Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai
Mumbai, Nov 26: If there are just two words that capture the turning point in Indian entertainment in recent times, they are Sacred Games. Netflix’s first Indian original, adapted from Vikram Chandra’s acclaimed novel, was nothing short of a cultural storm — a show that rewrote the rules and reshaped the way India consumed stories on screen.
With Saif Ali Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui leading the cast, backed by powerful performances from Pankaj Tripathi, Ranvir Shorey, Aamir Bashir, Kalki Koechlin, Radhika Apte and others, the series — directed by Vikramaditya Motwane and Anurag Kashyap — delivered a gritty, pulsating Mumbai tale. It had all the punch that Bombay Velvet missed, and even though the second season couldn’t match the brilliance of the first, Sacred Games had already changed the game. It cemented the arrival of web series as a serious format and sparked a streaming revolution. After Netflix came Amazon Prime Video, followed by SonyLIV, Disney+ (now Jio Hotstar) and a host of Indian platforms.
A few months later, Amazon Prime unveiled Mirzapur, its own explosive original. With crime families, tense power struggles and unforgettable characters, the series — directed by Karan Anshuman, Gurmeet Singh and Mihir Desai — became an instant sensation. Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal, Vikrant Massey, Divyenndu Sharma, Shweta Tripathi and Shriya Pilgaonkar powered the show into the pop-culture zone.
By early 2020, as theatres shut due to the pandemic and film production slowed, viewers found themselves immersed in an unprecedented global buffet of OTT content. Subtitled or dubbed, long-form or short — the audience had never had it better. Today, instead of asking “How is the film?”, the question everyone asks is: OTT par kab aayegi?
Back in theatres, 2018 was a mixed bag. While the year delivered strong successes, it also gave us some spectacular disappointments — led by the much-hyped Thugs of Hindostan, with Zero not far behind.
Amid the clutter, several films rose above:
Badhai Ho (Amit Ravindernath Sharma)
Neena Gupta and Gajraj Rao were exceptional as a middle-aged couple grappling with an unexpected pregnancy. Ayushmann Khurrana and Sanya Malhotra rounded off this heartwarming, humorous family drama.
Andhadhun (Sriram Raghavan)
A razor-sharp thriller where Ayushmann Khurrana joined Tabu and Radhika Apte in a world of twists, deceit and dark humour — a film where everyone was blindsided by a scheming pianist.
Hichki (Sidharth P Malhotra)
Rani Mukerji delivered a sincere and uplifting performance as a teacher with Tourette’s syndrome, overcoming obstacles with resilience.
The year also offered other memorable gems:
Stree (Amar Kaushik)
Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor headlined this refreshing small-town feminist horror-comedy — a trendsetter that many attempted to replicate but never matched.
October (Shoojit Sircar)
Varun Dhawan shone in a tender, subdued coming-of-age story that stood apart for its quiet emotions and simplicity.
Veere Di Wedding (Shashanka Ghosh)
A breezy, bold and spirited female buddy comedy with Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sonam Kapoor, Swara Bhaskar and Shikha Talsania — a film that celebrated friendship and fearlessness.
Mukkabaaz (Anurag Kashyap)
A powerful tale of a small-town boxer, played brilliantly by Vineet Kumar Singh, marking one of the standout performances in Hindi cinema that year.
2018, in many ways, marked the dawn of a new era. With Sacred Games kicking open the door, Indian entertainment stepped into a landscape where storytelling became bolder, platforms multiplied, and the audience — spoilt for choice — discovered an entirely new way of watching.