‘Best ever’ gangster series that's The Godfather meets Goodfellas is streaming on Netflix now

Netflix viewers have been devouring an underappreciated gangster series, hailed as one of the finest mafia shows ever produced, reports Surrey Live.

The series first hit screens in 2018 and immediately captivated audiences with a nail-biting race against time to prevent a nuclear bomb from decimating a major city.

Adding to the drama was a deceased mafia boss and a detective striving to solve a mystery before thousands perished.

Transitioning between past and present, the show narrated a classic rags-to-riches story of a modest boy's rise to become a formidable kingpin, reminiscent of some of the greatest mafia narratives in cinema history.

One viewer enthused: "A raw, gripping crime drama in the best tradition of Godfather and Goodfellas."

"Laced with ambition and cruelty, this series shows an unvarnished underbelly of the criminal and religious organizations, one that grows through sheer determination and grit from the slums of the megacity [sic]."

Another fan gushed: "It was amazing ... It mixed the colours suspense,action,story into the same screen,and created this masterpiece [sic]."

A third chimed in: "It is one of the best web series ever made. I was utterly flabbergasted and mesmerised."

While another person shared on IMDb: "I liked how the story began. This isn't a slow narrative, you basically have to run with the characters to catch up with their mind and emotions and sometimes have to see between the frames. I live on the extreme ends of storytelling arch.

"I love the slow narrative where each and everything is described in such a manner that you feel you are in that situation and you start feeling what the character feels and then there is the impromptu situation where you are unexpectedly put in and you have to start catching up with why the characters are doing what they are doing."

Another viewer chimed in: "With a solid start to the drama, every episode makes your heart beat faster.

"The rawness of the drama is surreal and gets you hooked. Every episode leaves you with a question unanswered? and doesn't answer them till the very last [sic]."

Sacred Games, Netflix's first Indian Original, set a high bar with its thrilling narrative that intertwined the rise of a criminal overlord.

The series centred on troubled Mumbai police detective Sartaj Singh (played by Saif Ali Khan), who received an anonymous tip-off from notorious gangster Ganesh Gaitonde (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), who'd disappeared for 16 years before resurfacing.

Gaitonde calls Sartaj and told him he had 25 days to save the city, before a nuclear bomb would claim the lives of countless people.

The series was adapted from the 2006 neo-noir crime novel of the same name by Vikram Chandra.

Along with the interweaving story threads, the race against the clock element echoed American series 24.

The revolutionary series was translated into 20 languages by Netflix and has been highly praised by critics, maintaining a solid 92 per cent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Sacred Games is streaming on Netflix now