Great Indian web series.

 Great Indian TV web series

Indian television has undergone a massive shift with the advent of OTT. New and relatively unexplored topics are getting their due thanks to OTT platforms.

Some great new-age Indian web series include:

1. Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story.

Genre: Drama, Crime.

Probably one of the finest web series ever made in India, Scam 1992 with its catchy soundtrack, crisp direction, and superlative acting caught the attention of the entire nation.

The series chronicles the rise and fall of Harshad Mehta, the "Big Bull" of the stock markets back in the 1980s.

Pratik Gandhi has played the role of Harshad Mehta effortlessly making him a star overnight. With dialogues like “Risk Hai to Isq hai.” in the perfect Gujarati accent, Pratik Gandhi just nailed it.

This show is a masterpiece and a must-watch. 

Movies and TV series to watch if you like financial crime.

2. Your Honor

Genre: Thriller, Drama, Crime.

Based on an Israeli series of the same name, this is a series that one should not miss. 

The son of an upstanding sessions court judge commits a hit-and-run. The judge wants to hand his son over to the police but when he realizes the victim is a member of the infamous Mudki family, he decides to take the law into his own hands.  

The thriller that ensues is one worth beholding. 

Read my detailed review on Your Honor.

3. Cubicles

Genre: Drama, Comedy.

Cubicles is a great series that revolves around a young college graduate named Piyush Prajapati and his experiences of at his new job with an IT company.

Piyush is a nervous wreck on his first day and wants to make a lasting impression on his colleagues and boss. However, all does not go according to plan.

Slowly, through the series, Piyush learns how to be a little detached, and the subtlety with which this progression has been shown is fantastic.

The various characters in the series, especially Piyush’s level-headed and sometimes philosophical boss, Megha, do a great job at depicting office life, especially in an IT setting, which is all too familiar in the Indian corporate scenario.

There are currently 2 seasons of Cubicles available to stream on SonyLiv.

4. Panchayat

Genre: Drama, Comedy.

A great series with a very different story - Panchayat follows the protagonist Abhishek Tripathi, who due to lack of employment opportunities, takes up the post of a Secretary to the Village Council (Panchayat) head in a small village in Uttar Pradesh.

The drama that unfolds is really worth watching. The comedy is spot on and Raghubir Yadav excels in his role as the “Pradhan Pati” or the village head.

The series beautifully captures the way of life in villages, specifically in North India.

4. Kota Factory.

Genre: Drama, Motivational.

This web series is one of the most popular series of recent times, with trailers of this series making the rounds on YouTube.

A highly inspirational show that reflects the dark reality as well. Kota Factory has shown the truth about the JEE cram schools located at Kota, a mecca for students preparing for the notoriously difficult IIT-JEE exam.

Clearing this exam with good marks grants admission to the prestigious Indian Institutes of Technology across India.

However, like any other competitive exam, only a chosen few get through. The rest who cannot make it sometimes get disillusioned that their hard work has not paid off. This issue has been dealt with very well in this series, with Jeetu Bhaiya, a faculty member who gives important life lessons as the series progresses.

 

5. Aspirants

Genre: Drama, Motivational.

Another series along similar lines is Aspirants which focuses on the life of a few students in Rajendra Nagar, the hub for UPSC coaching.

UPSC is known as one of the toughest exams, not just in India, but in the world. The UPSC Civil Services Examination (CSE) is the gateway to India’s prestigious civil services.

Aspirants beautifully depicts the struggle of UPSC aspirants with so many nitty-gritties, like making endless notes of current affairs, selecting one’s optional subject, and so on.

This is a must-watch and the high ratings on IMDb reflect this.

6. The Family Man

Genre: Drama, Spy Thriller.

One of the best spy thriller series to have come out of India yet. This show becomes the talk of the town every time a new season drops.

Manoj Bajpayee plays the role of Srikant Tiwari, a devoted NIA intelligence officer.

The latest season features South Indian star, Samantha, playing the role of Raji, a disillusioned militant.

The action sequences are great, the story is crisp and the show makes sure you are on the edge of your seat till the very end.

Read my detailed review on the Family Man.

7. Sacred Games

Genre: Drama, Crime, Thriller.

When you have Saif Ali Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, and Pankaj Tripathi as part of the cast, you really can’t go wrong.

Combine that with a storyline based on Vikram Seth’s book of the same name, you have an explosive combination.

This series became an instant hit and it also catapulted Netflix into the limelight as this show was Netflix’s first foray into original Hindi content.

Sacred Games is about an honest Mumbai cop, Sartaj Singh (Saif Ali Khan) who goes on a quest to save the city from destruction based on the clues left by fugitive gangster Ganesh Gaitonde (Nawazuddin Siddiqui).

8. Mirzapur

Genre: Drama, Crime, Thriller.

Netflix’s success in India with Sacred Games encouraged Amazon Prime Video to come up with a magnum opus of its own.

That was Mirzapur. It set the tone for Amazon’s roaring success in India as an OTT platform.

Mirzapur is a series based on gang wars in eastern Uttar Pradesh and it is a must-watch if you liked Gangs of Wasseypur.

Some other notable web series:

1. TVF Pitchers: Story of 4 young entrepreneurs who quit their regular jobs to pursue their dream of launching a startup.
2. Pandu: A heartwarming Marathi mini-series about the life of a Mumbai cop. Read my review here. 
3. Flames.
4. Paatal Lok: Another great Amazon original.