# Sacred Games (2018) Review: Mumbai's Underworld, Told Big > Sacred Games, Netflix's first Indian original, pairs a Mumbai cop's race against catastrophe with a gangster's rise; a grimy, ambitious crime epic, uneven by season two. Canonical: https://celluloidscore.com/reviews/sacred-games-review/ Published: 2026-07-05 Last updated: 2026-09-24 Author: Kaiser Khan — Founder & Editor Language: English Review basis: direct-viewing Spoilers: none Rating: 4/5 ## Verdict Yes, with reservations. It suits viewers who want a bold, adult crime saga with great performances, though the second season loses much of the first's momentum. ## Is Sacred Games worth watching? **Yes. Sacred Games is a bold, grimy and cinematic crime epic that changed expectations of Indian television, and Nawazuddin Siddiqui's gangster Ganesh Gaitonde is one of the great characters of the streaming era.** Its first season is gripping, novelistic and frequently electrifying. The main reservation is that the second season, more mystical and more sprawling, loses much of that momentum, so the whole is less consistent than its best stretches. ## What is Sacred Games about? Sartaj Singh ([Saif Ali Khan](https://celluloidscore.com/stars/asia/india/saif-ali-khan/)) is a weary, honest Mumbai police inspector going nowhere in a corrupt system. One day he receives a call from Ganesh Gaitonde (Siddiqui), a legendary gangster who has been out of sight for years. Gaitonde tells Sartaj that the city will face a catastrophe in 25 days, and that only Sartaj can stop it. From there the series runs on two tracks. In the present, Sartaj races against the clock, with help from intelligence officer Anjali Mathur (Radhika Apte). In flashbacks narrated by Gaitonde himself, the show traces his rise from poverty to power in the Mumbai underworld across the 1980s and 1990s, a story tangled up with politics, religion and the city's violent history. Pankaj Tripathi appears as a spiritual figure whose influence grows in the second season. [Sacred Games](https://celluloidscore.com/shows/sacred-games/) is adapted from Vikram Chandra's novel and created by Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap, with the two directors splitting the timelines in the first season. It is an Indian series in Hindi, and this review covers the complete show: two seasons and 16 episodes, finished in 2019. ## Nawazuddin Siddiqui's self-made legend Gaitonde is the show's greatest creation. He narrates his own story with a mix of swagger, self-pity and philosophical musing, casting himself as a god of the streets, and Siddiqui makes that grandiosity both funny and chilling. The actor has a rare ability to switch from comic vanity to sudden menace, and the flashback sections, full of rival gangs, political deals and doomed alliances, carry an operatic sweep that the series never quite matches elsewhere. Saif Ali Khan is quieter but effective as Sartaj, a decent man worn down by a system that rewards cruelty and compromise. His scenes of dogged investigation provide a grounded counterpoint to Gaitonde's mythmaking, and the strange, long-distance bond between the two men gives the first season its hypnotic hook. ## A new standard for Indian streaming Sacred Games arrived in 2018 with a scale and freedom that Indian broadcast television rarely allowed. It is profane, violent and sexually frank, and it takes on religious politics, communal violence and state corruption with an openness that made it widely discussed. Kashyap's gritty, energetic style suits the gangster saga, while Motwane's sections are tighter and more procedural, and the contrast keeps the first season lively. The production design and photography make Mumbai feel like a living, dangerous organism, from crowded slums to the corridors of police stations and the homes of the powerful. Episodes are named after figures from Hindu mythology, a detail that signals the show's larger ambitions about fate, faith and power. ## The second-season stumble Where the first season is propulsive, the second is diffuse. It leans heavily on a spiritual cult storyline, introduces new characters who get less room than they need, and slows the countdown with philosophical detours. There are strong moments and performances, and the craft remains high, but the storytelling loses the clarity that made the opening episodes so addictive. Many viewers will finish the series feeling that the first eight episodes are the essential ones. ## Who should watch Sacred Games? It is essential for fans of [crime](https://celluloidscore.com/genres/crime/) epics and Indian cinema, and for anyone interested in how streaming changed Indian storytelling. With 16 episodes of around an hour each, it is a moderate commitment, and it rewards close attention because of its many characters and timelines. It is strictly adult viewing, with graphic violence, sexual content, drug use and very strong language. It streams on [Netflix](https://celluloidscore.com/shows/platform/netflix/). For more Indian crime drama: - [Mirzapur](https://celluloidscore.com/reviews/mirzapur-review/) for a blood-soaked gangster saga set in the heartland of Uttar Pradesh. - [Delhi Crime](https://celluloidscore.com/shows/delhi-crime/) for a sober, grounded police procedural that contrasts sharply with Sacred Games' operatic style. - [The Family Man](https://celluloidscore.com/reviews/the-family-man-review/) for a lighter-footed thriller about an ordinary-seeming officer chasing a looming threat. ## The verdict Sacred Games is a landmark of Indian streaming, powered by Nawazuddin Siddiqui's unforgettable gangster and an ambitious, novelistic first season. The second season's mystical sprawl weakens the whole, but its best episodes remain as gripping as any crime series of its era. **Rating: 4/5** ## Related title - [Sacred Games (2018)](https://celluloidscore.com/shows/sacred-games/) ## Editorial - [Editorial standards](https://celluloidscore.com/about/editorial-policy/) - [Report a correction](https://celluloidscore.com/about/corrections/)