‘Sacred Games’ emerges as the 'most popular Indian web series' in the country

It has been five years since ‘Sacred Games’ first premiered, but the neo-noir crime thriller continues to top lists. ‘IMDb’ recently announced the top 50 all-time most popular Indian web series list, which was topped by the Saif Ali Khan-Nawazuddin Siddiqui show.

‘Sacred Games’ emerged as the most popular web series in the country, based on the page views of ‘IMDb’ users in India. The series was followed by Prime Video’s smash hit ‘Mirzapur’ and ‘Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story’ on ‘SonyLIV’.

Filmmaker Vikramaditya Motwane, showrunner and co-director of ‘Sacred Games’, said that he is ‘absolutely honored’ and delighted that the show has been ranked number one by ‘IMDb’ users.

Yaminie Patodia, head of ‘IMDb India’ said that web series in the country have evolved ‘rapidly with the rise of streaming options’ and the list aims to help fans all over the world discover and watch iconic Indian web series: “As the top two series on our list (‘Sacred Games’, ‘Mirzapur’) celebrate their five-year anniversaries, we’re excited to help chart the short but impactful history of web series in India.”

Rankings were determined by the page views of ‘IMDb’ customers in India between January 1, 2018 and May 10, 2023. The five highest-rated series on the list include ‘Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story’ (9.3/10), ‘Aspirants’ (9.2/10), ‘Gullak’ (9.1/10), ‘TVF Pitchers’ (9.1/10) and ‘NCR Days’ (9.1/10).

Karan Anshuman, who co-created ‘Mirzapur’ with Puneet Krishna, said, “This recognition from ‘IMDb’ truly reflects the transformative journey of content available to Indian viewers via the Internet.”

Pratik Gandhi, who headlined ‘Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story’, said that his life can be defined ‘before Scam and after Scam’.

Filmmaker duo Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK, who created ‘The Family Man’ and ‘Farzi’, said, “We are flattered and humbled that both of our shows, ‘The Family Man’ and ‘Farzi’, have made it into this list. It reinforces our faith that we are doing something right and further fuels our motivation to work hard, do our best and make good cinema.”

“Crime drama is the most popular genre represented on the list, occupying 30 out of 50 slots, including the top four positions: ‘Sacred Games’, ‘Mirzapur’, ‘Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story’ and ‘The Family Man’,” a note shared by ‘IMDb’ read.

The note further read: “Four shows released in 2023 - ‘Farzi’, ‘Taaza Khabar’, ‘The Night Manager’ and ‘Rana Naidu’ - made the most popular list.”