2021 kept the viewers on their toes with some exhilarating OTT content that veered from action-packed thrillers, taut dramas, laugh-a-thon comedies to ‘gooey’ romance. We picked out some of the best web series that were spine-chilling and hair-raising, tingled our funny bones and warmed the cockles of our hearts. Enjoy!
Title: Mumbai Diaries 26/11
Platform: Amazon Prime Video
Language: Hindi
This Nikkhil Advani brainchild is taut with suspense and is action-packed and sincere. Set in the ambience of a luxe hotel and a hospital, this fictionalised account is compassionate, spotlights human endurance and courage and pays tribute to the real heroes of the 26/11 siege. It is peppered by some amazing performances from the cast, including Mohit Raina, Konkona Sensharma and others.
Title: The Family Man (Season 2)
Platform: Amazon Prime Video
Language: Hindi
Season 2, which spotlights the unholy marriage of a nexus between Tamil rebels from Sri Lanka and the Pakistani ISI to execute a deadly attack on India, surpassed all expectations. Srikant Tiwari (Manoj Bajpayee) has quit the TASC force, but can he get it out of his system? Not really, as he rejoins it to foil the deadly attacks of the conspirators. The crisp script written by Raj Nidimoru, Krishna DK and Suman Kumar is truly explosive.
Title: Aarya (Season2)
Platform: Disney+ Hotstar
Language: Hindi
Sushmita Sen as Aarya Sareen is absolutely magnificent in the second season of this web series. After Aarya has lost her husband (Chandrachur Singh) and is betrayed by her family, she now has to testify against her own ‘near and dear’ ones and thus starts her rollercoaster ride to hell. From facing Russian drug lords to coping with a revengeful rival (Akash Khurana), Aarya goes to hell and back. But like the proverbial phoenix, she emerges triumphant and stronger than before.
Title: Gullak (Season2)
Platform: SonyLIV
Language: Hindi
Gullak season 2 came as a rejuvenating breath of fresh air with its minty new way of looking at things. The second season gets us back with the adorable ‘Mishras’ and their unique world. Jameel Khan, who essays Santosh, is the head of the Mishra universe, and he faces the storm whether the family is bickering about trivial things or fighting about whether to attend a relative’s marriage. This five-episode series is amusing and genuinely makes you laugh.
Title: Little Things (Season 4)
Platform: Netflix
Language: Hinglish
Dhruv Vats (Dhruv Sehgal) and Kavya Kulkarni (Mithila Palkar) have always been a favourite of the viewers. This season, we say goodbye to them as the couple combat challenges, cross milestones and grow bigger and better. The cute vibe is still there, and the quips and rejoinders are amusing.
Title: Special Ops 1.5: The Himmat Story
Platform: Disney+ Hotstar
Language: Hindi
This is a prequel to the very successful Special Ops 2020. Created by the genius Neeraj Pandey and Shivam Nair, this season traces the origin of Kay Kay Menon’s character Himmat Singh. It’s taut, crisp and keeps the viewers on the edge of their seats through its serpentine twists ‘n’ turns.
Title: Aranyak
Platform: Netflix
Language: Hindi
Aranyak is one of the most-watched web series of 2021. Raveena Tandon, who makes her debut, thrills as she plays a hard-nosed cop sniffing through a serial killing in a fictionalised small town in Himachal Pradesh. There is a hillbilly folklore that revolves around a myth – a half-human, half-lion which forms the crux of the plot. Parambrata Chatterjee, playing a fellow cop, teams up with Raveena to find out the truth.
Title: Inside Edge (Season 3)
Platform: Amazon Prime Video
Language: Hindi
The first season popped up in 2017 and was called the most sensational web series of the year. Created by Karan Anshuman, this Farhan Akhtar-Ritesh Sidwani production revolves around drugs, sex, match-fixing and politics in cricket. This season focuses more on family politics and power struggles as well as the dirty underbelly of cricket.
