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The series starred top-notch Hindi film actors. Since the telecast services were not subject to the rules of the Central Board of Certification of Films in India, Kashyap was able to circumvent Bollywood norms. His characters interacted with each other naturally: they swore, they talked politics, they had sex. For viewers exhausted by Bollywood's predictable song-and-dance spectacles, Sacred Games was thrilling.

For Kashyap, Netflix represented an avenue of freedom. This avenue is important not only for Kashyap and other filmmakers, but also for the 1.4 billion people living in India. Film and television that can address the issues of the day are important to a nation's culture. Netflix poses a threat to the conservative, Hindu nationalist worldview of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whose government has recently renewed a campaign of censorship and intimidation against Kashyap and others like him.

The rise of Netflix in India is a story of why technology is important: not as an end in itself, but as a means of artistic and human flourishing.