Hello hello, I'm Rushali and I've never watched an episode of Sacred Games! You see, I have this policy of defiance wherein if people hype up a show too much, I vow not to watch it out of protest. Who does my protest benefit? Absolutely no one. But what's life without some whimsical principles?
This is your face right now, I know:
Anyway, long story short, I decided to mildly back away from said principles and watch just the first and last episode of this wildly popular web series and try to make sense of it. Here goes nothing!
🚨🚨WARNING: Major spoilers ahead, so proceed at your own risk! Also, this post contains mentions of violence🚨🚨
Before we get started for real, let me reveal the extent of my knowledge:
Nawazuddin Siddiqui is the bad guy / anti-hero. Saif Ali Khan is a police officer who possibly did something bad just because I've seen him aim a gun at someone. Kubbra Sait has a funky haircut, as does Pankaj Tripathi. Oh and he's a priest of some sort.
Yeah, that's about it, so...
EPISODE 1: Ashwathama — let's go!
Four seconds in and I already know that this show is going to make me want to shut my eyes A LOT. It's really graphic...I mean REALLY graphic:
So what I'm getting is that Nawazuddin is an insecure man who shot at a girl — who is profusely bleeding — because she mocked him??
Also, quick question: Where are his pants???
Alright, I've gathered that he's some tech-savvy dude with all this equipment that he's doing some fancy shit with. And he has his own lair. So I guess what I'm trying to say is...Nawazuddin's character (still don't know what his name is, btw) is like Dr. Doofenshmirtz on crack:
And, he wants someone named Sartaj who, I'm guessing, is Saif Ali Khan. Meanwhile, Sartaj is off finding dead bodies (as part of his police work, he's not weird or anything):
Oooh here comes the juice! Sartaj is also summoned to court for a hearing. What do we think he did? I think he abused his police power and shot someone.
Also, I'm sorry but can we all just agree that this is a ridiculous way to transport a body??
Okay, they're at the hearing and a police officer is narrating the story of an encounter and clearing their side of the case. It looks like a case of police brutality but they say it was self-defence. However, Sartaj looks UNWELL so I’m guessing he shot at the guy but also did it without too much provocation, so he’s feeling guilty?
Never mind, I was wrong! Some guy called Parulkar (Sartaj's boss, it seems) shot the guy — who was only 18 and WILLING TO SURRENDER!
Back to Nawazuddin. Remember how he said he wanted Sartaj? Well, he gets him. On a phone call, made from his lair, where he says that he knew Sartaj's father. And he then proceeds to tell him his whole life story right from the very beginning.
Turns out, Nawazuddin aka Ganesh Gaitonde (yay! we finally learn his name) is this big-time criminal who has been on the loose for 17 years. He also has a slight obsession with being considered God:
I mean it makes sense that he's a shady guy because what sane person shoots a girl in his lair? However, I'm also half-wondering why he's speaking to Sartaj and saying that he trusted his dad?
ANYWAY, Gaitonde gives an extremely long account of his past, and we see his journey from his childhood to becoming a drug lord / murderer / crazy person?
Meanwhile, Sartaj finds the lair, or rather, Gaitonde leads him to it, and then they BREAK DOWN A WALL to enter it:
There we find Gaitonde sitting on his throne, pointing the gun in his hand towards Sartaj:
Now, you may think that he's about to shoot Sartaj, but you would be WRONG. Because he goes ahead and SHOOTS HIMSELF! *GASPS*
BUT THEN, his eyes open all of a sudden and he recalls the part earlier in the episode where he refers to himself as "Ashwathama" (aka one who never dies):
HOW DOES ONE SURVIVE BLOWING THEIR BRAINS OUT WITH A GUN????? I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!!!!!...
...how is this Sartaj's reaction?? Why is it so subdued? Where is his GAPING OPEN MOUTH? How is his jaw not on the floor after seeing all this??
And that's the end of Episode 1. Parting thoughts for the first episode: Wtf did I just watch? This show is not for the faint-hearted. However, today I have learnt that I am faint-hearted. And I have never in my life been so confused.
Here are the questions I'm hoping the final episode answers:
1. DID GAITONDE ACTUALLY NOT DIE?
2. HOW DID HE KNOW SARTAJ'S DAD?
3. WHAT HAPPENS TO SARTAJ'S COURT CASE WITH THE 18-YEAR-OLD?
Now let's talk about the last episode of the second season, Radcliffe:
So, at the very beginning of this episode, we see that Shahid Khan (aka Ranvir Shorey) has entered the chat:
Okay, so for context, there's a nuclear explosion threat looming over the city of Mumbai at this point. And the Home Minister thinks the Chief Minister and Parulkar are responsible for not stopping it in time.
Meanwhile, it appears that Sartaj is now a part of some kind of a cult, where the dress code is strictly white:
There's a whitewashing joke here somewhere, but I won't make it only because I don't have all the facts, yet.
Hey there's Kalki Koechlin! With a picture of Pankaj Tripathi behind her...so I guess they're a part of his cult?
Also, Gaitonde’s friend — who Gaitonde talks about while narrating his life story — is back. And he's doing this...whatever this is:
Anyway, the point is that he's talking about Gaitonde in the present tense! SO IS GAITONDE ALIVE??
HE IS!!!!!!!!!!
And okay, I guess the most obvious explanation to this is that this is all happening as part of a flashback and not necessarily in real time...but I saw him blow his brains out earlier so you'll have to excuse my astonishment!
Anyway, this guy is trying to kill Gaitonde, but has been unsuccessful several times:
But before he was made to leave planet earth (by being hit by an iron rod over and over), he made sure to poke Gaitonde's weak ego:
Also, while I think we missed Guruji's (aka Pankaj Tripathi) appearance, we do hear him. He's apparently in Gaitonde's head, talking to him whenever he wants.
Now we move to Parulkar, who is wrought with guilt / fear / anger(?) and he decides to go to the CM's house and shoot him, shortly after which he shoots himself in the head...
Meanwhile Shahid Khan is setting up shop in an under-construction building in Powai:
And yes, he is, in fact, password protecting AND ACTIVATING a BOMB!
Also there's this weird sequence with Sartaj in this alternate reality type situation in which the blast has already happened and his wife is back in the house with him:
Also, this is just how Shahid Khan is sitting after shooting the police officer who drove him to wherever he is right now:
In other news, Sartaj manages to break out of the cult!!!
Now, here's when things get sticky. The timelines are so messed up here, and I'm guessing it would be less confusing if I watched the entire show BUT, OH WELL!
This is the girl (her name's Jojo, btw) that Gaitonde killed in the very first scene, alive and kicking:
But seriously, I still cannot understand what any of this has to do with the bomb situation? These feel like two very different problems...and nobody's talking about it.
Speaking of the bomb situation, Shahid Khan gets busted by the cops and the bomb squad is trying to diffuse the bomb he planted in five attempts with only 11 minutes and 43 seconds to crack the code.
BUT IT IS PASSWORD PROTECTED. So, they try to make him reveal his super-secret-bomb-deactivation password. But he refuses...so Sartaj shoots him!
Now, when they can't crack the code, Sartaj's team thinks that it is best to evacuate the premises, so they do just that. But Sartaj wants to stay and try to diffuse the bomb with only two attempts left. BAD MOVE!
So he sits down with this notebook and tries his luck...
In his last attempt, he's confused whether he should use the password that is written on the page with his own father's name or the one with Gaitonde's name. We then hear Gaitonde's voice saying it's not as simple as that.
I cannot explain how confusing it has been to figure out WTF is happening, timeline-wise. Every time I think I have it down, I don't. Maybe I'm stupid but I'm trying so hard here!
We immediately go back to flashbacks from the first episode of Gaitonde and Sartaj's conversation at the lair. BUT HOW DID GAITONDE WRITE / SAY ALL THIS WHEN HE DIED RIGHT IN THE BEGINNING???
I honestly don't even think I'm explaining my confusion correctly.
Anyway, Sartaj decides to use the password written against his father's page in the notebook and just as he does that...THE SHOW ENDS!!!
This is me RN:
Well, we're done! That was one confusing AF ride and my brain hurts. If you ask me what I understood, I wouldn't be able to tell you. Is that my own fault? Maybe.
For what it's worth, I think he got the code right, for two reasons:
1. Because Gaitonde called Sartaj to fix the mess, so maybe his father was the key! And...
2. There was supposed to be a third season before the show was cancelled so if there was nothing left, there wouldn't be talks of the third season to begin with. But I MAY BE WRONG. God knows, I have been before.