The dialogue by Sacred Games' Ganesh Gaitonde, 'Kabhi Kabhi lagta hai apun hi bhagwan hai' is leading the pack with other moments following closely behind. Apart from being a treasure trove of hilarious and scary dialogues, Sacred Games has also become a goldmine of memes. The highly acclaimed Netflix original, which stars Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Saif Ali Khan and Radhika Apte among many others, has taken the internet by storm with and endless supply of memes and jokes. The dialogue by Siddiqui's character Ganesh Gaitonde, "Kabhi kabhi lagta hai apun hi bhagwan hai" is leading the pack with other moments following closely behind. Here are some of the most funny, imaginative and downright hilarious Sacred Games memes and jokes: Whenever I see a Sacred Games poster with Saif wearing a turban, 'Aaj Din Chadheya' starts playing in my head. — Raunak (@MeraHandle) July 8, 2018 When she calls you and asks, “Kidhar ho?” and you reply “tumhare dil mei” pic.twitter.com/rRUGdQwnMb — Pakchikpak Raja Babu (@HaramiParindey) July 9, 2018 Disappointed in #SacredGames Saif Ali Khan didn't say "Wow" even once. 😑😣 — Vidhi Parvani (@ParvaniVidhi) July 9, 2018 Marathi Cows give Tonned Milk too, when you say Gaitonde. — Vishesh Arora (@vishesharora19) July 7, 2018 Relatives : hum chalte hain Mom : Arey mera beta khaali baitha hai yeh drop kar aayega aapko Me : pic.twitter.com/pWzgtaog5e — Pakchikpak Raja Babu (@HaramiParindey) July 9, 2018 Autowallahs in Mumbai be like... pic.twitter.com/25eCobxrfG — Shakti Shetty (@Shakti_Shetty) July 10, 2018 sab mar jayenge, sirf Dravid hi bachega pic.twitter.com/4wZiLnfKT6 — Gaitonde Chikna (@Madan_Chikna) July 19, 2018 American guy- hey.. suggest me some good Indian TV series Me- Watch sacred games on Netflix He- ok *1Day later* Me- Wassup He- Thik hu Madarchod — Tweet Chor👑 (@Pagal_aurat) July 17, 2018 Me : * Checks Bank Balance * ATM : pic.twitter.com/vHRDUAIsjf — Bollywood Gandu (@BollywoodGandu) July 17, 2018 "Inke pitaji ke pass bhot saara paisa hai." pic.twitter.com/zdEnHJxK8l — Nikhil (@niquotein) July 13, 2018 Sacred Games episode one take away Saif ko crime ki tip bhi nepotism ki wajah se milti hain — denny (@dennymades) July 7, 2018 Katekar when Sartaj calls pic.twitter.com/tLDKNCmSOG — Krish Jain (@KrishJain15) July 16, 2018 (Also read: With Sacred Games, Saif Ali Khan rises above starry trappings to build a universally resonant character)<doc-sep>When you subscribe we will use the information you provide to send you these newsletters. Sometimes they'll include recommendations for other related newsletters or services we offer. Our Privacy Notice explains more about how we use your data, and your rights. You can unsubscribe at any time. Sacred Games dropped on Netflix this month and all 10 episodes are available to stream or download in one go on Netflix. The series is based on the critically acclaimed 2006 novel of the same name by Vikram Chandra. Netflix has not officially confirmed the second season of Sacred Games yet but fans are expecting there to be at least four seasons as season one only covers the first quarter of the novel. The official synopsis of the show reads: “A policeman, a criminal overlord, a Bollywood film star, politicians, cultists, spies, and terrorists—the lives of the privileged, the famous, the wretched, and the bloodthirsty interweave with cataclysmic consequences amid the chaos of modern-day Mumbai. “The eight-episode thriller follows the riveting journey of Sartaj Singh (played by Saif Ali Khan), a seasoned, cynical police officer, and Anjali Mathur (Radhika Apte), an intelligence officer, to the centre of a mysterious web woven the powerful criminal overlord, Ganesh Gaitonde (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). “The plot twists and turns along the dark alleys of Mumbai, with Ganesh and Sartaj tightening their grip on each other and staking everything on victory, including the city itself.” WHAT DOES VIKRAM CHANDRA THINK ABOUT SACRED GAMES ON NETFLIX?<doc-sep>Sacred Games is an uncompromising and unconditional love letter to Mumbai and her people. Shot from the perspective of the show’s two leads, Ganesh Gaitonde (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) and Sartaj Singh (Saif Ali Khan), we see just how the city lives (“forts rising out of garbage dumps”), eats (a Brahmin-only Hindu Hotel serves rice mixed with baking soda but promises a Muslim-free, vegetarian experience) and loves (without the straight-jacket of the Indian censor board; the show features a lot of sex). Official poster for Sacred Games This isn’t Bollywood’s song-and-dance infused India nor is this Hollywood’s whitewashed India (think, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and Slumdog Millionaire). This is the real Mumbai, the real India - in all her gruesome, grimy, unsettling glory. The power of good casting The style of the show follows the popular mystery-box model (like that of Westworld), which means the series is heavy on both plot and character development and is essentially a puzzle for the audience to solve. In the first 10 minutes, Gaitonde, a self-proclaimed God, appears with a prophecy: Mumbai and her people will cease to exist in 25 days. The show then oscillates between the past and present (beginning somewhere in the '80s immediately after the assassination of Indira Gandhi and her succession by son Rajiv Gandhi — a controversial step that’s currently the subject of a BJP lawsuit). What makes Sacred Games really stand out is the ridiculous amount of talent that is clearly apparent both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. I predict an award for Nawazuddin this year as he very much gets to walk away from the first season with the best lines, the best over-the-top gangster chic wardrobe, the best (and most) sex, and the best (and most gratuitous) violence. Both Siddiqui (with his quintessentially maniacal eye glint) and Khan (appearing as a sardar jee for the second time since Love Aaj Kal and for the third time as a stern, gun-toting ball-buster since Raabta and Kurbaan) are the right choices. But it’s the rest of the cast — including my personal favorite Jitendra Joshi (the ultimate colleague/sidekick we could all use), Radhika Apte (who is a must-watch in several other quality indie films), and Jatin Sharma and Neeraj Kabi (both evil personified who somehow still manage to gain our respect and sympathies) — who really make the series really shine. Naturally, Siddiqui as the villainous lead, Ganesh Gaitonde, gets to have all the fun. Probably more than anyone else on the show including Khan’s character Sartaj Singh (a down-and-out local cop who has never solved a case in his life), it’s Gaitonde with the best script and most character and plot versatility and maneuverability. I predict an award for him this year as he very much gets to walk away from the first season with the best lines, the best over-the-top gangster chic wardrobe, the best (and most) sex, and the best (and most gratuitous) violence. Besides Siddiqui, there’s a few other reasons why Sacred Games is a fairly worthwhile Netflix binge. A show that gives its audience some credit In what feels reminiscent of Life of Pi, the show spends a lot of time exploring nuanced themes like corruption and religious fanaticism. What I liked most was that this done in an easy-to-follow historically authentic way (there are frequent flashbacks to black and white footage of some of India’s most tumultuous phases including the demolition of the Babri Masjid, the Shah Bano Begum case and Indira Gandhi’s castration campaign.) Along with being grounded in the political and historical realities of the region, the other thing the show does right is killing off some of its most important characters. Indeed, some of the best action dramas of our time (The Wire, Sopranos, Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones to name a few) have happily killed off their most loved characters. I think this is part of the reason why these shows keep us hooked. Action dramas are just so much better when the risk of death is not just inevitable but also credible. A constant criticism I have with Bollywood and Hollywood is their unwillingness to give their audiences anything less than a satisfactory ending. This problem also exists with most action dramas on cable TV. Because such programs don’t have budgets for a rotating cast of A-list talent and because they don’t want to risk losing fans, they don’t kill off characters (or if they do they make a point of bringing them back through some inexplicable resurrection or improbable survival story). But well-funded programs that are not beholden to advertisers and fickle audiences (such as HBO, AMC and Netflix) don’t necessarily have the same concerns. Indeed, some of the best action dramas of our time (The Wire, Sopranos, Breaking Bad and Game of Thrones to name a few) have happily killed off their most loved characters. I think this is part of the reason why these shows keep us hooked. Action dramas are just so much better when the risk of death is not just inevitable but also credible. Real life doesn’t come in a self-contained sugarcoated package. Not only do the creators of Sacred Games understand this, they also trust their audience’s intelligence. They know today’s audience has a lot to choose from and because of this we are both a sophisticated and picky lot. We want to see real life, real stories and real people mimicked on our screens. We don’t want watered down half-truths. The Sacred Games gives us just that. Sacred Games is paced well but it isn't perfect Another reason the show works well is because it’s styled as an eight-hour long series instead of the typical three-hour Bollywood film. Technically, given the plot and cast of the show, The Sacred Games could’ve been a movie. But by spreading the action across eight hours, the audience gets more refined and artistically realised character and plot development that just isn’t possible on the big screen. And perhaps because there are no time constraints or for that matter no censor board constraints, the show doesn’t have to hold back. Instead, the creators dive deep into the nitty-gritties of Mumbai’s corruption, elitism, nepotism and sexism. From insinuations of corruption within Indian NGOs, state agencies including RAW and the police and even within Bollywood, the show doesn’t trade in subtleties. Of course, not holding back doesn’t mean that everything is necessary. The last 10 minutes of the final episode (typically when a most crucial cliffhanger needs to happen) definitely left a lot to be desired. Kind of like the complaint I have with the bit family drama This Is Us, the final episode felt redundant, almost as if it was circling its goal and unnecessarily belabouring the mystery to the point that I just checked out. Which is not good because they definitely want the audience to be dying to check back in if they are wanting to be picked up for a second season. Another problem I had with the show was that some things felt like they were just said or done with almost no follow through later on. For instance, Radhika Apte’s character is given a big feminist moment in which she calls out her bosses at RAW for confining her to a desk job instead of letting her be a field agent because she’s a woman. Sadly, not only does the show never again address this very pivotal point but shamelessly kills off Apte’s character within five minutes of her going into the field alone. I guess that women really are better suited for desk jobs then? It’s hard to say because the show doesn’t bother with any follow up or follow through. Equally frustrating is the number of times things just seem to happen without little to no explanation for how we got there. I lost count of the number of times Sartaj Singh just so happens to stumble across the very thing he needed to find. Never mind that we are in a city of 18 million and slums no less complex than a house of mirrors.<doc-sep>
Mumbai: Actress Rajshri Deshpande is on every one’s newsfeed after her much talked about role in Netflix’s first original Indian series, ‘Sacred Games’. Her nuanced portrayal of Subhadra, the wife of notorious gangster Ganesh Gaitonde (played by Nawazuddin Sidiqqui) earned her instant applause. And a particular love-making scene which required the actress to go topless has become an overnight sensation. But what fans may not know is that apart from being an actor, Rajshri is also a developmental activist and runs her own NGO to work with marginalized communities such as farmers, women and transpersons. “I hate the term activist or social worker. It limits people. I don’t do anything extraordinary or special. I only listen to people and by listening I can feel their pain and I naturally just want to help them,” the actress told News18. Rajashri got her NGO ‘Nabhangan’ registered six months ago. But her involvement in social work dates back all the way to 2008 when she quit her job in advertising. “That was the time when I started travelling and reading a lot. I did not have that much money and I liked travelling so I took the bus, the train, I stayed in people’s houses, I met a lot of people. Travelling through rural Maharashtra, I realized that villages suffered from various economic and social distresses that could only be understood at the ground level. Coming from a humble background myself, I decided to start working toward uplifting marginalized sections,” Rajshri said. Rajshri was born to middle-class parents in the small town of Aurangabad near Pune. Though never wanting, the actress remembers having to curtail some luxuries after the 20th of every month so that her family could maintain, feeding, clothing and educating her and her two sisters. Her parents’s roots in farming also gave her an early insight into the woes of farmers in Maharashtra. The actress’s first major tryst with social work came during the 2015 droughts when she worked on a water harvesting project in a Maharashtra village. Since then, she has worked for several causes at an independent level such as women’s empowerment, sanitation, and transgender rights. She believes that change begins at home and that to help people, one does not need to travel to villages. “Oppressed people are all around us. Your maid, your driver, anyone can be a victim of oppression. I try to listen to all the people that I meet and sure enough I find ways to help them if they need it,” the actress said. Dismissing the negative publicity she received for her topless scene in the Anurag Kashyap directed original series, the actress said that she was unperturbed by the trolling and that she would rather like to focus on the appreciations she has received. “If you are doing good work and are known for your work, that’s all that matters. I have always done interesting roles and I will continue to look for meaningful work,” the actress said. The actor, who has also appeared in Angry Indian Goddesses and S Durga apart from several plays in Hindi and Marathi, said that though the fame she has gained through acting has definitely helped her with her social, popularity was just a consequence of her work. But, the actress said she aims to make the best of it. “I don’t know how much the show’s publicity will help my NGO or my social work as this sort of work is very individualistic and can only bear fruit if one is truly committed to the cause. But if it does, why would I be complaining?”