For the past few years, India has seen a new mode of content getting popularity in India. With the growth of cell phones/ipads and high speed internet even in Tier 2 or Tier 3 cities the demand for content to consume has increased manifold. This is where Web-Series have come in to cater to that demand.
Till now the Indian viewers (specially the millennials), were looking upto international content which was available across platforms but now even Indian makers have started coming up with interesting content and that too quite frequently. Even the big stars from Bollywood and other regional cinemas have happily started becoming a part of this and the results have been satisfying.
We have come up with our list of Top 5 Indian web series of 2020 available across platforms which we feel must not be missed (we will keep coming up with more of those in our upcoming segments)
Aarya streaming on Disney+ Hotstar directed by Ram Madhvani (Neerja fame) marked the return of ever graceful Sushmita Sen back to screen. The show relies heavily on Aarya (Sushmita) who returns to take control of her shady family business after her husband Tej Sareen (Chandrachur Singh) is murdered.
1. Aarya
Sushmita’s poise and elegance is something that drives this slow placed gritty crime drama where she plays a loving mother of 3, grieving wife and fierce business woman willing to go to any extent to save her children. And she plays it to perfection. Cast also includes Sikander Kher, Namit Das, Manish Chaudhary in major roles and have given a very good performance.
Our Take – Bit Slow on pace, but a must watch for Sushmita Sen and a special mention to Vikas Kumar as ACP Khan, and a refreshing return of Chandrachur Singh.
2. Pataal Lok
This Amazon Prime original has Jaideep Ahlawat in lead as Old Delhi Cop Hathiram Chaudhary who is given responsibility to investigate an attempt of attack on a Senior TV Journalist (Neeraj Kabi) by a contract killer Hathoda Tyagi (a very menacing Abhishek Banerjee).
This crime investigation moves from Delhi to Chitrakoot as Hathiram figures out the links between the politicians, businessmen and his own department. The show is fast paced and engaging with superlative performances by Jaideep Ahlawat, Neeraj Kabi and Abhishek Tyagi.
Our Take – Must watch. It’s entertaining, fast paced and has excellent performances from the whole cast, special mention to Jaideep and Abhishek.
3. Panchayat
Panchayat is another Amazon Prime Original based in a small village in UP. Panchayat has TVFs Jitendra Kumar as Abhishek Tripathi, an engineering graduate who clears the exam for Panchayat Secretary and as he has no other option in hand joins the job as per his friend’s suggestion.
In the village he meets Pradhan Saab (Raghubir Yadav), up-pradhan (Prahlad Pandey) Neena Gupta as Pradhan’s wife and his office Assistant Vikas.
The show highlights Abhishek’s frustration as all his friends are doing fancy jobs, struggles which he faces along with the connection he slowly develops with pradhan and others forms the crux of this short series.
Our Take – Panchayat is a very good show and should be watched for its rustic feel, a feel good factor and awesome performances from the whole cast.
4. Undekhi
Undekhi streaming on Sony Liv is a series which by the first look of it didn’t seem that exciting but by the end of first episode you are totally engrossed in it.
It starts in Sundarbans where a police officer is found murdered and murderers are on the run. Cut to Manali one more murder of a dancer takes place where Papaji (a superb Harsh Chhaya) shoots the dancer during a marriage and it gets recorded in the marriage video.
The remaining episodes are about how the videographer and his team try to escape, and how grooms family tries to coverup the murder. Along with Harsh Chhaya, special mention to Dibyendu Bhattacharya as DSP Ghosh, who has been phenomenal off late and Surya Sharma as menacing Rinku Paaji. The rest of the cast also does a decent job.
Our Take – The series is a must watch just for the treatment. The way it keeps building the tension and keeps you engrossed throughout makes your watch enjoyable.
5. Asur
Asur streaming on Voot, marks the digital debut of Arshad Warsi in this mystery thriller where a serial killer starts killing some people who are unrelated at the first look of it. Arshad Warsi plays Dhananjay Rajput, a CBI officer who along with Barun Sobati (a forensic expert who comes back to CBI) investigate the killings and uncover the layers.
The show has the backdrop of Varanasi, has a mythological blend to its story which brings a novelty factor to the series.
The cast includes Arshad Warsi, Barun Sobati, Sharib Hashmi, Ridhi Dogra, Anupriya Goenka. Performance wise Arshad and Varun do a fair job, whereas others are pretty average.
FFC Take: Asur can be watched for the novel mix or mythological angle to the story, else this one is an average fare with average production values.
If you have any comments on Top 5 Indian web series of 2020 any suggestion of other web series, kindly share the same on comments box below
