With Sacred Games, Mumbai — called by its older name of Bombay throughout the series — is a magnificent backdrop to a series about police corruption, rampant crime and a mystery revolving around looming destruction that may or may not start with religious factions rising up to destroy the city. Sacred Games co-directors Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane take every opportunity to use the city as a functional, important character in the story, as is the case with New York or any number of smaller but distinct locales in American series. You can sense the gap in class structure, be overwhelmed by the density and broil in the sweat of its heat and rush of activity. There are long stretches of beautifully shot scenes where Mumbai/Bombay is as magnetic and nuanced as any character in the series. This is probably the only Indian show I can watch without drinking alcohol
