Netflix's first original series from India, 'Sacred Games,' is an addictive crime thriller with a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes

Netflix

"Sacred Games."

• "Sacred Games," the first Netflix original series from India, debuted Friday to a 100% "fresh" rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
• The crime thriller is an adaptation of a best-selling 2006 novel by Vikram Chandra.
• Its first eight-episode season is now streaming on Netflix.

Netflix's first original series from India, crime thriller "Sacred Games," debuted Friday to overwhelmingly positive reviews from critics.

The show centers on a Sikh cop in the Mumbai police force named Sartaj Singh (played by Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan), and an enigmatic Mumbai criminal, Gaitonde (Nawazuddin Siddiqui). At the start of the series, Gaitonde calls Singh to inform him of an impending attack on the city that is set to take place in 25 days.

Adapted from a best-selling 2006 novel by Vikram Chandra, the series currently has a 100% "fresh" rating on the reviews aggregator Rotten Tomatoes. 

"Sacred Games" is Netflix's first original release in a campaign to reach India, one of the largest potential international markets for the streaming service. Netflix India officially launched back in 2016, but its growth and viewership in the country has lagged behind its streaming rival Amazon in the intervening years.

"Sacred Games" represents a renewed effort from Netflix to reach India's more than 1 billion potential viewers. 

Critics lauded the series in advance of its release on Friday, highlighting it as a fresh take on the crime genre and commending Saif Ali Khan's performance as Singh. 

Mike Hale for The New York Times praised the alternating styles of the show in a review, writing: "The combination of dark humor and operatic violence may call to mind 'Fargo'; the slightly hyperbolic characterizations and stylized dialogue are akin to those in 'Luke Cage.'"

"'Sacred Games' feels like it could be an especially interesting addition to this genre. The questions surrounding Gaitonde's identity and mortality inject this common story with a dose of supernatural shock," Kayla Cobb from Collider wrote in a review. 

Watch the trailer for the series below and catch its first eight-episode season on Netflix.