This sure is over the top...

Sheetal

Thank god for the digital space, everything is just a click away from us even in these times of lockdown. Web series and movies sure help keep some of the negativity at bay. Here’s catching up with the latest.

Watch out

A website named Digital Trends has listed 50 best web series and movies that can be watched on leading OTT platforms. Movies like The Irishman, El Camino, The Avenger, Honey Boy, Parasite and Hunters are worth your precious time. Similarly, web shows, old or new, Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, The Tick, Fleabag, Homecoming, Bloodlines, Vikings, Alias Grace, Mindhunter, The Crown, Sex Education, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Peaky Blinders, Dirty Money and Stranger Things make for an interesting watch-list. However, there is no regional or national agency keeping a track of what’s popular, so for the Hindi web shows one can only rely on word of mouth publicity! Take for example, Netflix’s very own ‘Popular on Netflix’ list that goes as follows: Money Heist, Sacred Games, Jamtara, She, Sex Education, Peaky Blinders, Stranger Things, Lucifer, Delhi Crime, Guilty, Little Things, Dark, Narcos and The Witcher. It is a mix of Hindi as well as English shows popular among Indian audiences. In addition to international digital giants, Hotstar, AltBalazi, Zee5, TVF and Voot cater to a wide range of Indian languages. Shows like Money Heist, Ozark, Dirty Money and Peaky Blinders continue to be the favourites.

A lot on offer

From Oscar-winner Parasite to Punjabi movie Sufna to animation movie Onwards to horror film It Chapter 2, it seems digital platforms have it all. They even managed to telecast Bamfaad, which was about to release in April. Web shows such as Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain, Baarish and Hostages are also doing well. Hostages, an adaptation of Israeli series by the same name, reminds one of yet another Israeli show, Fauda, which is doing well worldwide. Surya Sharma, Prince from Hostages, shares, “I was impatient ever since I heard the news of Fauda being released this Thursday. I finished the show in one night itself and I can bet it will not disappoint you.”

Play by the genres

There is a lot of excitement for Vir Das’s first web series Hasmukh. The show was released this Friday, but the trailer has already been watched by 1.1 million people. Television actress Ashmyrrah Singhh, who plays Ketki in the series, says, “The lockdown has a positive side to it, as people will watch more of the digital content available worldwide. Panchayat, She, Samantar and Special Ops are on the top of my mind, which surprisingly are from different genres altogether.”

The news of Chris Hemsworth being in Asia to film his first Netflix movie, Extraction, is an open secret. The much-talked-about action movie also stars Randeep Hooda and would be released on April 24. The trailer of the film garnered four million views and was launched a week ago. The Test: The New Era For Australia’s Team will help cheer cricket fans missing the IPL this year. Apart from that, fans of Vikings would love to watch The Last Kingdom. Just make a choice!

Can’t keep count

Actress Shruti Haasan shared her list on Instagram live feed. Confessing that she had completed many popular series even before the lockdown, she shares her love for Killing Eve and Ozark series, whose latest season got released during the lockdown itself.

Quite engaging

Gurfateh Singh Pirzada, who starred in Netflix film Guilty, says, “I watched Angrezi Medium on Hotstar because I love Irrfan Khan. Also, FRIENDS and Californication are the two old shows that are engaging and worth re-visiting during your stay at home.”

Rare show

Kanwalpreet Singh, actor, shares his list, “I recently watched She and would love to recommend it to my friends. It is a story about a middle-class girl discovering herself; her sexuality, desires and her limitations. I completed Jamtara and Four More Shots Please! Though I was part of the latter one, I never got the time to watch it.”