The Test Case to Haq Se: 5 Hindi web series that are making news
The target audience is not only the youngsters, not the regular television serial audience either.
The genre of the Indian web series is no more confined to YouTubers and digital startups. Indians took to watching online series in a big way in 2016, which led to big-ticket investment, both in terms of money and star power, in this genre. Online platforms like HotStar, Amazon and ALTBalaji have started their original web series, instead of just being curation platforms. The target audience is not just the youth, and definitely not the regular television serial audience. These big-budget web series are shot for years, have sound scripts, star power and are much like movies themselves.
Here are the five Hindi web series that are making news for the right reasons.
Haq Se
Directed by Ken Ghosh, Haq Se is an adaptation of Louisa May Alcott’s novel Little Women. The ALTBalaji series has caught viewers' attention for more than one reason. Among them is obviously the small-screen comeback of Rajeev Khandelwal and that too with Kahiin to Hoga co-star Surveen Chawla. The pair was one of the favourites of the Indian audience when the serial was on air (2003-2007).
Another reason the serial is getting rave reviews is the setting – the beautiful vale of Kashmir, which has been captured in its entirety, with its beauty and simmering tensions. The story revolves around the lives of four Kashmiri sisters. It was released on February 2 with 11 episodes and has been given a rating of 8.5 on IMDb.
Bose: Dead/Alive
In nine episodes, the series, directed by Pulkit traces the mysterious disappearance of Subhas Chandra Bose and the politics around it. The ALTBalaji series is based on Anuj Dhar’s book India’s Biggest Cover-Up. Casting actor Rajkummar Rao in the lead role was a challenge, but the viewers received it well and the series got a rating of 9.4 on IMDb.
This is not a detailed work on his life, but it rightly treats the contribution of Netaji to India’s freedom and the mystery surrounding his death. It was released in November 2017.
Breathe
The main draw of this series, which was released in January on Amazon, is R Madhavan, who plays the lead. It is a thriller with a disturbing storyline revolving around “how far will you go for your loved one”. Here the person in question is Danny Mascarenhas, essayed by Madhavan. And the loved one brings in no romantic angle as Danny is trying to save his son, 6-year-old Josh, who is suffering from a rare lung disease.
This series, with a rating of 9 on IMDb, is still on, while six episodes have been released so far.
Inside Edge
This Amazon series is a peep into the corrupt world of T20 cricket and boasts of big names. It stars Vivek Oberoi, Richa Chadha and one of the producers of the series is Farhan Akhtar. This was Amazon’s first Indian release in 2017 and received a rating of 8.3 on IMDb. The story is about Mumbai Mavericks, a cricket team taking part in Powerplay Leagues (the inspirations from real life are obvious). Richa Chadha, who will be there in the next two seasons of the series as well essays a character based on Preity Zinta.
The Test Case
The promising trailer of this series featuring Nimrat Kaur as an Army officer and Juhi Chawla as the defence minister was released last year.
It set the expectations high in the first episode that was made available on ALTBalaji at that time. Owing to creative differences, the project got delayed and the entire series released on January 26 this year. The ten-episode series got a rating of 8.7 rating on IMDb.
Impressive line-up, no doubt.