“He’s doing TV now?” So said a top female actor when she heard that Saif Ali Khan was about to star in a Netflix show. There was little understanding at the time about how massively streaming platforms would alter the entertainment landscape in India. Unlike the West, where major stars had already started to dabble in streaming shows — two-time Oscar-winner Kevin Spacey led Netflix’s first original series, House of Cards — Indian actors weren’t sure whether the small screen could ever be taken seriously. But Saif, who took pride in being well-versed in changing audience tastes, made headlines for being the first major Bollywood star to do a Netflix show, 2018’s crime-drama Sacred Games.
The show became a huge success, acclaimed for its dense narrative, ambitious themes, and for the performances of its lead duo, Saif and Nawazuddin Siddiqui. It inspired scores of copycats, and for a while, appeared to have ushered in a new era of storytelling in India. But after a period of tremendous productivity – streaming platforms brought with them a fearless abandon and deep pockets – the industry appeared to implode only a few years later. The ripple effects were felt also in the theatrical marketplace.
Also read – Vikramaditya Motwane reacts to Saif Ali Khan trashing Sacred Games season 2, explains ‘main reason’ it didn’t meet expectations
Ironically, it was another show starring Saif that fuelled this downward spiral. In 2021, only three years after the game-changing debut of Sacred Games, Saif starred in the political thriller series Tandav, created by filmmaker Ali Abbas Zafar for Netflix’s rival, Prime Video. Sacred Games had been moderately controversial for depicting a Hindu spiritual leader and its general political commentary. The industry, however, hadn’t seen backlash like the one Tandav attracted for some of its religiously-charged scenes. Police complaints were filed by detractors, not only against Ali Abbas Zafar, but also against Saif, who found himself in the unique position of being involved with the show that started it all, and another that ended it.
Sacred Games and the Rise of Streaming Platforms in India
But let’s recap the chain of events, and on Saif’s 54th birthday, look back on how he became among the most influential Indian stars of the last decade. “I hesitated about calling Saif Ali Khan for the longest time,” Vikramaditya Motwane, the showrunner and director of Sacred Games, told MensXP ahead of the release of the second season. “The pilot script for Sacred Games was ready, it was cracking, and we had to get into production in three months. But, armed with the confidence of Varun Grover’s written words, I sent him a tentative message about Netflix and the show, and crossed my fingers.” He added, “Sacred Games has blown up in ways we couldn’t imagine; OTT has taken off in ways we didn’t see coming; and I think credit must be given to Saif for legitimising what could have been a fringe platform.”
Saif Ali Khan in Sacred Games (Photo: Netflix)
Saif’s wife, Kareena Kapoor Khan, didn’t hesitate before crediting him for how influential he has been recently, having inspired several other stars to follow in his footsteps. Kareena herself made her streaming debut with the Netflix film Jaane Jaan. She told Film Companion in an interview, “He is quite a cinematic mind because he watches a lot of movies and we discuss a lot of films. He is also quite pathbreaking because he is one of the first actors who went to the OTT platform with Sacred Games. He has quite a crazy mind as an actor.”
Based on the novel by Vikram Chandra, the series followed the intersecting lives of two characters on opposite sides of the law — police officer Sartaj Singh, played by Saif, and the gangster Ganesh Gaitonde, played by Nawazuddin Siddiqui. Asked how Saif and Sacred Games changed the entertainment landscape in India, Chandra told MensXP, “In short: revolutionised it. I’m not just saying this because I’m connected to the project; it’s clear from the audience reception that there is a hunger for world-class content based on a thoroughly Indian context and ethos.”
The general mood at the time was that shows like Sacred Games would inspire more mature content. Bollywood had just witnessed a new wave of parallel cinema, fronted by filmmakers such as Anurag Kashyap, Vishal Bhardwaj, Dibakar Banerjee, and others. Streaming, it was felt, would only give directors like them the budgets and support that they were greatly lacking.
Saif himself seemed optimistic. He said in the same article, “The fact that there is lack of censorship and we will be able to tell our stories in truth is exciting. I don’t like the idea of too many constraints. So this book is so layered and to present that without having to go to 500 institutions and seek permission to express yourself freely is good.” His words would one day come to bite him.
Tandav and the Fall of Streaming’s Golden Era
Shortly after the release of Tandav in 2021, things snowballed. A scene involving actor Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub was singled out by detractors because it offended their religious sensibilities. Amid increasing backlash, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, then headed by Prakash Javadekar, asked Amazon to explain itself, as a senior executive for the streamer was slapped with an FIR. Subsequently, Ali Abbas Zafar apologised for the hurt the show had caused, and the objectionable scene was removed. Ayyub said he didn’t have a job for six months after the controversy began. The damage, however, had already been done.
Saif Ali Khan-led political drama series Tandav marked the digital debut of director Ali Abbas Zafar. (Photo: Amazon Prime Video)
Wary of facing similar backlash, streamers quietly cancelled potentially provocative programming, and introduced new guidelines that practically put an end to anything with even the slightest whiff of politics or religion. Washington Post reported that high-profile shows such as Maximum City, to be directed by Kashyap, was cancelled after being green-lit. The filmmaker said that he slipped into a depression following the cancellation of his passion project. He also shared that this was the time he suffered two heart attacks. The director said, “Maximum City was where all my energy went. I was heartbroken. I totally lost it.”
Read more – Netflix abandoned Vikramaditya Motwane’s Indira Gandhi documentary, Anurag Kashyap’s magnum opus after Tandav controversy
The Backlash: Impact on Content and Creators
Wary of facing similar backlash, streamers quietly cancelled potentially provocative programming, and introduced new guidelines that practically ended anything with even the slightest whiff of politics or religion. Washington Post reported that high-profile shows such as Maximum City, to be directed by Kashyap, were cancelled after being green-lit. The filmmaker said that he slipped into a depression following the cancellation of his passion project. He also shared that this was the time he suffered two heart attacks. The director said, “Maximum City was where all my energy went. I was heartbroken. I totally lost it.”
Read more – Netflix abandoned Vikramaditya Motwane’s Indira Gandhi documentary, Anurag Kashyap’s magnum opus after Tandav controversy
Also on the chopping block was a documentary film about Indira Gandhi, directed by Motwane, and a fully completed film called Tees, directed by Dibakar Banerjee. Suddenly, the filmmakers most instrumental in introducing Netflix to Indian audiences found their projects being canned by the streamer. “Netflix has never given me any other reason except they don’t know if this is the right time to release the film,” Banerjee told Deadline, adding that he was barred from screening the film at festivals, but has been allowed to show it to potential new buyers. The Washington Post reported that the streamer invested over $1 million into Motwane’s documentary, before getting cold feet about the parallels it draws to the current regime’s tactics. Netflix has since relinquished the rights to the film.
A third season of Sacred Games was also removed from the slate, Kashyap told Mashable India. “OTT ki aaj ki date mein himmat nahi hai, Tandav ke baad sab dar gaye hain,” he said. Addressing the situation in an interview with The Lallantop, he said, “There have been leadership changes and policy changes at streaming companies. There was a show called Gormint which never came out. A lot has changed, and we’ve suffered because of it, on health and otherwise,” he said, referring to Prime Video’s political satire series, which would’ve starred Irrfan Khan in the lead role. After the actor died in 2020, the role was recast with Manav Kaul. But a year later, following the Tandav controversy, it was decided that there was no reason to proceed with it.
Saif has since shifted his focus to more mainstream films, and has also starred in Adipurush, which was viewed as an attempt to appease to the same demographic that found fault in Tandav. “I feel like I’ve had a certain kind of mindset maybe. The thoughts are current. Shah Rukh once told me, ‘People don’t get old, their thinking gets old first’,” Saif said in an interview with Bollywood Bubble once. And this is the thought process that he seems to be holding onto.
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