The Next Episodes: The Best Indian web series in a year of OTT excellence
A still from Panchayat (2020).
The diversity of Hindi-language web series over the calendar year was truly remarkable, featuring shows that thrilled, entertained, and pushed forward Indian storytelling more than ever before. From Paatal Lok to Aarya, and Scam 1992 to Panchayat and beyond, Jamie Alter picks ten of the very best.
Perhaps it was the Lockdown that forced us to turn into our phones, tablets and laptops like never before. But, looking back at 2020, I get the feeling that this was the year that defined the Hindi-language OTT landscape in many ways. It was, by all accounts, the most successful year for Hindi web series.
The diversity of Hindi-language web series over the calendar year was truly remarkable, featuring shows that thrilled, that entertained, that showed us the past under a new gaze, that served a mirror to our contemporary complications, that made us laugh, cry, and think. Series such as Jamtara: Sabka Number Aayaga, She, Mirzapur 2, Panchayat, Paatal Lok, Breathe: Into the Shadows, Bandish Bandits, Four More Shots Please, Afsos, Aarya, Asur, Pushpavalli, Mismatched, Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story, A Simple Murder, Criminal Justice 2, Avrodh, Ashram, JL50, Undekhi, Hasmukh, and so many more are proof of how expansive the OTT scene is in India.
How else do you describe the unprecedented success of Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story against the backdrop of the more ‘sensationalist’ narratives? What was it about Paatal Lok’s uncompromising realism that won accolades, and still spurred a backlash of complaints? How, in the 21st century, did a whimsical web series about a reluctant public servant stationed in a rural north Indian village (Panchayat), whose attention is piqued more by a swivel chair than government schemes for farmers, strike a chord with so many viewers? What was it about Aarya, Sushmita Sen’s comeback vehicle, that had viewers raving?
In another year, a show like Jamtara could have easily fallen by the wayside. Its most visible face was web series regular Amit Sial, and it was set in the interiors of Jharkhand and based on ripped-from-the-headlines cases. But laced with black humor and elevated by some fine performances, this re-telling of a true phishing racket carried out by school students made for engaging viewing.
Sumit Purohit, one of the writers of Scam 1992, says that when the team sat down to pen the show’s screenplay and dialogues, they had a plan to give viewers ‘watchable’ content. “We were clear while writing that we will not dumb down anything,” Purohit tells The Chakkar. “We were aware it was unlike anything we have seen on the Indian screen. We couldn't find any references in foreign shows because our share market works differently. We honestly thought it would have a limited audience, but Scam's popularity proves that if you challenge the audience, they respond. That was the most satisfying part. When you write, I doubt you do so thinking that you’re breaking the mould. I enjoy those violent ‘North Indian hinterland’ shows too, but Scam didn't require all that, so I guess the audience was happy to see something different.”
Purohit’s words ring true, because in 2020, the range of writing on display in India’s Hindi web series always fulfilled that demand of ‘something different’. Breakout character-actor Aasif Khan, who this year won accolades for his performances in critically acclaimed and successful web shows like Jamtara, Paatal Lok and Mirzapur 2, makes a valid point: “Aaj ke OTT viewers ko Khan-Kapoor se farak nahin padta … unko bas achchi content chahiye [Today’s Indian OTT viewers don’t care about a Khan or Kapoor, they just want good content].”
The emergence of an actor like Khan—who comes from a small village near Chittorgarh in Rajasthan, and who returned from Mumbai to hone his craft doing theater in Jaipur, before attempting an acting career again—underlines the scope of web series in India. In the span of a few months, Khan was seen as a small-town newspaper reporter in Jamtara, as an accused convict in Paatal Lok, and as a gun-toting loyal foot soldier in Mirzapur’s second season.
Matter-of-factly, Khan adds: “Kaun keh sakta tha ki mujh jaise dikhne wale ko ek hi saal mein aise roles karne ko milenge? [Who would have guessed that an actor like me would get three such diverse roles in the span of a year?].”
The OTT platform has truly opened up new avenues for actors. The array of roles offered to Pankaj Tripathi—one of the gems of today’s acting fraternity—in shows such as Mirzapur and Criminal Justice is but one example of this. Arguably this year’s breakout performance, that of Pratik Gandhi in Scam 1992, could possibly not have happened in a standard Hindi film. Certainly, an actor of Jaideep Ahlawat’s pedigree would not have been offered a film role as deep as Inspector Hathi Ram Chaudhary’s in Paatal Lok.
And where in films could female roles such as Rasika Dugal’s Bina Tripathi and Shweta Tripathi’s Golu Gupta in Mirzapur, Shreya Dhanwarthary’s in Scam 1992 or Kriti Kulhari’s in Criminal Justice 2 be possible?
Breakout character-actor Aasif Khan, who won accolades for web shows like Jamtara, Paatal Lok and Mirzapur 2, makes a valid point: “Aaj ke OTT viewers ko Khan-Kapoor se farak nahin padta … unko bas achchi content chahiye [Today’s Indian OTT viewers don’t care about a Khan or Kapoor, they just want good content].”
Dugal, who performed remarkably in web series as different as Mirzapur, Delhi Crime, Out of Love and Made in Heaven, says that she jumped at the opportunity to play Mirzapur’s Tripathi because, frankly, such roles are extremely rare for her. “When has an actor like me got the chance to play a woman as bold and feisty as her? There was no way I was going to say no to that role,” says the multi-layered actor. “I had so much fun.”
Gulshan Devaiah, who brilliantly headlined 2020’s quirky black comedy Afsos, candidly admits that he did not become an actor to make a name on the OTT stage, but he is enjoying the options that come his way. “It is fun, because you get to do a bit more than you often are given a chance to in films, and I like that challenge,” he says. “I think the scope of Indian web series has increased significantly over the past year or so, and today’s audience has been given a lot more to sink their teeth into.”
Yes, 2020 was a very different year for Hindi OTT shows. Here then, in no particular order, are ten Indian web series that captivated audiences in 2020.
Paatal Lok (Amazon Prime)
The show that held up a mirror to India’s immorality and class and caste divide should be a character study for years to come, and whenever that great anthology of Indian cinema is written, Paatal Lok will likely find special mention. From the outset, we realise that this is no Sacred Games-type cop show, despite the overtures. No, this is something better.
Carried by the performance of the year from Ahlawat—Inspector Hathi Ram Chaudhary will one day become synonymous with great acting—and bolstered by fine turns from Abhishek Banerjee, Neeraj Kabi and Ishwak Singh, Paatal Lok begins as a gritty and grimy exposition of Delhi and its seedy underbelly and then takes a sharp turn into the wastelands of Punjab and Uttar Pradesh. Debauched and ambivalent characters, an undeniably sharp political and socio-economic context weaved into the narrative and graphic scenes ripped from today’s headlines of a divided India combine for the most compelling and controversial show of the year.
When a deadpan Hathi Ram Chaudhary quips to his senior inspector, “Waise toh yeh shastron mein likha tha, par maine WhatsApp pe padha,” you cannot but smirk and squirm at the same time. Paatal Lok truly is, like its headline, a tour of hell on earth.
Panchayat (Amazon Prime)
In a year dominated by violent and abuse-laden OTT shows, Panchayat was a whiff of fresh air. Sandwiched between the releases of Jamtara and Paatal Lok, this show is refreshingly light in its nature and execution, and the slow-paced narrative works wonderfully. The credit for this show goes to the writing, casting and direction, chiefly, and a stellar cast comprising Jitendra Kumar, Raghubir Yadav, Neena Gupta and Faisal Malik.
Debauched and ambivalent characters, an undeniably sharp political and socio-economic context weaved into the narrative and graphic scenes ripped from today’s headlines of a divided India combine for the most compelling and controversial show of the year.
Panchayat is in line with most TVF [The Viral Fever] shows: grounded in reality, honest in its scripting and casting and with witty dialogues and in some ways is a throwback to Indian TV shows such as Malgudi Days and Waghle Ki Duniya, about common Indian folk and their daily trials and tribulations. It compels you to think about rural India and how it functions in today’s fast-developing world, and also makes quirky situations utterly believable. There were many scenes in Panchayat that had me laughing out loud, and when I was done the show had slapped a goofy grin on my face.
Jamtara: Sabka Number Aayega (Netflix)
In Jamtara, a somewhat hurried show created by Trishant Srivastava and Nishank Verma and directed by Soumendra Padhi, a get-rich-quick Ponzi scheme disturbs the system of a village and pits a motley crew of vagrants against a local politician and goon.
The rag-tag bunch of faces introduced to the mainstream Indian audience—chiefly Sparsh Srivastav, Monika Panwar, Anshuman Pushkar and Aksha Pardasany—do their bit to make the at-times clunky narrative move forward at a fast pace. The importance assigned to the show’s primary female characters, SP Sahu and Gudiya, was particularly impactful. Aasif Khan as the frustrated newspaper reporter and Amit Sial as Brajesh Bhan leave their mark.
If I was let down, it was in the absence of a proper explanation for what sets apart these delinquents, or even the village of Jamtara itself, as the hub of phishing in India. But as a breezy display of greed, ambition, power and caste divide, Jamtara worked for me. There is a believability to it that made for engaging viewing.
Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story (SonyLIV)
In a year in which Hindi-viewing audiences were given a variety of fare, Scam 1992 slots in as the potential game-changer for India’s OTT platforms. And for that, we need to thank everyone who made it such an enjoyable viewing experience.
The true story of rags-to-riches stockbroker Harshad Mehta, Scam 1992 is a gripping chronicling of the corrupting power of ambition as well as an astute commentary on an archaic financial system that both boosted and crippled India’s economy. As the lead man, Pratik Gandhi is exceptional in his breakout role while surrounded by a roster of superb performers—where does one start?—in a tightly-woven screenplay.
For a show about an economic scam that took began 30 years ago, the series doesn’t infantilise its audience. As always with director Hansal Mehta’s nuanced take on any subject, the story is always deeper than the surface level. He and co-director Jai Mehta keep the tension simmering as the walls close in on the show’s lead man and his business, with fellow stockbrokers, government officials and vindictive bankers leading the witch hunt on Harshad Mehta.
The casting, acting, mood, background score and direction of Scam 1992 make it truly unmissable.
Aarya (Disney+ Hotstar)
Aarya, the return of the powerhouse known as Sushmita Sen, ticks most boxes of the crime genre: good writing, direction, casting, cinematography and acting. This is a slick show about a widow who, overnight, is thrown in a world of drugs and violence. Titular character Sen crushes it in her comeback performance, and the underrated Vikas Kumar is in top form.
Helmed by Ram Madhvani, Aarya is official remake of Spanish series Penoza. A thriller at its core, it is still smartly moulded for the Indian audience. Aarya displayes a side of Rajasthan that has not fully been depicted on Indian screen before, and gives a fine range of actors plenty to chew on. The show succeeds for the most part because of its tight writing and acting, apart from a well-embellished backdrop. There are a couple loose ends and a somewhat-underwhelming closing to one of the pivotal plot-lines; but overall, driven by Sen’s believable performance and Kumar’s subtlety, Aarya is a winner. I am eagerly waiting for Season 2.
Mirzapur Season 2 (Amazon Prime)
Given the cliffhanger that ended the first season, it took a while for Mirzapur 2 to gain some steam, but eventually, it turned out to be even more satisfying than its first installment.
At its core a very North Indian reworking of staple gangster movies of the 1950s and 60s, Mirzapur made news upon the release of its first season in 2018 because of its gratuitous violence, sensationalised sex, and a liberal dosage of c-words, b-words, m-words, and every other Purvanchali hybrid of the three. Season 2 tones down the violence a little, maintains the supply of cuss words, and introduces us to new characters—as all sophomore seasons do. Despite a return to blood-soaked territory, perhaps the true highlight of this season was a focus on acting over shock value.
With a storyline that follows characters in a hunt for revenge with complex personal vendettas, Mirzapur 2 is a compelling viewing. Heads will roll, of course, and there will be loads of bloodshed. But this intoxicating mix of power, greed, revenge, lust and terrific acting—how is Pankaj Tripathi so darn good?—proved un-pausable.
Asur: Welcome to Your Dark Side (Voot)
A show that flew under the radar, Asur is shaped in the frame of cat-and-mouse American psychological crime thrillers such as Criminal Minds and True Detective. The show’s protagonist Nikhil Nair (played by the pitch-perfect Barun Sobti) is a former forensic expert teaching at an FBI training facility in the USA, before a series of brutal murders brings him back to Delhi. Without giving too much away, the show delves into a psychological and behavioral look at the impact of religion and philosophy on the unhinged nature of the brain.
Once back in the motherland and reunited with his one-time mentor (Arshad Warsi, thankfully getting a break from slapstick comedy) and former flame (Ridhi Dogra, in a performance of commendable earnestness), Sobti’s Nair is on the heels of a serial killer as part of the CBI’s forensic team—before he suddenly finds himself the killer’s captive.
With a storyline that follows characters in a hunt for revenge with complex personal vendettas, Mirzapur 2 is a compelling viewing. Heads will roll, of course, and there will be loads of bloodshed. But this intoxicating mix of power, greed, revenge, lust and terrific acting proved un-pausable.
Intertwining a real-time search for a psychopath with shots of the Varanasi of the past, Asur works because of the sincerity and believability of actors like Sobti, Warsi, Dogra and Sharib Hashmi, and the stylishness of its execution—kudos to cinematographer Sayak Bhattacharya. That said, the blending of mythology and murder isn’t always convincing, and the primary questions the show asks are then immediately and awkwardly followed by answers.
In trying to be different, however, and giving actors like Sobti, Warsi, Dogra and the always reliable Hashmi something to sink their teeth into, Asur certainly has its moments.
A Simple Murder (SonyLIV)
I unintentionally stumbled across this situational dark comedy, and ended up finishing it off in just two sittings, chuckling my way through a show that is rather hatke in its execution. Absurdist in nature, with nods to the Farrelly and Cohen brothers and Fargo, A Simple Murder unfolds at a smooth pace. Despite brief wobbles, it is a certified entertainer.
The plot is straightforward enough: a habitual loser, driven to frustration by economic instability and his gold-digging wife, shows up at the wrong location, and finds himself inadvertently assigned to kill someone. A goof-up ensues and then all hell breaks loose in a series of comical and ultimately gruesome encounters.
That this all works is due to the screenplay by Akhilesh Jaiswal and Prateek Payodhi and direction by Sachin Pathak. The acting is top-drawer stuff, particularly, Mohammad Zeeshan Ayyub as the debt-ridden and henpecked Manish. The usually somber Sushant Singh is a hoot as mercenary Himmat Singh, nailing the nuances of his character. I could tell that this was the most fun Amit Sial has had in a while, spouting ghazals as the ruthless assassin Santosh, who gets the show’s best dialogues. Yashpal Sharma and Gopal Dutt are perfect fits in the madcap narrative, while Priya Anand is the show’s weakest-written character of Richa, Manish’s two-timing wife.
Afsos (Amazon Prime)
Full disclosure: I am a part of this wry, existentialist dark comedy. My obvious bias of playing a pivotal character in Afsos aside, there is no denying that this was one of the most offbeat shows of the Indian OTT platform this year.
Created by Anirban Dasgupta and Dibya Chatterjee and directed by Anubhuti Kashyap, Afsos centers on Nakul, a struggling writer who unsuccessfully tries to commit suicide several times, and then hires an assassin to finish the job. When the assassin Upadhyay (Heena Shah) fails to kill him, it becomes a matter of honour for her. A crazy ride ensues, with suspense in the form of a chiranjeevi (immortal one) deftly woven in, and several comedic Cohen-esque touches. What starts off as a cat-and-mouse game eventually twists and turns its way through questions of morality and mortality with a distinct satirical tone.
Devaiah, Shah, and Anjali Patil are captivating in their respective roles. Backed by the dependable Robin Das, Ratnabali Bhattacharya and Aakash Dahiya, Afsos offers a buffet of acting chops. The terrain of Harsil—hitherto untapped on screen—and the familiar lanes of Mumbai are exquisitely captured by cinematographer Krish Makhija. Neel Adhikari offers a mesmerising background score. With Kashyap’s control as director keeping things together, Afsos turned out to be a very un-Indian show that had everything to do with India.
Criminal Justice Season 2 (Disney+ Hotstar)
The sequel to the engaging first season in 2019, this instalment of the courtroom drama is once more carried by taut writing and the acting prowess of Pankaj Tripathi, who reprises his role of Madhav Mishra with even more screen time. Strictly as a police/legal procedural, Criminal Justice works because of the way the crime plays out, and how the case is fought inside Mumbai’s court.
Like Season 1, this is a rather convincing adaptation of the BBC original. Special note is reserved for the new faces, chiefly Kirti Kulhari as the accused Anuradha Chandra, and the wife-husband police pair of Gauri (Kalyanee Mulay) and Harsh (Ajeet Singh Palawat). Writer Apurva Asrani’s overall narrative leaves very little to crib about.
It is a treat watching Kulhari emote when given very little to say, and her scenes in the prison, next to some of her inmates, are hard-hitting. Of course, the star here is Tripathi as the looking-for-a-quick-buck advocate Mishra—twice in the first 20 minutes of his appearance in Season 2 he asks different policemen “Maaldaar party hai kya? [Is the accused party wealthy?”]—and he strikes the right balance of seriousness and wit. Without giving away the outcome, let me just say that the truth is not out there—but in there.
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Jamie Alter is a writer, actor, YouTuber and sports journalist, having covered cricket around the world including three World Cups. After nearly five years working for ESPNcricinfo, Jamie served as Sports Editor of the Times of India Digital, Cricbuzz, Cricketnext and most recently as Group Sports Editor (Digital) at Zee Media. He also also authored two cricket-related books. You can find him on Twitter: @alter_jamie and Instagram: @jamie.alter.
