Top 10 Indian shows on OTT platforms
A rich collection of India-centric shows on OTTs has kept viewers hooked
The Indian audience has become pickier with the content it consumes and has recently developed a taste for digital arts. The outdated storytelling approach of television turned many disappointed Indian audiences towards alternatives and increasingly they are finding them on the numerous OTT platforms, regional, Indian and global that are streaming into tens of millions of homes and mobile phones every day.
Besides the global hot favourites like Breaking Bad, House of Cards, and Game of Thrones, there are many domestic productions, too, that are finding their fans on the OTT networks.
Here are a few homegrown web series that have made it on IMDB’s India Spotlight List, in terms of popularity:
(1) TVF Aspirants
TVF
2021 was the year when people were locked inside their homes. But The Viral Fever thought of a workaround: They came up with a story describing the journey of an IAS Aspirant! The “UPSC” craze in the streets of Mukherjee Nagar and New Rajinder Nagar of North West Delhi is brilliantly narrated on the screen by the TVF team, including Naveen Kasturia, Abhilash Thapliyal and Shivankit Singh! The story describes the journey of three UPSC aspirants who, like millions of Indians, aspire to be an IAS officers. But their camaraderie goes topsy-turvy and unfortunately, we do not have the second season yet to tell what happens after that.
- IMDB Rating: 9.3/10
- Main cast: Deepesh Sumitra Jagdish, Arunabh Kumar, Shreyansh Pandey.
- OTT streamed on: YouTube and TVF Play App
- Release date: 7 April 2021
(2) Baked
Baked
It is a 2015 web series produced by Pechkas Pictures and ScoopWhoop talkies. The series has three seasons that released in a span of seven years. In 2022, Voot Entertainment refuels the lives of Harris, Body and Oni, who are on a “quest” to understand adulthood. From starting a midnight food delivery service to getting arrested on remote hills, nothing goes untouched by the “charm” of the trio. The series is written and directed by Vishwajoy Mukherjee and the first two seasons were shot in Hindu College and the University of Delhi campus.
- IMDB Rating: 9.3/10
- Main cast: Pranay Manchanda, Shantanu Anam, Manik Papneja, Kriti Vij
- OTT streamed on: YouTube, Voot
- Release date: May 20, 2015
(3) Rocket Boys
Rocket-Boys
In the very first episode, the audience is pleased by the surprising appearance of Nobel laureate, Dr C V Raman. He introduces the young physicist, Vikram Sarabhai to the brain behind the Indian nuclear programme, Homi J Bhabha. Watch the series to witness what went through toils and troubles between the two for years to come. The finest part of the show is the screenplay. It stays true to its scientific substance and does not try to become a “biopic”.
- IMDB Rating: 8.9/10
- Main cast: Jim Sarbh, Ishwak Singh, Regina Cassandra
- OTT streamed on: Sony Liv App
- Release date: February 4th, 2022
(4) Mirzapur
Mirzapur
Mirzapur is a dysfunctional fictitious town set in Uttar Pradesh. It has Pankaj Tripathi as a self-declared king. The first episode is called ‘Jhandu’ which is Indian slang for a stupid person who does weird things. The plot is digestible, but it is not very revealing during the first season. What keeps the narrative on track is the characters’ authenticity and black humour. Ali Fazal, who first experienced fame in Fukrey (2013), is a gem on the screen as ‘Guddu’ Bhaiya. The show has been directed by Gurmeet Singh for 16 episodes, Mihir Desai for 7 episodes, Karan Anshuman for 4 episodes, and Anand Iyer for 1 episode.
- IMDB Rating: 8.5/10
- Main cast: Pankaj Tripathi, Ali Fazal
- OTT streamed on: Amazon Prime Video
- Release date: 16 November 2018
(5) Unpaused: Naya Safar
Unpaused
The first episode describes the journey of a hypochondriac man, who meets a girl on a blind date, which turns out to be a life-changing experience. Unpaused describes the many emotional wrecks caused by lockdowns. From the life of a young migrant whose family is thrown out of his rented house, to an affluent hypochondriac man, Unpaused brilliantly depicts unquestionably the toughest period that India went through. Produced by duo, Raj & DK and directed by Tannishtha Chatterjee, Raj & DK, Nitya Mehra, Nikkhil Advani, Avinash Arun, watch the series for lockdown nostalgia!
- IMDB Rating: 7.1/10
- Main cast: Gulshan Devaiah as Ahan Awasthi, Sumeet Vyas, Saiyami Kher
- OTT streamed on: Amazon Prime Video
- Release date: December 18, 2020
(6) TVF Pitchers
TVF Pitchers
The Viral Fever Media has never backed out of experimenting with content. It was 2015. Indians were starstruck by the advent of the Jio 4G network across India. Arunabh Kumar, the founder of TVF Media, knew the obstacles of starting a private business, and thus thought of creating a web series revolving around the challenges that entrepreneurs in India had to face. No doubt people during the lockdowns switched to the TVF play app to watch the exciting journey of these hustlers. The series is directed by Amit Golani.
- IMDB Rating: 9.1/10
- Main cast: Naveen Kasturia, Arunabh Kumar, Jitendra Kumar, Abhay Mahajan
- OTT streamed on: Amazon Prime Video
- Release date: June 10, 2015
(7) Kapil Sharma’s I Am Not Done Yet
Kapil-Sharma
Kapil Sharma returns to the “limelight” after committing many blunders. But this time Kapil chose none other than Netflix to tell his story. This 54-minute stand-up will reveal what went on the night of famous, but controversial “Tweets”, that were addressed to the prime minister of India. In one of the instances, Kapil says- “All those Tweets that were controversial were not mine…well some of them were “Absolut” mine! But for such small issues, you can’t “Blacklabel” them.” Kapil ends the fiasco with a heavy dose of humour.
- IMDB Rating:7/10
- Main cast: Kapil Sharma
- OTT streamed on: Netflix
- Release date: 28 January 2022
(8) The Fame Game
Fame Game
What the fame game does so well is that it humanises every character. It tells the reason behind each character’s acts Madhuri Dixit who is portrayed as Anamika, is torn in all directions: her son is sinking in depression, her daughter constantly avoids her, and her husband doubts Anamika of her loyalty. Although every character demands support from Anamika, they all have their justified reasons to be.
- IMDB Rating: 6.7/10
- Main cast: Madhuri Dixit, Sanjay Kapoor, Manav Kaul
- OTT streamed on: Netflix
- Release date: February 25th, 2022
Also Read – Top 10 YouTubers of India
