Netflix—

I remember the first season of Sacred Games very fondly. Living in London at the time, it was a refreshing change to hear Nawaz and Saif cuss their way through eight hours of dark and delightful television. In Hindi. The off-handed familiar (and familial) swear words thrown into regular sentences, like peanuts in Poha, made me nostalgic for home.

And this wasn’t just some perverse delight I had grown into, having grown-up in North India. My best friend, an hour away in Cambridge, shared the same excitement and enthusiasm about hearing Saif Ali Khan answer phone calls with a foul mouth. And he had exchanged India for England when he was 11.

So when Season 2 dropped this year, I was excited to share this nostalgia once again. But my best friend was now over 8 hours in flights away, and nearing a hectic end of a first year of PhD. I had no choice but to text him the hilarious captions that filled in the occasional silences - in an attempt to lure him into the seedy underbelly of Indian Netflix.

Season 1

I dont know how anyone keeps up with plots anymore. Coming on the heels of an exciting year in TV - Killing Eve, Derry Girls, Bojack Horseman - I would have been lost without a rewatch of Season 1.

Some captions maintained continuity across episodes.

Others made absolutely sure you knew what was happening.

Back to filling the silences with wanton music.

Season 2

A day later than planned, but this season didn’t disappoint either. The screenwriters at Netflix (yes thats what I call them) moved on from silences, to adding subtext to actual conversations.

But soon they were back to what they do best.

For what they are, these screenwriters are pretty good. After all, they are in competition with real gems like this one.