Note (September 2026): This article has been corrected: Sacred Games ended after two seasons (July 2018 and August 2019), its Emmy nomination was a 2019 International Emmy nomination for season two, and Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap both produced and directed it.
Sacred Games is a Hindi-language crime thriller series and India’s first Netflix original, adapted from Vikram Chandra’s 2006 novel. Police inspector Sartaj Singh (Saif Ali Khan) gets a call from gangster Ganesh Gaitonde (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) warning him to save Mumbai within 25 days. It ran for two seasons, 16 episodes, from 2018 to 2019.
Key Takeaways
- Sacred Games is based on Vikram Chandra’s 2006 novel and was India’s first Netflix original series.
- Season one (8 episodes) was released on Netflix in July 2018 in 191 countries; season two (8 episodes) followed on 15 August 2019.
- Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap co-directed season one; Neeraj Ghaywan replaced Motwane as co-director for season two.
- Season two was nominated for Best Drama Series at the 2019 International Emmy Awards.
- No third season was made: Nawazuddin Siddiqui said the novel’s story had been used up, and Anurag Kashyap later said Netflix shut season three down.
Sacred Games is a thriller web series in India based on the novel of the same name written by Vikram Chandra in 2006. Its second season was nominated for Best Drama Series at the 2019 International Emmy Awards, and the show is the first Netflix original series of India.
Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap produced and directed the series under the banner of Phantom Films. The novel was adapted for the screen by Varun Grover, Smita Singh and Vasant Nath. Kelly Luegenbiehl, Erik Barmack and Motwane were the executive producers.
1] The plot in short
Sartaj Singh, played by the supremely talented Bollywood actor, Saif Ali Khan, is a troubled police officer who gets a phone call from a gangster one fine day.
The name of the gangster is Ganesh Gaitonde and the role is played by another talented actor of Bollywood, Nawazuddin Siddiqui. He warns the officer to save the city within 25 days. This web series portrays a series of events that follow after that call.
Other notable cast members include Girish Kulkarni, Radhika Apte, Jeetendra Joshi, Neeraj Kabi, Karan Wahi, Jatin Sarna, Aamir Bashir, Pankaj Tripathi and Kubbra Sait.
2] How the story of Sacred Games developed
Sacred Games began development in 2014, when Netflix vice-president Erik Barmack approached Motwane to create Indian content for the platform.
They decided to adapt Chandra’s novel in Hindi rather than English. Motwane immediately agreed to this idea. After the script was completed, Motwane asked Kashyap to co-direct, and Kashyap agreed.
In season one, Motwane directed the scenes involving Sartaj Singh, and Kashyap directed Ganesh Gaitonde’s scenes. In season two, Neeraj Ghaywan replaced Motwane as co-director, while Motwane stayed on as showrunner.
For Motwane, the director of photography was Swapnil Sonawane and Aseem Bajaj and Sylvester Fonseca directed photography for Anurag Kashyap. The editor was Aarti Bajaj and the background score of this series was composed by Alokananda Dasgupta.
The first four episodes of Sacred Games premiered at the MAMI film festival in Mumbai on the 29th of June, 2018. The full eight-episode first season was released on Netflix on July 5th (some sources list 6 July 2018) in 191 countries.
Sacred Games was subtitled in more than 20 languages. The first season received mostly positive reviews, with critics singling out its performances and writing; the second season, released on 15 August 2019, met with a more mixed response. As summarized on Wikipedia in September 2026, season one holds a 92% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 26 critics, while season two holds 60% from 5 critics.
3] Sacred Games TV Series Cast and Characters
| Real Name | Role Name |
|---|---|
| Saif Ali Khan | Inspector Sartaj Singh |
| Nawazuddin Siddiqui | Ganesh Gaitonde |
| Radhika Apte | Anjali Mathur |
| Pankaj Tripathi | Khanna Guruji |
| Amruta Subhash | Kusum Devi Yadav |
| Kalki Koechlin | Batya Abelman |
| Ranvir Shorey | Shahid Khan |
| Neeraj Kabi | DCP Dilip Parulkar |
| Jatin Sarna | Deepak “Bunty Sharma” Shinde |
| Kubbra Sait | Kukoo |
| Jitendra Joshi | Constable Ashok Katekar |
| Rajshri Deshpande | Subhadra |
| Elnaaz Norouzi | Zoya Mirza/Jamila |
| Luke Kenny | Malcolm Mourad |
| Aamir Bashir | Inspector Majid Ali Khan |
| Geetanjali Thapa | Nayanika Sehgal |
| Surveen Chawla | Jojo Mascarenas |
| Shalini Vatsa | Kanta Bai |
| Girish Kulkarni | Bipin Bhosale |
| Anupriya Goenka | Megha Singh |
| Affan Khan | Young Sartaj Singh |
| Sunny Pawar | Young Ganesh Gaitonde |
| Danish Pandor | Bada Badariya |
| Anil Mange | Chota Badariya |
| Vikram Kochar | Mathu |
| Samir Kochhar | ACIO Markand |
| Chittaranjan Tripathy | Trivedi |
| Rajendra Shisatka | ASI Dhobale |
| Sukhmani Sadana | Mikki |
| Muni Jha | Paritosh Shah |
| Karan Wahi | Karan Malhotra |
| Nawab Shah | Salim Kaka |
| Saanand Verma | Purushottam Baria |
| Jaipreet Singh | Constable Dilbagh Singh |
| Saurabh Sachdeva | Suleiman Isa |
| Neha Shitole | Shalini Katekar |
| Smita Tambe | ATS Analyst Rama |
| Harshita Gaur | Mary Mascarenas |
| Priyanka Setia | Harsha Baria |
| Sandesh Kulkarni | Gaitonde’s Father |
| Vibhavari Deshpande | Gaitonde’s Mother |
| Joy Sengupta | Mathur |
| Amey Wagh | Kushal |
- Original network: Netflix
- Picture format: 4K (UHDTV)
- Original release: 5 July 2018 – 15 August 2019 (two seasons; no third season was made).
- Genre: Crime, Conspiracy, Thriller, Mystery.
- Based on: Sacred Games by Vikram Chandra.
- Written by: Varun Grover, Smita Singh, Vasant Nath, Dhruv Narang, Pooja Tolani, Nihit Bhave.
- Directed by: Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane, Neeraj Ghaywan.
- Starring: Saif Ali Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Radhika Apte, Pankaj Tripathi, Kalki Koechlin, Ranvir Shorey, Luke Kenny.
- Theme music composer: Alokananda Dasgupta
- Composer Songs: Phenom, Divine, Rachita Arora
- Background Score: Alokananda Dasgupta
- Country of origin: India
- Original language: Hindi
- No. of seasons: 2
- List of episodes: 16
- Executive producers: Kelly Luegenbiehl, Erik Barmack, Vikramaditya Motwane.
- Production location: India
- Cinematography: Swapnil Sonawane, Sylvester Fonseca, Aseem Bajaj.
- Editor: Aarti Bajaj
- Running time: 43–58 minutes
- Production company: Phantom Films, Reliance Entertainment.
- Distributor: Netflix.
4] Sacred Games Official Trailer By Netflix India
5] Sacred Games Song – Kaam 25 (DIVINE) By Netflix
6] Worthy reasons to catch up on Sacred Games right now
A phone call says Mumbai is in danger! Then the saving game that follows is dark, deep, mysterious and of course sacred. Sacred Games quickly became one of the most talked-about Indian series, and viewers waited more than a year for season two, which arrived on 15 August 2019. No third season followed.
Each season has eight episodes, and episodes run roughly 43 to 58 minutes. If you have not watched it yet, here are a few reasons it is still worth a binge.
1) The initial bolt from the blue
Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays the character of Ganesh Gaitonde, the gangster. You’ll find him saying, “Bhagwan ko mante ho?” which means “Do you believe in God?” and “Kabhi kabhi lagta hai apun hi bhagwaan hai” which means, “Sometimes I feel, I am the God”. Both these dialogues are going to give you a jolt!
You must never have heard such raw, bold, and dynamic dialogues in the very first episode of a web series. Some viewers have compared this series with Game of Thrones due to the engrossing nature of the first episode.
2) Enthralling characters
Once you watch the series, you’ll see that it doesn’t just revolve around the main characters played by Saif Ali Khan, Radhika Apte and Nawazuddin Siddiqui but it has a lot to say about the rest of the characters. Whether it is the Police Constable (Jitendra Joshi), DCP Parulkar (Neeraj Kabi), Bunty (Jatin Sarna) or Kubbra Sait, everyone will leave a positive mark in your mind.
There needs to be a special mention of Shalini Vatsa and Rajshree Deshpande who played the characters of Kanta Bai and Subhadra respectively. The roles are played so well that you’ll want to rewind and keep watching again.
3) Psychologies and plots with multi-dimension
This thriller web series begins with a threat call to the police officer, Sartaj Singh, where he is asked to save Mumbai.
However, the series is not just about saving Mumbai from a threat. It has several underlying plots, including Gaitonde’s rise in the Bombay underworld, told in flashbacks, and, in season two, an ashram’s apocalyptic plan to create a new, conflict-free world. You’ll be able to find out some new characters and stories with different flavors and psychologies.
4) Solid directional quality
The performances in Sacred Games are backed by two experienced filmmakers. Vikramaditya Motwane directed Udaan (2010) and Lootera (2013), while Anurag Kashyap co-wrote Satya (1998) and directed Black Friday (2004), Dev.D (2009) and Gangs of Wasseypur (2012).
Sacred Games became a landmark for Indian streaming: it is the only Indian series on The New York Times’ list of the 30 best international TV shows of the decade. All of the aforementioned movies have, in their own way, changed the landscape of Bollywood cinema. Sacred Games brought Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap together as co-directors of season one.
5) Interesting names of the episodes
One of the most discussed features of Sacred Games is its episode titles. The season one titles are drawn from Hindu mythology, and each connects to what happens in that episode.
For example, the first episode is named Ashwathama after the Hindu legend. In the Mahabharata, Krishna curses Ashwatthama to wander the earth for 3,000 years; in the series, Gaitonde calls himself immortal, like Ashwatthama. The fourth episode is ‘Brahmahatya’, the term for killing a Brahmin, which Hinduism treats as a grave crime. (This article originally described Gaitonde as a Brahmin; that detail is not confirmed in the sources checked for this update.) In that episode, Gaitonde agrees to bring Muslim votes to the Hindu politician Bipin Bhosale, which pulls him deeper into politics.
Above all, Saif Ali Khan made a comeback with Sacred Games. While his career was going through a low for the last few years, this was a much-needed break for him. Saif Ali Khan played Sartaj Singh in both seasons of the series.
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Sacred Games Season 1 and Season 2 at a Glance
Sacred Games has two seasons of eight episodes each. The table below compares them using details from the series’ Wikipedia entry and its episode list, checked in September 2026.
| Detail | Season 1 | Season 2 |
|---|---|---|
| Netflix release | July 2018 (5 or 6 July, depending on the source) | 15 August 2019 |
| Episodes | 8 | 8 |
| Directors | Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap | Neeraj Ghaywan and Anurag Kashyap |
| Episode writers | Varun Grover, Smita Singh, Vasant Nath | Dhruv Narang, Nihit Bhave, Pooja Tolani, Varun Grover |
| Main story | Sartaj hunts for clues about Gaitonde’s past and the 25-day threat | Sartaj uncovers an ashram linked to his father; Gaitonde’s time with Khanna Guruji and in Kenya is shown in flashbacks |
| Rotten Tomatoes (as summarized on Wikipedia, September 2026) | 92% from 26 critics | 60% from 5 critics |
Sacred Games Episode List
All 16 episodes of Sacred Games carry one- or two-word titles, listed here as they appear in Wikipedia’s episode list.
| No. | Season 1 (2018) | Season 2 (2019) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ashwathama | Matsya |
| 2 | Halahala | Siduri |
| 3 | Atapi Vatapi | Apasmara |
| 4 | Brahmahatya | Bardo |
| 5 | Sarama | Vikarna |
| 6 | Pretakalpa | Azrael |
| 7 | Rudra | Torino |
| 8 | Yayati | Radcliffe |
Several season one titles map directly onto the plot. Halahala is the poison produced by the churning of the ocean; Atapi and Vatapi were demons who tricked people with kindness and then killed them; Pretakalpa is a Hindu text read at funerals, and it is the episode in which Constable Katekar is killed and Sartaj cremates him; Rudra is the angry form of Shiva, and in that episode Gaitonde avenges the killing of his wife, Subhadra. Yayati was a king cursed with premature old age.
To promote season two, Netflix India also released two mini episodes made with OnePlus India: Kanta Bai (12 August 2019) and Malcolm (20 August 2019).
Is There a Sacred Games Season 3?
No. As of September 2026, Sacred Games has only two seasons, and no third season has been announced. In January 2021, Nawazuddin Siddiqui said that everything from Vikram Chandra’s novel had already been used, so there was nothing left for a third season. In a 2023 interview reported by Outlook India, Anurag Kashyap said a third season had been planned but Netflix shut it down, and he linked the decision to caution among streaming platforms after the controversy over the series Tandav. Netflix has not given a public reason.
How the Series Differs From Vikram Chandra’s Novel
Sacred Games the series keeps the novel’s two parallel stories: Sartaj Singh in the present and Ganesh Gaitonde’s rise in the Bombay underworld. The writers made several deliberate changes:
- Setting in time: Gaitonde’s period story stays in the past, but Sartaj’s story was moved from the early 2000s to the present day.
- Kukoo: mentioned only in passing in the novel, Kukoo, a transgender woman, becomes a major character and Gaitonde’s love interest.
- Malcolm Murad: named once in the book, he becomes a prominent assassin in the series.
- Sartaj Singh: tall and thin in the novel, he was made muscular and heavier on screen.
- The Bombay riots: prominent in the novel, they are only briefly described by Gaitonde in the series.
Vikram Chandra served as a script consultant, and the writers put their research questions to him directly instead of hiring a separate researcher.
Sacred Games Music: Kaam 25 and the Theme
The song ‘Kaam 25’, written and performed by the rapper Divine with music by the producer Phenom, was released on 21 June 2018 as a promotional track; it is not used in the series itself. The background score and the opening theme were composed by Alokananda Dasgupta and Yashraj Jaiswal, and Rachita Arora composed two tracks, ‘Dance Capital’ and ‘Labon Se Chhukar’. The official trailer embedded above is the one Netflix released for season two.
Sacred Games Awards and Recognition
- International Emmy Awards 2019: season two was nominated for Best Drama Series.
- News18 iReel Awards: five wins from 11 nominations, including Best Series (Drama), Best Actor (Drama) for Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Best Supporting Actor for Jitendra Joshi.
- Asian Academy Creative Awards (inaugural edition): Best Direction (Fiction) for Anurag Kashyap and Best Editing for Aarti Bajaj.
- 18th Indian Television Academy Awards: Best Show Jury (Web) and Best Supporting Actor (Web) for Neeraj Kabi.
- Filmfare OTT Awards 2020: Best Background Music for Alokananda Dasgupta and Best Cinematographer for Sylvester Fonseca.
- The New York Times: the only Indian series on its list of the 30 best international TV shows of the decade.
Where to Watch Sacred Games
Sacred Games is a Netflix original, so Netflix is the place to look for it; availability and audio or subtitle options can vary by country. At launch it was released in 191 countries with subtitles in more than 20 languages. If playback fails with an error code, see our guide on how to fix the TVQ-PB-101 error on Netflix.
For more to watch after Sacred Games, browse our list of the best Indian web series on Netflix, Prime and more, our picks of the best Bollywood Hindi movies on Netflix, and the most watched web series in the world.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Sacred Games based on a true story?
Sacred Games is fiction, adapted from Vikram Chandra’s 2006 novel of the same name. The series draws on real history, however: its title sequence uses real footage of events such as the demolition of the Babri Masjid, and Anurag Kashyap has said the novel is about how Bombay became Mumbai.
How many episodes does Sacred Games have?
Sacred Games has 16 episodes across two seasons, eight in season one (2018) and eight in season two (2019). Episodes run roughly 43 to 58 minutes each. Netflix also released two short promotional mini episodes in August 2019.
Will there be a Sacred Games season 3?
No third season of Sacred Games has been announced as of September 2026. Nawazuddin Siddiqui said in 2021 that the novel had nothing left to adapt, and Anurag Kashyap said in 2023 that Netflix shut a planned third season down.
Who directed Sacred Games?
Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap co-directed season one of Sacred Games, with Motwane handling Sartaj Singh’s scenes and Kashyap handling Gaitonde’s. For season two, Neeraj Ghaywan replaced Motwane as co-director, and Motwane stayed on as showrunner.
Did Sacred Games win an Emmy?
Sacred Games did not win an Emmy. Its second season was nominated for Best Drama Series at the 2019 International Emmy Awards. The series did win other awards, including five News18 iReel Awards and two Asian Academy Creative Awards.
Who plays Ganesh Gaitonde in Sacred Games?
Nawazuddin Siddiqui plays the gangster Ganesh Gaitonde in both seasons of Sacred Games, and Sunny Pawar plays the young Gaitonde. Siddiqui called Gaitonde the most complex character he had played up to that point.
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