The
year
was
rich
in
content
as
far
as
Web
series
were
concerned.
The
general
bent
was
towards
thrillers,
and
many
of
them
were
slick
and
entertaining.
Shows
that
ran
into
their
next
seasons,
like
Gullak
4,
Panchayat
3,
Mirzapur
3,
Kota
Factory
3
and
Maharani
3
maintained
their
high
standards
without
adding
any
new
elements,
so
they
go
into
a
Hall
of
Fame
and
make
way
for
the
newer
shows.
It
was
tough
to
pick
just
10
but
Deepa
Gahlot
lists
them
out,
in
order
of
release.
Lootere
Where
to
watch? Disney+Hotstar
Gaining
points
for
novelty
and
originality
was
Director
Jai
Mehta
and
showrunner
Hansal
Mehta’s
topical
show
about
Somalian
pirates
hijacking
ships
on
the
high
seas.
Created
by
Shaailesh
K
Singh
from
a
story
by
Anshuman
Sinha,
Lootere
was
set
in
Somalia
and
on
a
ship
under
the
command
of
an
Indian
captain
(Rajat
Kapoor),
hijacked
by
a
gang
of
desperate
and
cruel
men.
The
narrator
of
the
nail-biting
story
was
a
crooked
businessman
(Vivek
Gomber),
who
runs
contraband
through
the
Mogadishu
port
and
is
in
dire
straits
when
the
ship
is
hijacked.
The
more
he
tried
to
solve
the
problem,
the
deeper
he
fell
into
pit
of
greed
and
violence.
Lootere
was
unpredictable
and
harrowing.
Heeramandi:
The
Diamond
Bazaar
Where
to
watch?
Netflix
Sanjay
Leela
Bhansali
took
his
big
screen
magnus
opus
sensibility
to
the
small
screen
for
his
star-studded
period
drama,
set
in
pre-Independence
time
in
the
red
light
district
of
Lahore.
Heeramandi
got
more
hate
than
love
for
what
was
seen
as
an
expensive
self-indulgence
on
the
part
of
the
director.
But
it
was
spectacularly
mounted
with
gorgeous
sets,
costumes
and
striking
dance
numbers.
Headlined
by
two
rival
madams
(Manisha
Koirala,
Sonakshi
Sinha)
of
the
grand
kothas
frequented
by
the
elite
males
of
the
city,
the
fight
against
British
rule
ran
alongside
the
romantic
dramas
and
wicked
schemings
by
the
denizens
of
the
two
mansions.
For
whatever
reason
viewers
may
have
watched
the
show,
the
main
one
was
looking
at
the
costumes
and
jewellery
to
copy
for
the
wedding
season.
Broken
News
2
Where
to
watch?
ZEE5
Broken
News
was
not
as
realistic
as
last
year’s
Scoop
set
in
the
world
of
journalism
but
Season
2
(the
first
season
was
adapted
from
the
British
show
Press)
is
based
on
Sambit
Mishra’s
original
script
and
directed
by
Vinay
Waikul.
It
comes
at
a
time
when
the
credibility
of
the
media
is
at
an
all
time
low
and
fake
news
abounds.
The
battle
was
against
the
idealism
and
ethics
of
the
editor-in-chief
(Sonali
Bendre)
of
a
news
channel
and
her
brash,
no-holds-barred
counterpart
(Jaideep
Ahlawat)
in
a
strident
rival
channel.
The
plot
included
enough
real-life
incidents
to
make
it
topical
but
also
has
a
lot
of
human
interest
aspects,
particularly
the
professional
coming-of-age
of
a
brave
reporter
(Shriya
Pilgaonkar).
There
was
enough
entertainment
to
make
it
binge-worthy.
Pill
Where
to
watch?
JioCinema
Raj
Kumar
Gupta’s
earnest
series
Pill
tried
to
blow
the
lid
off
the
unscrupulous
pharma
industry
that
plays
with
the
lives
of
people
for
profit.
A
doctor
(Riteish
Deshmukh),
who
works
with
the
medical
council,
comes
to
know
of
the
falsification
of
drug-testing
data
by
a
large
medical
company,
run
by
a
powerful
industrialist
(Pawan
Malhotra)
who
connives
with
politicians,
bureaucrats
and
cops
to
get
their
substandard
drugs
into
the
market.
A
journalist
(Akshat
Chauhan),
a
whistleblower
(Kunj
Anand)
and
a
new
recruit
(Anshul
Chauhan)
in
the
medical
council
put
their
careers
and
lives
at
stake
to
expose
the
scandal.
It
made
a
serious
subject
palatable
with
its
thriller
format
and
a
welcome
sprinkling
of
humour.
IC
814:
The
Kandahar
Hijack
Where
to
watch?
Netflix
Based
on
the
book
Flight
To
Fear,
by
the
pilot
of
the
plane
that
was
hijacked
by
terrorists,
Anubhav
Sinha’s
series
is
a
detailed
but
fast-paced
show.
It
moves
between
the
fear
and
distress
of
the
passengers,
the
bravery
of
the
pilot
(Vijay
Varma)
and
flight
attendants
(Patralekhaa
Paul,
Additi
Gupta
Chopra),
and
the
high-level
negotiations
in
Delhi
to
work
a
way
around
the
unfortunate
episode.
There
is
governmental
dithering,
a
media
frenzy
and
relatives
of
the
passengers
demanding
action.
The
show
was
an
authentic
recreation
of
what
took
place,
and
had
a
talented
cast
of
Naseeruddin
Shah,
Pankaj
Kapur,
Arvind
Swamy,
Manoj
Pahwa,
Kumud
Mishra,
Dibyendu
Bhattacharya
and
Kanwaljit
Singh
as
the
men
who
struggled
to
bring
the
hostages
home.
Gyaarah
Gyaarah
Where
to
watch?
ZEE5
An
adaptation
of
the
Korean
series
Signal,
Umesh
Bisht’s
sci-fi
show
Gyaarah
Gyaarah
is
about
a
wireless
device
connecting
two
cops
in
different
time
zones,
helping
both
to
solve
complicated
cases.
A
young
cop
(Raghav
Juyal)
finds
it
strange
that
another
police
officer
(Dhairya
Karwa)
speaks
to
him
on
a
defunct
wireless.
But
it
is
stranger
still
that
the
caller
belongs
to
another
era.
Caught
between
the
two
is
Vamika
(Kritika
Kamra),
a
newbie
cop
who
gets
a
chance
to
solve
the
case
of
a
murdered
child
before
the
statute
of
limitations
runs
out.
Bisht
has
simplified
the
original
but
made
up
for
it
with
a
breakneck
pace
and
terrific
hooks
at
the
end
of
every
episode.
One
of
the
few
sci-fi
shows
made
in
India,
and
a
very
watchable
one.
Zindaginama
Where
to
watch?
SonyLIV
This
much-needed
series
demystified
mental
heath
issues.
Created
by
Dr
Neerja
Birla,
written
and
directed
by
different
people,
with
the
Aditya
Birla
Group’s
mental
health
initiative
MPower
as
the
clinical
knowledge
partner,
Zindaginama
consists
of
six
stories
that
speak
of
the
experiences
of
those
suffering
from
ailments
of
the
mind.
Actors
like
Shreyas
Talpade,
Sumeet
Vyas,
Prajakta
Koli,
Sayandeep
Sengupta
and
others
threw
their
talent
behind
this
sincere
project.
Citadel:
Honey
Bunny
Where
to
watch?
Amazon
Prime
Raj
&
DK
match
the
slickness
of
the
American
and
Italian
shows
of
the
franchise
backed
by
Anthony
and
Jay
Russo,
and
add
Indian
emotions.
The
show
is
a
love
story
between
Honey
(Samantha)
and
Bunny
(Varun
Dhawan),
who
are
caught
in
the
evil
manipulation
of
their
chameleon-like
handler
(Kay
Kay
Menon).
It
is
also
the
origin
story
of
Nadia
Sinh
(Kashvi
Majmundar)
who
grows
up
to
be
Priyanka
Chopra
of
the
first
Citadel.
Non-stop
action
and
chases
across
the
country
made
this
a
must-see.
Freedom
At
Midnight
Where
to
watch?
SonyLIV
Nikkhil
Advani’s
lavishly
mounted
series
based
on
Larry
Collins
and
Dominique
Lapierre’s
1975
bestseller,
tells
the
story
of
the
period
just
before
India
attained
freedom
from
British
Rule,
and
went
through
the
tragedy
of
Partition.
According
to
the
show,
it
is
Muhammad
Ali
Jinnah’s
(Arif
Zakaria)
ego
that
leads
to
Partition
despite
the
best
efforts
of
Mahatma
Gandhi
(Chirag
Vohra),
Pandit
Nehru
(Sidhant
Gupta)
and
Sardar
Patel
(Rajendra
Chawla)
to
prevent
it.
The
series
show
today’s
generation
the
unavoidable
compromises
and
sacrifices
that
went
into
winning
freedom
from
British
rule,
in
case
they
have
forgotten
their
history
text
books.
Yeh
Kaali
Kaali
Aankhein
2
Where
to
watch?
Netflix
In
this
feverishly
paced
show
directed
by
Sidharth
Sengupta,
Purva,
the
unhinged
daughter
(Anchal
Singh)
of
a
gangster-politician
(Saurabh
Shukl
connives
to
marry
Vikrant
(Tahir
Raj
Bhasin)
the
man
she
wants
but
his
hatred
is
far
greater
than
her
obsessive
love.
To
reunite
with
his
girlfriend
(Shweta
Tripathi),
he
hired
a
hit
man
(Arunoday
Singh)
to
abduct
and
kill
Purva
in
the
last
season.
He
is
thrown
into
chaos
when
the
kidnapper
demands
a
ransom
not
to
return
her
alive.
As
the
father
pulls
out
all
stops
to
find
her,
Vikrant
has
to
keep
his
wits
around
him
so
that
his
role
in
Purva’s
kidnapping
is
not
revealed.
Convoluted,
darkly
comic
and
violent,
the
series
never
lets
the
viewer
reach
for
the
pause
button
till
it
is
binged
in
full.
