Netflix's mafia drama hailed as 'best ever' by fans mixes The Godfather and Goodfellas

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

The series, which first aired in 2018, immediately captivated audiences with its high-stakes plot involving a race against time to prevent a nuclear bomb from decimating a major city.

Adding to the intrigue was the murder of a mafia boss and a detective striving to solve the mystery before thousands perished.

Transitioning between past and present, the show narrated a classic rags-to-riches story, tracing the journey of a humble boy who ascends to become a formidable kingpin, reminiscent of some of the most iconic mafia narratives in cinema history.

One viewer praised: "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 enthused: "It is one of the best web series ever made. I was utterly flabbergasted and mesmerised."

While another reviewer posted 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]."

, 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 (portrayed by Saif Ali Khan), who received an anonymous tip-off from infamous gangster Ganesh Gaitonde (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), who had vanished for 16 years before reappearing.

Gaitonde contacted Sartaj and warned him he had 25 days to save the city, before a nuclear bomb would wreak havoc on countless lives.

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

Alongside the interweaving storylines, the race against time element echoed the American series 24.

The revolutionary series was translated into 20 languages by Netflix and garnered rave reviews from critics, maintaining a solid 92 per cent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Sacred Games is streaming on Netflix now