"There were 3-4 new characters...": Nawazuddin Siddiqui on why 'Sacred Games' season 2 did not connect well with audience

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 4 : Nawazuddin Siddiqui needs no introduction. The actor can transform himself into any character and has earned a special place in the audience's hearts with his work. Nawazuddin's character Ganesh Gaitonde from 'Sacred Games' became extremely popular, and who can forget his iconic dialogue in the series, 'Kabhi Kabhi lagta hai ki apun hi Bhagwan hai'.
Nawazuddin was part of both seasons of Sacred Games, but for him, season 1 will always hold a special place.
In a conversation with ANI, he shared his preference for season 1 and why he thinks season 2 was not as successful as the previous one and didn't connect with the audience.
He shared which season he preferred more and said, "Of course season 1", adding what didn't work in season 2, saying, "There were new characters, so it didn't work. There were 3-4 new characters so it didn't work at all. Because what happens is that, the character that people loved at first, if you make them weak, people won't accept it."
'Sacred Games' is an Indian neo-noir crime drama based on Vikram Chandra's 2006 novel of the same name. It revolves around Sartaj (Saif Ali Khan), a cop, and his run-in with Gaitonde (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), the most wanted criminal, and what transpires after they come in contact with each other.
Apart from Saif and Nawazuddin, the other cast includes Radhika Apte, Girish Kulkarni, Neeraj Kabi, Jeetendra Joshi, Rajshri Deshpande, Karan Wahi, Sukhmani Sadana, Aamir Bashir, Jatin Sarna, Elnaaz Norouzi, Pankaj Tripathi, Kubbra Sait, Surveen Chawla, Kalki Koechlin, Ranvir Shorey and Amruta Subhash.
The actor added that the audience is connected with certain characters and if they are missing or portrayed weakly, people often lose interest.
Giving an example of his favourite American crime drama series , 'Narcos', which was based on the story of a Colombian narcoterrorist Pablo Escobar, portrayed by Wagner Moura, he said, "When I saw the gangster series 'Narcos', and Pablo Escobar's character, I just went crazy after watching the first season. However, in the second season, his character was made weak. Then, why should I watch it? I had a connection with him. I was emotionally connected to him. Same happened with 'Sacred of Games 2'."
Talking about his iconic character of Ganesh Gaitonde and the famous dialogue 'Kabhi Kabhi lagta hai ki apun hi Bhagwan hai', on which number of memes were made, he shared, "I used to wonder about this dialogue. I found it to be strange. Never knew at that time it would turned out to be like this (popular)."
He added that it is difficult to recreate the charm of the original. "There is a kind of energy of the director and actors and a magical atmosphere which cannot be recreated."
Nawazuddin is known for his roles in 'Gangs of Wasseypur', 'The Lunchbox', 'Raman Raghav 2.0', and 'Manto', among others. He has won numerous awards, including a National Film Award and a Filmfare Award.