Now that the Sacred Gamesseason 2 trailer has been released, the release date announced, and memes made, fans can rest easy till August 15, when in a major flex, Netflix will debut the hotly anticipated series in direct clash with Akshay Kumar’s Mission Manga, Prabhas’ Saaho and John Abraham’s Batla House. And just like the first season, the upcoming batch of episodes seems to be filled with minute details and a dense, layered plot.
After combing through the new trailer, fans have already begun speculations, based on clues hidden in plain sight that indicate where showrunner Vikramaditya Motwane and co. will be taking the story.
Ganesh Gaitonde expands his criminal empire
Just like in author Vikram Chandra’s source novel, Nawazuddin Siddiqui’s formidable Ganesh Gaitonde will be sent abroad, where his criminal empire will expand, and he will get sucked into the web of Guruji. The scene at the beginning of the trailer indicates that Gaitonde has already gone away, and is calling Bunty, not in present day, but in the past — he is dead in the present day. Another shot shows Gaitonde interacting with wealthy looking Arabs. We also see Gaitonde sign a document under a new name.
Pankaj Tripathi’s Guruji will play a central role in the second season of Sacred Games. In fact, Tripathi is credited on the same title card at the end along with Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Saif Ali Khan. Throughout the trailer, we are shown glimpses of his charismatic character. We see him deliver sermons, we see him plot terror attacks, conduct rituals, and maybe even have sex with one of his followers.
In addition to perhaps having a deep, Ma Anand Sheela-esque relationship with Kalki Koechlin’s character (more on that later), Guruji also seems to be a movie star, like Ram Rahim Singh Insaan.
Sartaj Singh continues his investigation
In the present day timeline, Saif Ali Khan’s Sartaj Singh continues his race against time investigation to stop a nuclear attack in Mumbai. In the novel, Guruji and his cult plans an attack on Mumbai and intends to blame Pakistan for it. We see a shot of Sartaj checking out a few documents, and his hand (which he lost in the last season) remains bandaged.
A quick shot in which the evidence from Trivedi’s bunker has been arranged provides several clues. In the corners of the frame, we can see a movie DVD, suggesting that Guruji in his spare time starred in self-financed B-grade starring himself and some starlet, in the fashion of MSG. There is also a gas mask, which we saw in the bunker last season, and in a different shot, we see cassettes of Guruji’s sermons.
Who does Kalki Koechlin play?
Kalki’s character seems to be particularly mysterious. She is seen in both the past and present scenes – perhaps a former devotee of Guruji who has since turned on him and his ideology. She is seen in the background of a shot towards the end of the trailer, which also shows Gaitonde, Luke Kenny’s hitman, and Sartaj’s dad. The senior Inspector Singh makes a quick appearance towards the end of the trailer, as he asks Gaitonde if he’s ever met God. Gaitonde in the last season had hinted at a deep relationship with Sartaj’s dad.
We also see Kalki on several other occasions. In one shot, she’s slipping some sort of pill into her mouth. Is Guruji drugging his followers? A quick shot of a secret ritual towards the end, the orange uniforms and matching necklaces of the devotees, in addition to Guruji’s lavish lifestyle do hint that the second season of Sacred Games will have a lot in common with the documentary series Wild Wild Country.
The nuclear attack
It is strongly implied throughout the new trailer that the plan for the nuclear attack on Mumbai was hatched by Guruji and his disciples abroad. Gaitonde’s slow transformation into a devotee is shown, and the trailer ends with a shot of Guruji addressing an audience, with what looks like an explosion being foreshadowed in the background. Hiroshima and Nagasaki are also mentioned in the trailer.