As we bid goodbye to 2020, in continuation to our last article, Top Web Series 2020 Part 2, here is the final list of another 5 web series this year which made headlines because of one or the other reason.
- Scam 1992
Directed by Hansal Mehta, Scam 1992 was released on Sony Liv and soon was the talk of the town with rave reviews about amazing storytelling and superlative performances. With a rating of 9.4 on IMDB, this is one of the highest rated web series in the world.
Based on the life of Big Bull Harshad Mehta, the series showcased the journey of Harshad in the 80s and 90s in this 10 episode series. Scam 1992 is about the biggest financial fraud in the history of Indian Stock markets which resulted in one of the biggest stock market crashes.
The series boasts of amazing performances from Pratik Gandhi, who played Harshad, and ably supported by Rajat Kapoor, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Satish Kaushik, and Anant Mahadevan.
Along with the performances, the makers have ensured that the vfx create a Mumbai of that era and has been done perfectly. A special mention to the background music and title track of Scam 1992, which also is by far one of the best tracks in any web series in India.
Our Take
Overall, Scam 1992 is probably one of the finest web series made in India. Amazing performances and superb direction make this series a must watch. Click here to read our detailed review.
2. Mirzapur 2
The sequel to the much awaited 2018 show Mirzapur, Mirzapur 2 was finally released this year amidst huge expectations. With already popular characters Kaleen Bhaiya, Munna Bhaiya, Guddu Bhaiya etc, the first season was a smash hit.
The second season marks return of Guddu Pandit (Ali Fazal), with the motive of revenge and take reigns of Mirzapur from Munna (Divyendu Sharma) and Kaleen Bhaiya (Pankaj Tripathi)
With actors like Rasika Duggal, Kulbhushan Kharbanda, Amit Sial, Rajesh Tailang, Shweta Tripathi and Sheeba Chaddha show had an enviable starcast.The show also had multiple new characters added to the narrative (Priyanshu Painyuli, Liliput, Vijay Varma, Anjum Sharma) widening the plot premise.
The show started with a bang, but due to a bit of drag in the middle episodes, some not so effective subplots and an underwhelming ending (though there will be a season 3), Season 2 was not appreciated as much as season 1.
Our Take
Mirzapur 2, though not as successful or interesting as Season 1, was not bad either.Though it could not replicate what Season 1 did, still Mirzapur 2 was a decent watch. Click Here for our detailed review.
3. Criminal Justice 2 : Behind Closed Doors
Recently released on Disney Hotstar, Criminal Justice 2 is a sequel to one that was released in 2019. With Kriti Kulhari and Pankaj Tripathi in the lead , this courtroom drama was a slow yet effective web series.
Criminal Justice 2 is the story of Anuradha (Kriti) who is depressed and one night she stabs her lawyer husband Bikram Chandra (Jishu Sengupta).
Pankaj Tripathi and Anupriya Goenka, who play lawyers, are back from the last part and are the defence lawyers for Anuradha.
The show moves at slow pace, along with court case and investigations and keeps viewers engrossed in this drama. The show touches some uncomfortable yet important issues and also highlights the sad state of our judicial system.
Our Take
Criminal Justice 2 is a decent show but a slow pace, long episodes and not much of twists make it a tiring watch. Though with fine actors and very fine performances, the show is worth a watch. Click Here to read our detailed review
4. Bicchhoo Ka Khel
Fresh with the accolades from Mirzapur 2, Divyendu Sharma a.k.a. Munna Bhaiya appeared in this fast, suspense thriller from Alt Balaji. Bicchhoo ka Khel is a story of Akhil Shrivastav, who is out to avenge his fathers murder.
Akhil is a happy go lucky guy, who is in love with the daughter of a very rich lawyer. His father one day witnesses a murder of a politician and somehow is framed and charged with the murder.
In jail the father is killed leaving Akhil devastated. Akhil then picks up the task of getting justice to his father and avenge his death. In his journey for revenge he uncovers the mystery and conspiracy behind the murder in this short season of 9 episodes of 20 mins each.
Our Take
Bichhoo ka Khel has the stale plot but with a novel treatment and crisp pace, the show is an enjoyable watch. Divyendu puts up an excellent performance which is further highlighted with some amazing dialogues. Click Here to read our detailed review.
5. A Simple Murder
A Simple Murder, the dark situational comedy of errors about an unemployed man, his greedy girlfriend and a few gangsters was one of the better series to have come out of India. With Zeeshyan Ayyub in lead the show boasts of actors as Amit Sial, Sushant Singh and Yashpal Sharma.
Streaming on Sony Liv, A Simple Murder is about a young unemployed man Manish, who is looking for an investor for his startup idea. His wife is having an affair with her boss and is a gold digger
A confusion gets Manish introduced to a don, and a contract for murder is assigned to him. How Manish loses the picture of the girl to be murdered, loses the gangsters money he gets and has to run for his life, form the crux of this series.
Loaded with many moments making you smile, and feel for Manish the series was a nice addition to a few top notch series which we got this year.
Our Take
One of the better series to have come out this year, A Simple Murder thrives on good writing, excellent performances and some funny dialogues. Crisp editing makes this a fun pacy ride. Click Here to read our detailed review.
