Netflix -> Sacred Games

Discussion in 'Visual Arts' started by robertawillisjr, Jul 9, 2018.

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  1. robertawillisjr

    robertawillisjr Music Lover Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hampton, VA
    Sacred Games (Season 1) is outstanding Netflix original mystery series set in Mumbai India. Not for the faint of heart, as the body count is very high but the pacing, acting and setting will keep you glued to your seat. I blew through the eight episodes in three days. 4K and great sound.
     
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  2. Deesky

    Deesky Forum Resident

    Yeah, it was pretty good, but not perfect. The plot was somewhat convoluted and even at only 8 eps, felt a little padded. It was very nicely shot and the incidental music was tense and well matched to the material.

    I'm not sure what happened to the character Constable Katekar, going from a good natured, slightly goofy sidekick to a quasi sadistic tough guy at the end... And what's with all the forehead shots?

    I listened to the dubbed English, but LOL, some of the accents were thick enough to need English subtitles too! :)

    Anyway, I liked it and it seems clear that it's set up for S2.
     
  3. robertawillisjr

    robertawillisjr Music Lover Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hampton, VA
    I just started the 1000 page book upon which the series is "based". It is a very good book but I had to take a break in order to digest the material and research many of the terms/words :). This depicts an India which I knew very little about. The book is very nuanced concerning graft and interpersonal relationships. Some of that comes through on the screen.
     
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  4. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    I'm two episodes in and so far I'm really liking it. It took me a whole episode to realize I was watching a dubbed version (the English captioning and English dubbing often convey the same meaning but rarely match up, oddly enough), so I started over in Hindi with English subtitles (much better!)

    It would be awesome if this show finds an American audience … but I'm not holding my breath.
     
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  5. robertawillisjr

    robertawillisjr Music Lover Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hampton, VA
    I did the same and read the subtitles but the voiceovers weren’t as bad as many others. I read the book afterwards and think it’s a masterpiece. It is a very big book and I found myself reading slowly because 1) the translation was outstanding and the reading was a delight and 2) I had to decipher much of the slang.
     
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  6. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    Amazingly, the Kindle version of the novel is $1.99 on Amazon. I don't have time to read it now, but I couldn't pass it up at that price, so it will be my leisure reading for Winter Break.
     
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  7. Michael

    Michael I LOVE WIDE S-T-E-R-E-O!

    thanks for the tip!
     
  8. robertawillisjr

    robertawillisjr Music Lover Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hampton, VA
    While both the program and the book are IMHO excellent and they tell the same general story, they differ widely in certain aspects. The book takes it time, provides fascinating detail and background and fully develops the characters. The program ups the pacing and “rearranges” certain themes found in the book while still remains suspenseful and very well acted.
     
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  9. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    robertawillisjr likes this.
  10. robertawillisjr

    robertawillisjr Music Lover Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hampton, VA
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  11. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    Season 2 has arrived! I watched the first episode last night. The one review I glanced at was overwhelmingly positive ("Better than season 1", and season 1 has a 92 score on RT).

    It looks like this season will sort of follow the "Godfather II" model. The 1980s back story continues to be filled in, while the modern day material extends to some degree beyond the book.
     
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  12. robertawillisjr

    robertawillisjr Music Lover Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hampton, VA
    Looking forward to it.
     
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  13. robertawillisjr

    robertawillisjr Music Lover Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hampton, VA
    Except for the cliffhanger (at the end) and the sometime wimpiness of the lead actor, I was engrossed from start to finish. I wasn't going to binge watch it but... :shh:
     
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  14. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    I am only two episodes in. I'll report back when I finish. I'm assuming you are referring to Saif Ali Khan as the lead actor (the cop) and not Nawazuddin Siddiqui (the mobster). Saif Ali Khan is playing against type - in most of his movies he is the ripped hero who can do anything. Looks like he added 50 pounds of fat for this role and plays almost every scene with some degree of self doubt in the character. He also plays a Sikh, even though he is a Muslim. I'm digging it.
     
  15. marmalade166

    marmalade166 Sous les pavés, la plage!

    Location:
    Aberdeen, Scotland
    Really enjoyed both Seasons, with I think the story of the mobster told in flashback my favourite parts
     
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  16. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    The bits where Ganesh dreams up and executes his autobiographical film, and then attends the premiere in disguise, were surprisingly funny.
     
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  17. robertawillisjr

    robertawillisjr Music Lover Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hampton, VA
    Do we need to think about some sort of spoiler policy? Just asking?
     
  18. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    Excellent point! My apologies. I'll certainly use the spoiler tags going forward.
     
  19. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    I just finished episode 6. So is it just me, or does Guruji’s demented plan have overtones of Manson’s “Helter Skelter”? Ferment hatred by starting a war that will be blamed on someone else (a race war in Manson’s case, a war between Pakistan and India in Guruji’s case), have an “elite” group hide in a bunker until its over, then come out and assume power over the wrecked civilization. The complexity of the storyline here is admirable. I watched season 1 twice, once on either side of reading the novel, and season 2 cries out for multiple viewings as well.
     
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  20. robertawillisjr

    robertawillisjr Music Lover Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hampton, VA
    It seems that throughout history autocrats always have to blame someone else in order to justify their despicable actions. What is so compelling to me is that the author of the book seems to have had his finger on the pulse of Indian society and its deep seated (apparently) complexities of religious hatred and was able to frame them in such a beautiful written fashion.

    I have been tempted to reread the book then re-watch the series but the book is so long and my reading list is already quite full. But... :)
     
    RayS likes this.
  21. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    At least the book has ending, unlike the second season. :)
     
  22. robertawillisjr

    robertawillisjr Music Lover Thread Starter

    Location:
    Hampton, VA
  23. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    Considering how few primary characters were left alive, I think there are only two options IF they make a third season. I say "if" because artistically they really should shut things down - the story is completed and the most interesting, perhaps even the two most interesting characters, are dead. The novel, certainly, has been exhausted and then some. At times, Sartaj was a bit of an afterthought in Season 2. He'd obviously have to come front and center in Season 3 and either start an entirely new case, or, deal with a plot hatched by Batya, whom he was nice enough to leave alive.
     
  24. wolfram

    wolfram Slave to the rhythm

    Location:
    Berlin, Germany
    I just watched Season 1 and 2 and thought it was great. Very ambitious.

    I think I will read the book soon.

    As I understand it, the novel was originally written in English.
     
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  25. Bill Hart

    Bill Hart Forum Resident

    Location:
    Austin
    I enjoyed the tv series very much; the book brings way more to the table including a lot more context about India's various subcultures among the different regions and groups; looming throughout the story is the devastation of the partition of the country. It's powerful and well told, though you have to be in the mood for a epic read- it's not all action, but a fair amount of philosophy, and social history.
     
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