Published 13:48 IST, August 20th 2019
Sacred Games: Netflix apologises to Indian in UAE after privacy breach
Netflix apologizes after an Indian expat in UAE's mobile number was shown in the subtitles as fictional gangster Sulaiman Isa's number in Sacred Games
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Since the second season of Sacred Games released, an Indian expat in Sharjah, UAE has been receiving incessant phone calls from around the world asking for fictional gangster Sulaiman Isa.
The character's mobile number was revealed in the first episode of the second season and since then Kunhabdulla CM (Kerala native in UAE) phone hasn't stopped ringing.
According to Gulf News, Kunhabdulla has received calls from India, Pakistan, Nepal and United Arab Emirated (UAE) and he doesn't know what is happening. "Hearing my phone ring sends shivers down my spine. I want to cancel my number. I want this problem to go away. What's Sacred Games? A video game? I work from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. I don't have time for such things. This is a problem that refuses to go away. I am really worried whether I am entangled in problems that aren’t my choice," Kunhabdulla told a daily portal.
Kunhabdulla, 37-year-old, works for a local oil company and claims that he has never heard of the web-series. He further explains, "I got more than 30 calls today [Sunday] and it’s draining my battery. In the last hour, I got five calls asking for someone called Isa. I even went to the telephone operator’s office to report this. I just want to somehow cancel this number. I don’t want to face any problems. Who is Isa? I don’t have anything to do with him"
Even though the show didn't clearly show Kunhabdulla's number, Netflix showed the number on the subtitles.
Soon after the news went viral, Netflix approached Gulf News and released a statement: "We apologize for any inconvenience caused. As soon as we were alerted to the situation, we resolved the issue and removed the phone number from the subtitles."
WHO IS ISA?
Ganesh Gaitonde's biggest enemy (played by Nawazzudin Siddqui) Suleiman Isa (played by Saurabh Sachdeva) of gang S-Company. Some reports suggest that Isa, a Muslim gangster's character is based on Dawood Ibrahim.
WHAT IS SACRED GAMES?
Sacred Games Season 2 aired on August 15 where Saif Ali Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui reprised their parts as Sartaj Singh and Ganesh Gaitonde. The new season will also see Pankaj Tripathi in a full-fledged role as the mysterious Guruji.
Kalki Koechlin and Ranvir Shorey are the latest additions to the series. Like season one, Anurag Kashyap is at the helm of the portions featuring Siddiqui, while Neeraj Ghaywan of "Masaan" fame will direct the scenes with Khan.
Vikramaditya Motwane and Varun Grover are returning as the showrunner and the lead writer, respectively. The first season of the series, based on Vikram Chandra's award-winning book of the same name, premiered last year.
(With inputs from PTI)
13:14 IST, August 20th 2019