Sacred Games 2 Is Unnecessary, Vile and Venomous

Sacred Games 2(Netflix)

Starring Saif Ali Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Kalki Koechlin, Ranvir Shorey

Directed by Neeraj Ghaywan & Vikramaditya Motwane

Rating: **(2stars)

  Sigh. Mumbai is again under  siege.Nuclear attack being planned , no  less, this time. And  the  monstrously notorious  foul-mouthed and evil-minded  Gaitonde is back to create  another season  of  havoc in a series whose  massive global  success  has surprised many, stunned none.

What  is  it that  makes this heavily dense  and  ponderous  parable  of a   crime combat  between  a cop and a sociopath, so widely  appreciated? Is  it  the  unabashed  language and  brazen  depiction  of  bodily functions. One  character  who we are  told has an erectile dysfunction, gets a remedial treatment  from an obliging lady in  aswimmingpool.

This character  , we  are told, thinks with his private part. I am not too  sure which part of the body the  writers  of Sacred  Games 2 think with. Everything that  was apparently appreciated  in  the  first season has been amplified manifold in  the second season. There  is more darkness spreading itself out from the  characters’  hearts  into the  farthest  distance  of  this series’  godforsaken  horizon. There is a  moment of anguished self-mortification betweenSaif and his estranged wife where he  begs  her  to  return to his lonely life.  Saif  moves around with a bloodied  severed thumb, and I wondered  if that thumb is  indicative of  the wounded  city of Mumbai.

There  is  more  bleakness  and  wretchedness too. I couldn’t see  a single  happy character in the entire length and  breadth   of  the  series. No one  laughs except to  mock another. The  humour, if it can be called that is  incredibly  cheerless. Gainkonde in Mombassa,  tells the  hotheaded  Bunty(Jatin Sarna)   in Mumbai  he is gone off to  the moon.

Bunty’s gaze  goes  up in the sky.  LOL.

Even the  new characters  introduced  in Season  2 are up to no good, for themselves  or others. 

Pankaj Tripathy as  a cryptic  guru has the most interesting lines and  a  character that  spreads itself out  gradually into  a bewildering arc of  demoniacal destruction. The tension that was  built organically  into the plot in Season 1 , here seems forced and  shoved  into a landscape that is as barren  as  an artificial  grass carpet spread  in a highrise livingroom.

 Frankly  there is  very  little to appreciate in   this season  of  Sacred Games. Even  the  performances appear  strangely detached with Saif Ali Khan  deliberately playing down his characters’ tensions   to let his archrivalscream through a  role that grows  progressively  socio-pathic.  Gaekonde’s foul  language gets tiring after a  while .The amount of times he  uses  the  crude term  for the male  private  part  makes one wonder  if we are to read something Freudian in that script.

There is way too much happening on  screen  in this season . The  violence that undercuts and  defines  the  drama is  purposely overbearing.Mumbai is finally saved. I am  not  too sure about the series.