Is Sacred Games The Last Hope For Saif Ali Khan's Career?

Saif Ali Khan is one of the most talented actors working in Bollywood today. Starring in acclaimed films like Omkara, Being Cyrus, Dil Chahta Hai etc. and hits such as Race, Race 2, Hum Tum, Love Aaj Kal and Cocktail etc, he ranks amongst the most successful actors in the industry. But, of late, he has hit a rough patch and his last 8 films have flopped at the box-office.

His last success came in the form of Race 2 which was long back in 2013. Since then, he has been struggling to deliver a hit film and it seems that he will have to wait for a while for his next commercial success. It's not that he has been acting bad (barring Humshakals), in fact, his performances in all those flops have been called as the saving graces of the films. But, in Bollywood, the commercial success actually defines how great of an actor you are.

Saif will now be starring in Netflix’s Sacred Games which is an 8 episode web series based on Vikram Chandra’s award-winning novel of the same name. With the internet emerging as one of the major mediums of entertainments and giving tough competition to movies and traditional TV, the web-series is a new field which many actors are exploring. Sacred Games may also very well be the last hope of Saif Ali Khan’s career:

Diminishing Returns: Since 2013's Race 2, Saif hasn't delivered a hit film and major films such as Kaalakaandi, Chef, Happy Ending, Rangoon etc have been huge flops. It seems the audiences are rejecting every kind of role or genre he's starring in and the films aren't powerful enough to bring them to the theatres. 

New Routes: In Hollywood, actors successfully juggle between movies, network television and web series and with the digital boom in India, actors in India are following suit. An actor also gets a breather and can concentrate on the other thing if he/she is not seeing success in the other field. If Sacred Games becomes a hit, the goodwill will definitely be there for Saif's next film. 

No New Signings: Saif has no new signings as of now and it may be a cause of concern among his fans. He may be taking a break to reevaluate his career and the choices he makes in future. But, if Sacred Games doesn't hit the bullseye, the offers may also dry up.

Awaiting Release: Saif's next project is Baazaar which is still waiting for its release. The film was scheduled to release in December last year but it has been facing troubles with the censor board and its release date has been moved numerous times. We have seen that a film suffers if it's delayed multiple times and that's not a good news for Saif Ali Khan.

Waiting: In the end, it all boils down to how Sacred Games performs. If it becomes the next big thing in India's digital domain, it's going to be extremely beneficial to Saif Ali Khan and its star cast and we may see Saif in more such projects and movies.