10 Best Indian Web Series Based on the True Events and Where to Watch Them

OTT platforms have taken the Indian market by storm and with the massive subscriber gain that they have procured in 2020, OTT platforms are looking to occupy a larger space in the Indian entertainment industry. This has had two huge ripple effects. One is the entry of more streaming platforms in the market. With the release of OTTs like Sony Liv, India now has more than forty streaming platforms for people to choose from and each of these platforms is going to have a cut-throat competition with each other for a larger bite. And the other massive effect that the growing OTT space in India has brought is more reality-based content rather than foreign adaptations or remakes.

Indians have always had an image for producing films and shows that are either heavily influenced or a straight-up copy of foreign shows or films. All thanks to Bollywood. But this won’t continue anymore as the growing space of OTT is challenging that. There could be a lot of reasons behind why this is happening at such a rapid speed but the one major reason is the democratization of content on OTT. One can watch shows and films from around the world on these platforms with just a click, so even if someone tries to copy or remake foreign content on these OTTs, people will simply watch the original, rather than indulging in its remake or adaptation. This is an obvious fact that is proving to be the major force behind Indian reality-based content.

Now you must be thinking what exactly does Indian-reality-based content mean? I mean haven’t we been watching biopics for quite some time now? The answer to this would be yes, we have had reality-based content in the past but not on the scale that OTT platforms are making them. And although we have a long list of Indian biopics, only a few of them are authentic while the rest are made within the confinements of a Bollywood ‘masala’ film.

This is what is changing as more and more creators are choosing to tell their stories as authentically as they can. Be it films like Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl(Netflix), or Class of '83(Netflix), or shows like The Forgotten Army(Amazon), or Posham Pa(Zee5), the count of reality-based content is rising like fire.

So today we’ll be focusing on some of the best Indian shows that portray real-life events in the most authentic way. Here we go.

Bose: Dead or Alive is a web-show that recounts the life of the great freedom fighter, Subhash Chandra Bose. The show, although is based on true events, narrates a no-so-true story of Bose. It also takes into account the various conspiracies that surrounded Bose’s death. The show stars Rajkumar Rao in the role of Bose who does wonders with his great acting skills. Bose: Dead or Alive became one of the first shows to tell a true story in the format of a web-series.

Special Ops, directed by the star filmmaker Neeraj Pandey, is a concoction of many real-life events. The show narrates the exploits of Himmat Singh, a senior officer at RAW, whose career spans 19 years and it takes us through many of the missions that Himmat Singh, along with his able team, investigates. Although the show is fiction, the events shown in the series are based on many real-life events. The show garnered praise for its writing and direction. It starred many talented actors such as Kay Kay Menon, who played the lead role of Himmat Singh in the show.

The Forgotten Army is a web series that is based on the life of men and women in the Indian National Army(INA) that was led by the great Indian freedom fighter, Subhash Chandra Bose. The show recounts the sacrifices and suffering the soldiers had to go through in the freedom movement of India. The show is created by the star director, Kabir Khan, and stars talented actors such as Sunny Kaushal, Sharvari Wagh, Rohit Choudhary, and many others.

Kaafir is a web show that narrates the life of a woman from Pakistan administered Kashmir, who gets imprisoned by the Indian government under the guise of being a Pakistani spy. The show narrates her ordeals as she had to spend eight years in prison where she also gave birth to a daughter, with whom she later got separated. Kaafir is based on the life of Shehnaz Parveen, a Pakistani woman who suffered a lot just because of her identity. The show has been written by Bhavani Iyer and directed by Sonam Nair. It starred Diya Mirza and Mohit Raina in the lead. Kaafir got rave reviews from critics and audiences alike for portraying the angst and grief of political prisoners and the futility of war.

This Sony Liv web series is based on the 2016 Uri attacks and the politics as well as the diplomacy that went behind it. The show captures the ordeals of soldiers and the frustration of people living in Kashmir. It also portrays the various decisions, planning, and the final execution that went behind the attacks. The show has been directed by Raj Acharya and stars some brilliant actors such as Amit Sadh, Neeraj Kabi, Darshan Kumar, Vikram Gokhale, and Madhurima Tuli. Avrodh got massive praises from critics who loved the thriller for its realistic portrayal of army missions and its politics. However, it also got a fair share of criticism for glorifying jingoism and misrepresenting life in Kashmir.

Jamtara is an Indian crime drama web series that fictionalizes the real-life phishing operation in the Jamtara district in Jharkhand. It tells the story of a group of young men who begin scamming people by using their bank account details. This lands them in big trouble as politicians and cops slowly start getting involved. The show explores patriarchy, urban-rural divide and a plethora of themes during its running time. Jamtara is directed by Soumendra Padhi and stars fresh talent. The show got a good response from Indian viewers and critics, who praised the show for its authentic portrayal of life in rural India.

Bad Boy Billionaire is a Netflix original documentary web-series that captures the life of four of India’s richest industrialists and businessmen through various interviews and news clips. The four billionaires are Vijay Mallya, Neerav Modi, Subrata Roy and Ramalinga. The show portrays their rise and lavish lifestyle before focusing on how they tweaked rules to exploit and gain advantage of commoners. It’s a classic cautionary tale. The show received praises for its style and even trended on Netflix India for a week or two. This shows how strong the power of storytelling is.

‘Kashmir: The story’ is a documentary web-series that explores the tough lives that natives of Kashmir live. It captures the various struggles that people in Kashmir have to go through regularly at the hands-on the Indian government. The documentary also captures the rise of militancy and Islamist groups in Kashmir and the local politics around it. Kashmir: The story got huge praises from around the world for telling a brave story with utmost honesty and authenticity.

Nothing can be said about the show that hasn’t already been said. It’s bold, brave, beautiful, authentic, entertaining, and very well-written. The 10 part show that released in the first week of October has become the biggest show in India and has a massive online presence. The show is based on the real-life scam that the famous stockbroker, Harshad Mehta, pulled off and the various consequences that followed. It has been directed by the critically acclaimed filmmaker, Hansal Mehta. The show has a hugely talented cast in place with actors like Prateek Gandhi, Shreya Dhanwanthary, Rajat Kapoor, Nikhil Dwivedi, Sharib Hashmi, and Hemant Kher. The show got rave reviews from critics around the country which helped the show in capturing all the more eyeballs.

Delhi Crime recently became the first Indian show to have won an Emmy for the ‘best drama series’ and deservingly so. The seven-part Netflix original web-series narrated the 2012 Nirbhaya rape case and the police investigation that followed. The show explicitly captures the racy investigation that the Delhi police did which resulted in the arrest of all six criminals within five days. The show deals with the political pressure, media disturbance, and the low budget in which the Indian police department functions. Delhi Crime was created by Richie Mehta and starred fabulous actors such as Shefali Shah, Rasika Duggal, Rajesh Tailang, Adil Hussain, and many more such names.

Here is the the updated list to keep track of all web series based on Indian history.