Hot take: Sacred Games

'Sacred Games' (2018) is a gripping original series where familiar elements -- a cat and mouse chase between a cop and a gangster, the nexus between politics, religious violence and Bollywood, and the city of Bombay itself -- are transformed through an urgent and haunting background score, top-class cinematography, some fine performances and tight writing.

What I really enjoyed was the gamut of languages and tonalities spoken by the various characters (a first, I think, and true to the way Mumbai speaks) ; the eerie lens through which the gorgeously seedy and downright ordinary locales of Mumbai breathe new life on screen ; and the gumption to rework this classic tale into a commentary on the current state of India, which gives it an edge and a relevance that a show like 'Narcos' lacks.

Saif Ali Khan (Sartaj Singh), Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Ganesh Gaitonde), Jitendra Joshi (Constable Katekar) and Kubbra Sait (Kukoo) turn in sterling performances while Radhika Apte (Anjali Mathur) and Luke Kenny (Malcolm Mourad) disappoint. The writing team does a commendable job of pruning down the 900-page novel into binge-worthy viewing but -- with the exception of Kukoo -- little is done to flesh out female characters, weakening the overall narrative structure. Male characters from the good cop to the evil villain get a range of grey to sink their teeth into. My favourite was Constable Katekar, who manages to be warm-hearted yet deeply bigoted, dutiful yet bumbling, naive yet philosophical all at once.

For me, 'Sacred Games' had enough drama and mystery to keep me hooked but lacked somewhat in emotional heft. Indian audiences will feel a bit of déjà-vu in the cop-gangster routine set in the religious tensions of the 90s, while international audiences will see familiar storytelling devices that should keep them invested despite the lack of cultural context. But both will find a freshness and sweeping ambition that is hard to resist.

Genre: Crime, Drama

Language: Hindi

Runtime: 16 episodes, 2 seasons

Year of release: 2018

Streaming platform: Netflix

Hot take is a series in which I offer my first impressions of films from India and around the world.