Sacred Games 2 Review: Engaging Plot but Poor Screenplay
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The much-awaited Sacred Games 2 has been released on Netflix. The video streaming app launched the season at midnight on 15th of August. The season continued the cliff-hanger from season one left the audience with. Reviews have hardly been positive.
The Netflix series is based on Vikram Chandra’s novel with the same name. The first season was about Sartaj Singh’s life falling apart, while he continues his quest to save Mumbai. On the other hand Gaitonde’s journey to remain the legendary don of the city continues. After Gaitonde’s death left the audience shocked.
Sacred Games 2 manages not to end the suspense the audience was in. The finale of the First Season left the next fourteen days that were to come in the story. The audience was waiting for the mystery to resolve in the next season.
The 2nd season revolved around Gaitonde’s journey; the twenty years before his death and Mumbai during that time. It reveals more about Gaitonde’s and Guruji’s sexual relationship.
For the other lead character, the season manages to enlighten the audience of Sartaj Singh’s successful quest of the city from the nuclear blast. It further tells the character’s background and failed marriage.
Character Development
Gaitonde (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) dies with the realisation of him being nothing but a mere puppet in the game set by Guruji. He does so with Trivedi (Chittranjan Trivedi) and Jojo Mascarenhas (Surveen Chawla). His wife’s death pushes him to lower his self-worth and ultimately falls in Guruji’s trap.
Gaitonde’s relationship with Guruji (Pankaj Tripathi) was, quite frankly, something the audience anticipated. The sexual relationship of them puts the topic of sexuality forward.
The show has been popular for its unconventional roles and sexuality during the first season; but this highlights the point even further.
Their relationship led to drugs and finally the murder. Both of them had severe superiority complexes, which resulted in their incompatiblity.
The season throws light on Sartaj Singh’s (Saif Ali Khan) past and his relationship with his ex-wife Megha (Anupriya Goenka). His blood relationship with terrorist Shahid Khan (Ranvir Shorey) brings a cold edge to the season.
Revolving around his failures, Sartaj reveals to Batya (Kalki Koechlin) about his failed marriage and Megha’s decision to abort his baby. Adding to that, she decides to marry her boyfriend Umesh soon after Sartaj’s separation with her. These hits by her made Sartaj question his self-worth.
Self-Worth in the Series
Self-worth was something the show portrayed strongly about. The first season saw the importance of it, or mostly lack thereof, in the characters’ lives. Season two saw this element with the exchange of places for the characters of Gaitonde and Sartaj Singh.
Gaitonde, who didn’t bother with the deteriorating situation of the city, became concerned in this season. Meanwhile Sartaj, who was intent on saving the city, is unaffected by the city’s condition. Both of them tread on unsteady waters, and somehow maintain a good image in the papers.
All Things Wrong With Sacred Games 2
The series seemed rushed and failed to touch many aspects that it should have. The details were scarce. The ones missed include some minor but some very important to the storyline. This leaves many things open for interpretation. The first six episodes were hurried, as if to get to the climax as soon as possible.
The fourth and sixth episode were especially crammed up. It was due to the many details the screen-writers wanted to include in the frame. In the end it ended up making many events seem illogical. The characters too were out of their component.
The development of Gaitonde’s character was abrupt and caused stir in the audience’s perception of the character. The writers were criticized for their hurriedness and the rushed episodes.
From the Audience’s side
Early viewers were thoroughly disappointed with the season, and expressed their anger through social media. Memes comparing season one to season two have been flowing around social media. The season hasn’t been receiving a positive feedback all around.
The out of sync subtitles for the season were among the top complaints from the viewers. The first eight episodes suffered this issue excessively.
Another problem that raised complaints was of more than half of the dialogues in other languages. Marathi and other foreign languages were the languages majorly used. This lowered the understandability of the content significantly. The viewers were not really satisfied with it.
“Is it just me or is anybody else finding the second season of Sacred Games 2 really heavy going? Loved the first season but struggling to watch this season. Am two episodes down. May be it will get better,” journalist and television anchor, Vir Sanghvi shared on Twitter.
“I have seen all the episodes. Didn’t like it. Subtitles were coming before the dialogues and scenes! Very haphazardly made. Will give 9/10 for part one but 4/10 for part 2. It’s my opinion,” a viewer tweeted as a response to Sanghvi.
As for the viewers who are yet to watch the show, they feel unmotivated by the reviews they have been received from social media.
Conclusion
The writing and acting has been up to the mark. The script had the detailed development of plot. But what bothered the audience was the plot, which was unfairly portrayed by the editors and screenwriters. Talks of a third season of Sacred Games have started circulating around. The next season is expected to introduce more aspects to the story. The viewers are setting high expectations after an unsatisfactory Sacred Games 2.
