Kashyap, Motwane to direct parallel stories for 'Sacred Games'

Filmmakers Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane will be working on two parallel stories in the upcoming Netflix series 'Sacred Games'.

Netflix's first India-set original series 'Sacred Games' is based on author Vikram Chandra's best-selling novel of the same name.

Erik Barmack, vice president of international original series at Netflix, was in conversation with journalist Anupama Chopra at a session in the ongoing Jio MAMI 19th Mumbai Film Festival.

At the session, a few images from the series were unveiled featuring Bollywood actors Nawazuddin Siddique and Saif Ali Khan. The show sees Khan playing the role of cop Sartaj Singh, while Siddiqui portrays gangster Ganesh Gaitonde.
 

"Nawaz plays Gaitonde, the crime under Lord of the series. This is an ambitious storytelling. We have two directors following two different decades of what's happening in the Mumbai crime underworld," Erik said.

"We have Nawaz in the '80s and we have a more present story. All are shot in practical locations in Mumbai. We have these great film actors in a tight storytelling, that does feel like 'Narcos', in the richness of the shoot and complexity," he added.

The series, shot on real locations in Mumbai, will delve into the city's intricate web of organised crime, corruption, politics and espionage.

Erik said this storytelling format is quite amazing and hopes the show makes a mark globally.

"Vikramaditya and Anurag will follow two characters. One is on the Gaitonde storyline, the other on Sartaj. Of course they collide (eventually)."

"If you think of the conventional storytelling and where TV was 15 years ago, the idea that you can do these things in different time periods with anti-hero and complex characters is quite amazing. It (the show) is going to be amazing for us globally," he added.

Asked how easy was it for him to convince Saif to come on board, Erik said, "He is intrinsically motivated to do things which are challenging. If you look at his film career, he has taken unusual choices.

"When he read the scripts and saw what we were doing, he was very interested. That's true also for Radhika Apte and other cast members."

The series, to be produced in partnership with Phantom Films, will be available to the streaming giant's over 100 million members in more than 190 countries.