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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.
