Tag Archives: Hindi Series on Netflix

Streaming Video News: June 2, 2023

I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with today’s premiere of the new Original Hindi series, Scoop, directed by Hansal Mehta. Other additions in the last two days include the return of Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani (which I thought was decent), a new season of Chhota Bheem, and the 2013 Telugu films Attarintiki Daredi, David, Ramachari, and Ramayya Vasthavayya.

If you missed out on anything added to Netflix last month, check out my May recap for What’s on Netflix.

I also updated my list of Bollywood movies on Hulu with the new Hindi series School of Lies (also available in Bengali, Kannada, Malayalam, Marathi, Tamil, and Telugu).

Finally, I update my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with the additions of the Marathi film Maharashtra Shaheer, the Telugu movie Ugram, and the streaming debut of the Tamil epic Ponniyin Selvan: Part 2. Here’s a link to Ponniyin Selvan: Part 1 if you need to catch up.

[Disclaimer: my Amazon links include an affiliate tag, and I may earn a commission on purchases made via those links. Thanks for helping to support this website!]

Streaming Video News: April 20, 2023

I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with today’s premiere of the new Original Hindi vampire series Tooth Pari: When Love Bites, along with the additions of the Telugu films Ready and Satya 2. Season 3 of the reality series Indian Matchmaking debuts tomorrow. (FYI, the creators of Indian Matchmaking just announced a spin-off series — Jewish Matchmaking.)

Next week will be busy for Netflix. Be on the lookout for the 2023 Telugu movie Dasara to join the service on April 26, followed by a trio of Dharma Productions titles on April 28: Ae Dil Hai Mushkil (which was OK), Badrinath Ki Dulhania (which was bad), and OK Jaanu (which was good).

I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with the additions of the Malayalam movie Vellari Pattanam and the true crime series Dancing on the Grave.

Finally, I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Hulu with the debut of Season 2 of the Tamil series Kana Kaanum Kaalangal.

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Streaming Video News: April 6, 2023

I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with today’s debut of the lavish Hindi period drama Jubilee. The first four episodes released today, with four more episodes to follow on April 14 (the afternoon of April 13 in the United States).

I also updated my list of Bollywood movies on Hulu with the streaming premiere of the Malayalam film Romancham. It’s also available in Tamil and Telugu.

Finally, I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with the additions of the older Telugu films Andala Rakshasi and Kamalatho Naa Prayanam and the debut of the new reality dating series IRL: In Real Love. If that’s not enough romance reality for you, Netflix dropped the trailer for Season 3 of Indian Matchmaking, which releases April 21:

It’s also last call for the following Hindi films set to expire on Tuesday, April 11: Dil, Disco Dancer, Fida, The Legend of Bhagat Singh, Phir Hera Pheri, and Hunterrr, which was just okay.

[Disclaimer: my Amazon links include an affiliate tag, and I may earn a commission on purchases made via those links. Thanks for helping to support this website!]

Streaming Video News: March 21, 2023

I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with today’s streaming debut of Pathaan. Shah Rukh Khan’s entry into the Yash Rash Films spy universe has earned $17,367,368 in North America during its theatrical run, according to Box Office Mojo.

I also updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with the announcement of the new series Tooth Pari: When Love Bites, premiering April 20. The show stars Tanya Maniktala as a vampire who falls in love with the shy dentist (played by Shantanu Maheshwari, who was adorable as the love-struck tailor’s apprentice in Gangubai Kathiawadi) who fixes her broken tooth. Sikander Kher, Revathy, Tillotama Shome, and Adil Hussain round out a pretty stellar cast. I’m kind of excited about this:

[Disclaimer: my Amazon links include an affiliate tag, and I may earn a commission on purchases made via those links. Thanks for helping to support this website!]

Streaming Video News: February 2, 2023

I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with today’s surprise addition of the 2022 Hindi thriller Vadh, starring Sanjay Mishra and Neena Gupta. The new Original series Class — a Hindi remake of Netflix’s Spanish show Elite — debuts on the service tomorrow.

Netflix announced that Ranveer Singh’s Cirkus will be available February 16, and they released a trailer for a new documentary series about Yash Raj Films called The Romantics, which debuts on Valentine’s Day:

If you missed any of the new Indian shows and movies added to Netflix last month, be sure to check out my January roundup for What’s on Netflix.

I also updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with today’s addition of the 2023 Malayalam film Ennalum Nteliyaa.

Finally, I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Hulu with today’s addition of the Tamil film Sembi, which is also available in Hindi, Kannada, Malayalam, and Telugu.

[Disclaimer: my Amazon links include an affiliate tag, and I may earn a commission on purchases made via those links. Thanks for helping to support this website!]

Streaming Video News: January 13, 2023

I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with two new additions today: the 2022 Hindi comedy Mister Mummy — starring married couple Riteish Deshmukh and Genelia D’Souza — and the new Netflix Original series Trial By Fire, which is based on a true story. The Tamil film Varalaru Mukkiyam becomes available for streaming tomorrow.

I also updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with today’s surprise streaming debut of Ajay Devgn’s thriller sequel Drishyam 2. Amazon also released the trailer for Shahid Kapoor’s first OTT series Farzi, which debuts on February 10:

Finally, I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Hulu with yesterday’s addition of the 2022 Malayalam film Mukundan Unni Associates, which is also available in Hindi and Tamil.

[Disclaimer: my Amazon links include an affiliate tag, and I may earn a commission on purchases made via those links. Thanks for helping to support this website!]

Streaming Video News: December 16, 2022

I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with a bunch of recently added titles, including today’s premiere of the Original true crime series Indian Predator: Beast of Bangalore. Two Hindi theatrical releases — Parineeti Chopra’s thriller Code Name: Tiranga and Ayushmann Khurrana’s social issue picture Doctor G — were added in the last week, along with nine other movies:

There are a lot of movies still to come to Netflix before the end of December, so head to my Netflix page to see the titles we already know about. I’m half-expecting to see one more big Hindi theatrical release debut on the service during Christmas break, but that’s just a hunch.

I also updated my list of Bollywood movies on Hulu with yesterday’s premiere of the comedy Govinda Naam Mera, starring Vicky Kaushal, Bhumi Pednekar, and Kiara Advani.

Finally, I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with yesterday’s debut of the new Hindi family series Half Pants Full Pants.

[Disclaimer: my Amazon links include an affiliate tag, and I may earn a commission on purchases made via those links. Thanks for helping to support this website!]

Streaming Video News: November 18, 2022

I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with today’s additions of the Hindi thriller Dhokha: Round D Corner and the political drama Godfather, available in its original Telugu and in Hindi. Yesterday, Netflix added the Malayalam horror movie Kumari for streaming.

In other Netflix news, though the streamer hasn’t officially announced it, Pinkvilla reports that Sidharth Malhotra’s forthcoming movie Mission Majnu is releasing directly on Netflix on January 18, 2023. What’s on Netflix noticed that the Excel Entertainment movies will expire on December 15. Netflix just released a trailer for Randeep Hooda’s undercover series CAT, which debuts December 9.

I also updated my list of Bollywood movies on Hulu with Wednesday’s addition of the Telugu film Iravatham. Disney+ Hotstar announced that Vicky Kaushal’s comedy Govinda Naam Mera will premiere directly on Disney+ Hotstar/Hulu on December 16.

Finally, I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with the addition of the Tamil film Iravin Nizhal. Have a great weekend!

[Disclaimer: my Amazon links include an affiliate tag, and I may earn a commission on purchases made via those links. Thanks for helping to support this website!]

Streaming Video News: May 20, 2022

I updated my list of Bollywood movies on Netflix with two big additions to the catalog: Shahid Kapoor’s Hindi remake of Jersey and the Hindi-dubbed version of RRR, which was preponed from its previously announced June 2 streaming release date. The original Telugu version of RRR is streaming now on Zee5, along with dubbed versions in Tamil, Kannada, and Malayalam.

Netflix just announced that Season 2 of the crime drama She will release on June 17. And this is the last week to watch Raees (which I sort of liked) on Netflix before it expires May 26.

I also updated my list of Bollywood movies on Amazon Prime with the Telugu action flick Acharya (which has Kannada, Malayalam, and Tamil audio options as well). Earlier in the week, Amazon debuted Season 2 of its original Hindi series Panchayat.

Finally, I added the 2022 films 12th Man (Malayalam) and Bhala Thandhanana (Telugu) to my list of Bollywood movies on Hulu. The new Hindi series Escaype Live debuted on Disney+ Hotstar in India yesterday, but it looks like we might not get it on Hulu in the United States.

[Disclaimer: my Amazon links include an affiliate tag, and I may earn a commission on purchases made via those links. Thanks for helping to support this website!]

Series Review: Aranyak (2021)

3 Stars (out of 4)

Watch Aranyak on Netflix

Aranyak is Netflix India’s answer to Twin Peaks. With a compelling story and right-sized episodes, the supernatural (or is it?) murder mystery is made to be binged.

Aranyak takes place in the perpetually overcast fictional mountain town of Sironah, surrounded by a dense forest. Police officer Angad Malik (Parambrata Chattopadhyay) arrives to take over duties from Kasturi Dogra (Raveena Tandon), who’s taking a leave of absence from the force to deal with family issues.

On the day Angad arrives, a French tourist named Julie (Breshna Khan) reports her teenage daughter Aimee (Anna Ador) missing. Angad and Kasturi bicker over who should lead the case until Aimee’s body is found hanged in a tree. The cops agree to work together, putting Kasturi’s leave on hold.

Aimee’s death hits Sironah hard because of its similarities to a series of murders 19 years earlier that left over a dozen young women dead and the residents of the town emotionally scarred — none more so than Kasturi’s father-in-law Mahadev (Ashutosh Rana). He led the investigation into the murders but was unable to find the killer known as the “leopard man.”

The leopard man is a figure of local myth: a murderous beast and also the steward of a crop of “mystery mushrooms” that cure disease, but at a grievous cost to those who consume them. Whether the killer from 19 years ago was a man or a monster remains up for debate in Sironah.

One curious fact about the new crime is that all the rich and politically-connected residents in town seem to know that something bad happened to Aimee before the police do. Local politician Jagdamba (Meghna Malik) and sketchy rich guy Kuber Manhas (Zakir Hussain) try to leverage that information to their advantage.

There are many more characters and possible suspects. The story — written by Rohan Sippy and Charudutt Acharya — does a nice job of keeping all of them somehow connected to the crimes of the present or past. Each of the series’ eight episodes runs about 40 minutes, giving enough time to flesh out characters and their motivations without getting bogged down in backstory.

The runtime gives enough space to deal with the themes that Aranyak shares with Twin Peaks: collective trauma, whether evil exists as an independent entity or whether it’s simply individual moral corruption, and how “good” people reckon with this evil in their midst.

One of the more interesting characters is the politician Jagdamba. Her position is in jeopardy because her young adult son Kanti (Tejaswi Dev Chaudhary) was previously convicted of rape. She wants to protect him, but she also believes that he committed the current crime and fears that he might do it again. She’s concerned not just because he’s a political liability, but because she doesn’t want him to hurt anyone else — yet she’s not sure how to stop him. She loves her son, but he might be irredeemable.

This subplot fits with the show’s focus on the dangers faced by women, be it rape, murder, roofies, or cyberstalking. The stakes are raised for Kasturi because she has a daughter, Nutan (Tanseesha Joshi), who is the same age as Aimee. One of the commonalities between Aimee’s death and the murders from 19 years ago is that the police weren’t able to prevent any of them, only respond to them after the fact.

Aranyak has a few glaring flaws. Kasturi does stupid things that put people in danger, and she’s never heard of the jugular vein. Action scenes in the final episode defy the laws of space-time. The finale’s closing shot is sincerely crazy. The whole reason I watched the show was because Shah Shahid of the Split Screen Podcast warned me that the show’s final seconds were nuts, and he was right.

That said, the story build-up to that point is solid enough to make time invested in Aranyak worthwhile. Consistently good performances help, too, with special acknowledgement of Joshi as Nutan and Wishveash Sharkholi as Bunty, her boyfriend. Though the story feels complete as is, I’m very curious to see where Season 2 would go, based on the finale’s closing seconds.

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