In 2024, streaming increasingly resembled television. The number of sequels and threequels suggested that makers were unwilling to let long-running web series die a natural death. By extending financial life support to shows that had clearly run their course, streaming platforms sidestepped the challenges of commissioning and shepherding fresh content.
While crime remained a mainstay, there were also shows that attempted magic realism or character-based comedy. Here, in alphabetical order, are the top streaming shows across languages in 2024.
Barzakh: Feast your eyes
In Asim Abbasi’s magic realist series set in the Land of Nowhere, an elderly man invites his children over for his third wedding to the ghost of his first girlfriend. The past tumbles into the present; this world seamlessly gives way to the one beyond.
Despite being ponderous and unwieldly in its telling, the show is a a treat for the eyes. Take your pick: Fawad Khan, Sanam Saeed, imaginative sets, vistas of the Hunza Valley.
Where to watch: ZEE5.
Brinda: Trisha Krishnan takes charge
Tamil movie star Trisha Krishnan makes an assured streaming debut in Surya Mohan Vangala’s Telugu show. Krishnan’s titular character battles workplace sexism and self-doubt while chasing a serial killer.
A fine cast backs up Krishnan’s doughty investigator, including Anand Sami, Ravindra Vijay and Jaya Prakash.
Where to watch: Sony LIV.
Citadel: Honey Bunny: Spies with Indian accents
Of the three shows in the Citadel series, the one by writers-directors Raj & DK and co-writer Sita Menon is the most engrossing. Varun Dhawan and Samantha play an estranged couple forced to reconnect when an old enemy resurfaces. Honey and Bunny have a daughter, which raises the stakes and gives the plot an emotional undertow.
Deftly paced and performed, especially by Samantha, Citadel: Honey Bunny seals Raj & DK’s reputation for delivering American-style thrills with an Indian touch.
Where to watch: Prime Video.
Freedom at Midnight: A much-needed history lesson
Nikkhil Advani’s show based on the non-fiction book Freedom at Midnight by Larry Collins and Dominique Lapierre is a much-needed history lesson. The first season delves into the tumultuous period before Independence.
Partition, debates over the question of Muslim self-rule, the anguish of leaders such as Jawaharlal Nehru, Vallabhbhai Patel and Mahatma Gandhi – the show deals with important events in an engaging manner.
Where to watch: Sony LIV.
IC 814: The Kandahar Hijack: Grace notes from a fiasco
Anubhav Sinha’s superbly produced and performed series, based on the hijacking of an Air India flight by Islamist terrorists in 1999, finds the grace notes in a diplomatic fiasco. Sinha’s dramatisation emphasises the uncommon valour of the flight’s crew and passengers, alongside providing a glimpse into the government’s response to the crisis.
Restrained despite high drama in the skies and on the ground, the show reveals the limits of muscular policy-making, aptly captured by a bureaucrat’s response to the question “What do we tell the press?” He replies: “That we are fucked.”
Where to watch: Netflix.
Killer Soup: And a killer Konkona
Abhishek Chaubey’s ambitious black comedy about a dissatisfied wife, the husband she wants murdered, and the lover who looks exactly like her husband except for a bum eye doesn’t always come together. But Konkona Sensharma, as the scheming spouse, always does.
Sensharma is in such killer form that she alone provides a reason to wolf down eight episodes of wickedness, pathos and misguided love.
Where to watch: Netflix.
Poacher: A meaty hunt
Delhi Crime director Richie Mehta turns his attention to another kind of crime: the slaughter of elephants for ivory. Poacher revolves around dogged wildlife officials who team up with police officers to unmask the kingpin behind a massive ivory smuggling racket. The gripping show has compelling performances by Nimisha Sajayan, Roshan Mathew and Dibyendu Bhattacharya.
Where to watch: Prime Video.
Raat Jawaan Hai: The best series of 2024
The best series of 2024 is about sleep-deprived parents trying to grow into their roles while bringing up their kids. Sumeet Vyas’s Raat Jawaan Hai, written by Khyati Anand-Puthran, is a delightful show about the travails of modern-day parenting.
Barun Sobti, Priya Bapat and Anjali Anand are stellar as friends who each have families that don’t always satisfy them. The show always does.
Where to watch: Sony LIV.
Shekhar Home: Sherlock Holmes in Bengal
Shekhar Home scores by not taking its Sherlock Holmes-inspired plot seriously. The mysteries solved by the Bengali Sherlock played by Kay Kay Menon are besides the point here.
Instead, creators Srijit Mukherji and Aniruddha Guha focus on building up their characters. Apart from an irreverent Menon, the show has memorable turns from Ranvir Shorey and Rasika Dugal.
Where to watch: JioCinema.
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