Netflix to make first Indian series Sacred Games

Netflix has recently announced that it will be producing its first original Indian series, an adaptation of Vikram Chandra’s novel, Sacred Games.

According to an article in The Guardian, the upcoming series will be produced in Mumbai in Hindi and English. While it will target local audiences, it will also be available to Netflix subscribers around the world.

A statement from Netflix describes Sacred Games as a series that will “delve into the financial capital’s intricate web of organised crime, corruption, politics and espionage that lie beneath India’s economic renaissance.”

Chandra expressed his excitement about the project, saying:

“I am confident that all the colour and vitality and music of the fictional world I’ve lived with for so long will come fully alive on the large-scale canvas provided by Netflix.”

Phantom Films co-founder, Madhu Mantena, which is working with Netflix on producing the show, said:

“We are extremely confident that together, we will create some exciting and groundbreaking television content.”

Sacred Games was published in 2007 and has received several awards including the National Book Critics Circle Award and the Salon Book Award. The 900-page novel explores various themes including crime and corruption, as well as the violence of the 1947 partition of India.

As Netflix begins to produce content in India, its greatest challenge will be the rampant piracy of film and television series in the country. This issue is elaborated by Ishani Shukla, a Netflix subscriber:

“The problem in India is that as soon as a new movie or TV show comes 
out, you can get a pirated version immediately online. It’s easy to stream or download movies online, and there’s not much regulation to stop people making copies of it. Even on the roadsides, they sell knock-off DVDs of new films. That will be a bigger problem for Netflix than any competing companies or lousy internet connections.”

Watch this space for more updates on Sacred Games.