Streaming is where the screening is: How OTT platforms are transforming the entertainment industry
JioCinema. The series has Vijay Varma as a rookie cop who wants to resign but eventually investigates the case.
The screenplay, co-written by Saxena, Arunabh Kumar and Karan Singh Tyagi, takes a close look at domestic abuse, cybercrime, female infanticide, questionable policing and toxic masculinity.
That's a lot of boxes ticked — without the whole thing giving off whiffs of an op-ed article.
What happens in the final episode is shocking, especially since Varma had been fairly calm until then. This is just one example of a very different kind of streaming show we are now seeing in the contemporary Hindi OTT space.
The regular need for good content on OTT platforms has certainly resulted in more exciting work, especially for actors seeking challenging roles.
Well-established performers such as Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Manoj Bajpayee and Shefali Shah have already made their presence felt, as have lesser-known but other very talented actors. This provides a whole new platform for actors to excel, with sharp scripts and top-level production value.
Suvinder Vicky, who plays an old cop, and Barun Sobti, who appears as his junior colleague, have contrasting personalities and far-from-perfect personal lives in Randeep Jha's crime thriller series, Kohrra, streaming on Netflix.
Co-written by Sudip Sharma, Diggi Sisodia and Gunjit Chopra, the police procedurally deals with dysfunctional families, patriarchy, hidden sexual orientation, drugs — and more. Fine direction and equally good writing make the series eminently watchable, along with Vicky's outstanding performance and excellent support from Sobti and a few others.
Then there is Jubilee on Amazon Prime.
