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Netflix Makes a Statement in India with “Sacred Games”
- hsljekskfh 8y agoboy does this read like pr.
- cloudblockchain 8y agoI'm waiting for Netflix to show a picture of mohammad of they want to make a statement.
- hannofcart 8y agoIt's not just 'Sacred Games'. Other Netflix originals like 'Lust Stories' are breaking the Bollywood mould and telling stories that are too taboo for Bollywood. Great job, Netflix!
- iKSv2 8y agoTo be honest, its less about being a Taboo (see films like Chameli, Chandni Bar, Fashion) have tried telling taboo stories. Its the censor board which is so inconsistent that it doesn't even make sense. This platform helps them bypass it and its working, and its also being accepted by the viewers . Win-Win-Win
- taherchhabra 8y agoCensor board can censor Netflix as well if it gains critical mass in India. So the platform cannot help bypass the censor board
- riantogo 8y agoNot true. Doesn’t apply to television and internet.
- walrus01 8y agoDoesn't mean technologically ignorant judges and government agencies haven't tried their best to censor things on the Internet: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_India https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_censorship_in_India
- iKSv2 8y agoThey can not. As long as its on Internet. They might have to ban Netflix in India all together, If I am not mistaken.
- dmix 8y agoMaybe I'm biased coming from (North) American culture but I'm always amazed at the level of government intervention Indians tolerate. Every time I read about the regulatory landscape there it blows my mind (ie, hearing how a truck delivering something across the country needs to stop 8 times in every county they pass to make sure they have proper paperwork). It's always terribly excessive and almost illogical by design (arbitrary laws to give abitrary power to the individuals impementing it).
- iKSv2 8y ago"It's always terribly excessive and almost illogical by design" Well, its a basic human emotion, greed. Never gets satisfied. However absurd it might get.
- repsilat 8y agoI think they're mostly being careful. In polite, educated society Netflix's content isn't going to cause any problems, but in some places there is a real danger to public order from broadcast media. "Fake news" has resulted in the deaths of dozens of people in India this year[1]. I think reasonable people should value free and uncensored media, but I also think reasonable people can disagree on the degree to which that freedom should be valued relative to public safety. It's certainly ugly to think "only people who can afford Netflix can be trusted to watch controversial content and not kill each other" though. 1: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-44897714 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-44897714
- dmix 8y agoMy response is the potential for abuse and the natural growth in scale and scope of oversight negates the utility of such control of media. I'd bet a thousand dollars for every violent act prevented through censure there were 100 arbitrary, social, or overly careful controls that had little real benefit to society. If America took this advice they'd have banned goth music and violent video games in a 'think of the children' antiviolence bullshit narrative. Not to mention the idea you can regulate your way out of 'fake news' (even ignoring the massive cost to culture, political freedom, and spread of knowledge) is ridiculous and naive.
- bcosynot 8y agoI wasn't expecting much from lust stories, but it was surprisingly (for me) good and compelling. Sacred games was everything I expected and more! Hopefully moves like this will raise the bar for TV programming across the country. Or atleast for the target audience I'm part of.
- SuperNinKenDo 8y agoI have to say, this article's writing did a good job of getting me interested in the material.
- r_singh 8y agoI'm from Btown. With its latest Indian content, Netflix has really made a statement about what it can do with original content made for this market. Consciously working with the best in Bollywood and giving them creative freedom that the internet provides (traditionally censor board in India is conservative and absurd). Amazon Prime too has made strides in acquiring and producing content for the Indian market. But both have clearly taken a different stance in doing so. Amazon is quick to acquire bollywood movies for Prime and from Netflix's latest content, it appears that they have potential to replace bollywood bangers.
- achow 8y agoI think if Netflix is smart and continues on this path then they can really cause a disruption in movie production houses in India. The current Indian movie production houses are family or driven by an individual's vision (whether Karan Johar's, Salman Khan's, Yash Chopra's..). The new age creatives don't have sponsors who can relate to the way they want to a tell story or the theme of the stories that they want to tell. It is not very unlike tech funding situation. The Indian movie industry is perhaps where tech industry and funding was half century ago. The VCs of that era probably had very specific non-risky areas that they wanted to invest in and there was no way to get funding if you had an idea which was way beyond their comprehension or comfort zone. Netflix with their war-chest, openness and brand equity has a true opportunity to steamroll the existing archaic business practices which probably hasn't evolved over last 100 years.
- r_singh 8y agoYou're right about the possibility of causing disruption (most likely will). However, the reason isn't because old production houses don't want to or cannot make content like Netflix (because it's going to be the same people working on Netflix's content). It's because traditional cinema and Netflix have a different audience and Netflix gives the same film makers access to an audience whose critical appreciation for content is different from that of the masses.
- achow 8y ago
- shaan7 8y agoUnfortunately I don't think it will last. Indian government + its agencies are very conservative and I'm sure they will be making attempts at censoring Netflix in India.
- psergeant 8y agoI bet the spending power of non-India Indians in the rest of the world is huge.
- r_singh 8y ago"non-India Indians" are called NRIs (non-resident Indians). And you're right, in the list of ethnic groups in USA by household income, Indian Americans rank number 1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_groups_in_the_United_States_by_household_income https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ethnic_groups_in_the_U...
- forapurpose 8y agoI've watched a couple modern Indian films recently, and the characters switch effortlessly between English and Hindi, sometimes in mid-sentence. More than once I even saw one character ask a question in Hindi and the other quote them in English: for example, (in Hindi:) 'Aren't I the smartest guy in the world?'; (in English:) 'No, you aren't "the smartest guy in the world".'. I've been wondering: What is the subtext, what are the implications, of using English or of switching languages? There must be some and I'm missing the subtleties. EDIT: clarification
- namanyayg 8y agoVernacular use has not many such "subtleties", except maybe that some sentences flow better when translated to English. I have not seen much vernacular use of this "quoting" phenomenon you noticed in sacred games, I think that is mainly to offer a clearer understanding to a multilingual audience.
- forapurpose 8y ago> I have not seen much vernacular use of this "quoting" phenomenon you noticed in sacred games To be clear, that phenomenon wasn't common, it was just a powerful example: The second character had just heard the words in Hindi and yet chose to repeat them in English.
- happy-go-lucky 8y agoIt’s a blend of Hindi and English (Hinglish). Here’s a wiki you may find interesting. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinglish https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinglish > Hinglish, a portmanteau of Hindi and English,[1] is the macaronic hybrid use of English and South Asian languages from across the Indian subcontinent, involving code-switching between these languages whereby they are freely interchanged within a sentence or between sentences.[2] While the name is based on the Hindi language, it does not refer exclusively to Hindi, but "is used in India, with English words blending with Punjabi, and Hindi, and also in British Asian families to enliven standard English".
- pavanky 8y ago
- gordon_freeman 8y agoScared Games is awesome. There's also another original documentary series Netflix recently launched which is 'Wild Wild Country' and its based on cult Indian figure Osho and the time he spent in Oregon. It's worth watching too.
- Jenya_ 8y agoI watched recently similar documentary on youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwx9nqknu-c https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gwx9nqknu-c
- rtcoolaid 8y agoTime for Indians to start ducking up this place , god Lord can we just create bother hacker news for India to keep them from here? Copier news actually
- wheresvic1 8y agoMost bollywood fare needs to cater to the masses (a large chunk of whom are semi-literate) in order to make money. Netflix's audience is by nature literate and middle-class with a decent internet connection at home. They can happily switch between Hindi, English and don't mind reading subtitles for Marathi if they don't already speak it. Kudos to them for recognizing this market at the very least and attempting a show like this. I binged watched the show in 3 days and while it was interesting and wildy different from normal bollywood fare, I did not find it ultra amazing or anything compared to, say AGOT for example.
- nonamechicken 8y agoI had the same feeling. Nothing awesome about the show. One thing I have begun to dislike with Netflix in general is most of their shows are extreme. Either too violent and dark or way too silly. I cannot watch them just for the sake of time pass or enjoyment without having negative emotions that sometimes lasts for days. Nowadays, even with a Netflix account, 99% of my TV is YouTube. Still I decided to watch Sacred Games since its based on India. Violence and sex on it were not something we would see in an Indian TV show, but overall entertainment value was lacking. The RAW officers were too simple. I find it hard to believe that this is how they operate. Also, its strange that some Indians think showing sex scenes as progressive. I don't want to see sex in regular movie. If I want to watch sex, I will go and watch porn. If one wants to see violence and gore, there are plenty of other websites. Please don't bring it to the masses in the name of progressiveness. Before anybody labels me as Taliban, I fully support public nudity. But sex scenes in these shows and movies are not real. Nudity in movies is a cheap way to get the audience. Make a mediocre show, sprinkle some sex scenes and violence here and there, profit.
- ss2003 8y agoYou hit the nail on the head about Netflix. There is so much low quality content on it that it makes me eye everything they offer skeptically. There are so many great movies out there, why are none of them available on Netflix or Prime?
- actuator 8y agoNever thought I would see stuff like this on HN. https://imgur.com/a/BlfhrPv https://imgur.com/a/BlfhrPv
- r_singh 8y agoI agree with you, I was surprised to see this on the front page as well. I guess it's because this is Netflix's [being a California tech company] first real effort to enter the Indian market. Hence it implies the consequences this launch could have on its position [and Prime's too] in the Indian market as it establishes itself in a country with a [relatively] mature entertainment / cinema industry. Now that it's here, it's good for you to have commented here expressing your concern. However, the comments you've linked surprise me even more as they represent pure hate. I'm curious to know which forum they are from, anyone?
- r_singh 8y agoJust realised that I can see those comments on the bottom of the page after enabling 'show dead' in my HN settings.
- naruvimama 8y agoIn a world where state backed religions and religion backed states exists. Where the funds and man power set aside for religious expansion in the organised religions is more than the defence budgets of many countries. Censorship and reflection of bias is important. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV5eE3SENo0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vV5eE3SENo0 Takes a good look at bias and dishonesty in Bollywood. Netflix can also fall victim to "moles" just like the BBC.
- TheArcane 8y agoDid you just try to make an argument for why censorship is important? Because don't see anything. It's amazing how the conservative Hindu majority of India has been convinced that they're in danger of unseen forces.
- pkphilip 8y agoPrecisely. It is not just that. The Hindu right wing have been sold narrative - a version of history where they are told that they are denied their "right" place in history - at the very top of all world cultures, only because of the pesky minorities. So they should subjugate the minorities and cast them to the fringes so that the "great" Hindu nation can rise again.
- codecrusade 8y agoThis comment just reeks of bias. How come the admins dont boot such hate spreaders from HN
- codecrusade 8y agoAbsolutely valid points. Bollywood bias and propaganda is proven by this IIMA study more here https://www.quora.com/Why-does-Bollywood-glorify-Islam-and-makes-fun-of-Hindu-culture https://www.quora.com/Why-does-Bollywood-glorify-Islam-and-m...
- TheArcane 8y ago
- codecrusade 8y agoThe series is gross, vulgar and has unwanted scenes of violence. Depictions of India far from reality.Avoidable.
- urmish 8y agoMost of the series has unforced graphic scenes and vulgarity. It's just gangs of wassrypur set in Mumbai with more vulgarity because it was produced for Netflix.
- codecrusade 8y agoAbsolutely spot on. The leftist fascists at HN are welcome to downvote this too.
- codecrusade 8y agoThe inherent Leftist bias in these forums are reeking. I made a post on the vulgarity and violence in Sacred games and one of the admins downvoted it strongly. Is HN the new Soviet Union? Sacred games is nothing but crude vulgarity and promotion of foul language at an extreme- A very poor attempt to show reality in India. Points made by naruvimama is absolutely valid.
- TheArcane 8y ago> Sacred games is nothing but crude vulgarity and promotion of foul language at an extreme You claim here, and at other places in this thread, leftist bias in comments. And yet your entire comment reeks of Indian right-wing conservative propaganda. Look into the value of coherence in moral philosophical standpoints.
- codecrusade 8y agoI pick 3 assumptions which itself show you are biased 1. Indian- Shows your racist overtone 2. Right wing conservative- Calling out sacred games explicit vulgarity and offensive violence has nothing to do with right wing or being Indian Strange that HN allows people with racist ideas like you to spew venom here.
- yeritons 8y agoFuck Netflix. I am indian. Netflix runs left's propoganda. Lately, they are coming up with shows and movies in India that have hypersexuality. India is largely monogamous society. Netflix is promoting hookup culture and sex/voilence in India. Men in the US are turning into cuckolds in large droves. Netflix is responsible for cultural appropriation and driving political correctness. Bollywood is already terrible. Shows like this set a race for hyper sexuality and deranging our cultural values. Fuck Netflix. You people in the US appreciate it because you don't mind voilence and you are okay to marry women irrespective of their sexual history and how slutty they are. Your view of are always of purity irrespective of how wrong they are. One reason why many culture thieved in India is strong value to family stru cture. Netflix is doing a great damage with such shows and movies like lust stories that encourages women to sleep around. Again, Fuck Netflix.