India's first homegrown Netflix original series Sacred Games is the talk of the town ever since its first season has aired on the streaming platform. The web-series starring Saif Ali Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika Apte in leads has received a terrific response from all over the world and the fans are now breathlessly awaiting its second season, the shooting for which begins in November in Mumbai.
The second season of this larger-than-life gangster-cop saga is expected to be more gripping compared to the first season, with more emotions, stress, actions and bomb threats. Pankaj Tripathi — who was seen in a cameo role of a godman called Guru Ji whom Nawazuddin Siddiqui's character Ganesh Gaitonde describes as his "third father" because he influenced him more than anyone else and taught him the tricks of the trade — will play the central role alongside Siddiqui in the second part. It will explore his character further and show him as the mastermind behind the chains of events in the next season spread across eight episodes.
However, this will not be the only major change in Sacred Games Season Two. We have learnt that Saif will get a new director to helm his portions in the series. While the first season was jointly helmed by Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane shooting Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Saif and Radhika's portions respectively, the second season will no longer have Motwane calling the shots on set.
Peepingmoon has learnt that Masaan fame Neeraj Ghaywan has come on board to direct Saif Ali Khan's portions in the second season whereas the portions featuring Siddiqui and Tripathi will be helmed by Kashyap. Motwane will be credited as the showrunner. Saif is apparently very excited to work with Ghaywan and explore their creative energies.
According to the source, Motwane was under the pressure during the filming of the first season as he was showrunning and directing it at the same time. Handling both works didn't suit him and hence he has decided to just show run this time giving the director's responsibility to Neeraj Ghaywan.