, and Vasant Nath. Kelly Luegenbiehl, Erik Barmack and Motwane were the series' executive producers.
The series follows Sartaj Singh (Saif Ali Khan), a troubled police officer in Mumbai who receives a phone call from gangster Ganesh Gaitonde (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), warning him to save the city within 25 days. As the series unfolds, it chronicles the intense events that follow this ominous call. Other cast members include Radhika Apte, Girish Kulkarni, Neeraj Kabi, Jeetendra Joshi, Rajshri Deshpande, Karan Wahi, Sukhmani Sadana, Aamir Bashir, Jatin Sarna, Elnaaz Norouzi, Pankaj Tripathi, Amey Wagh, Kubbra Sait, Surveen Chawla, Kalki Koechlin, Ranvir Shorey and Amruta Subhash.
Sacred Games began development after Netflix vice-president Erik Barmack asked Motwane in 2014 to create Indian content for the platform. They decided to adapt Chandra's novel in Hindi. After a script was completed, Motwane asked Kashyap to co-direct; Motwane directed the scenes with Singh, and Kashyap directed Gaitonde's scenes. Swapnil Sonawane was director of photography for Motwane; Sylvester Fonseca and Aseem Bajaj filmed the scenes directed by Kashyap. In the second season, Motwane reduced his involvement to showrunner and was replaced as director by Neeraj Ghaywan. Aarti Bajaj was the editor, and Alokananda Dasgupta composed the background score.
The first season of Sacred Games consisting of eight episodes was released on Netflix on 5 July 2018 in 191 countries. The series is subtitled in over 20 languages. It received mostly positive reviews from critics, with particular praise for its performances and writing. The first season is the only Indian series to appear on The New York Times' "The 30 Best International TV Shows of the Decade" list. The second season premiered on 15 August 2019, met with a mixed response.