The adaptation of Prayaag Akbar’s novel of the same name has been directed by Deepa Mehta, Shanker Raman and Pawan Kumar. Leila is set in the late 2040s in an India that is now known as Aryavarta. The totalitarian nation-state is headed by Joshi (Sanjay Suri), a semi-divine figure who lords over the populace through holograms, photographs and statues.The lines that divide caste and religion have taken literal form. Each community has its own sector, which is separated from the others by tall walls. The emphasis is on purity, and intermingling between communities is penalised.
Transgressors are cut off from their families and sent to facilities where they are given uniforms and reschooled in the new ways of the new world (“Mera janm hi hai mera karm” – my birth determines my fate.)Shalini (Huma Qureshi) is one such transgressor, having committed the crime of marrying a Muslim, Rizwan (Rahul Khanna). They have a child together, Leila, who has been separated from Shalini. Over the course of six episodes, Shalini attempts to locate her daughter, dodging surveillance systems, thwarting thugs and uncovering a political conspiracy along the way.
The series deserves credit for daring to hold up a mirror to contemporary Indian society and warning that a similar brand of intolerance and exclusion could be round the corner if our worst impulses remain unchecked. However, the dystopia suggested by Leila isn’t always convincing. The series tackles too many themes – surveillance, hyper-segregation, social hierarchies, authoritarianism, pollution, a water supply crisis – without exploring any one idea with depth.Leila has all the ingredients of a perfect dystopian drama that strike a chord with the viewers. The fear makes you uncomfortable, the suspense on edge of your seat, the tragedy makes your miserable while the horror of it all surrounds you with all its intensity, as the possibility of an impending doom lurks.
The 6-episode series will force you to binge watch it as it hooks you to the scary, seemingly realistic future, leaving you utterly perplexed.

Ranveer Srivastava has served 7 years in jail for a crime he didn’t commit. Now that he is out, with nothing to lose, and a driving need for vengeance, he sets out to Goa, to make everyone who put him behind the bars, pay. As the need for revenge consumes and becomes a poison in his mind, Ranveer takes law in his hands and becomes what he previously was not- a criminal.
Poison is a revenge story about Ranveer, and it maintains that mystery till the end. Ranveer is hell bent on the course of retribution; stopping at nothing, doing anything to achieve it, and the viewers can’t help but wonder why. From the beginning, he is shown as a criminal, but the way Tanuj Virwani portrays it gives away the impression that there’s more to the story than meets the eye. And at last when the mystery is revealed, the wait seems to be worth it. Tanuj plays his grey character with the necessary flourish.
Arbaaz Khan’s digital debut definitely roots his presence with his impressive acting. He is the fresh breath in the otherwise intense and convoluted plot, with his ruthless yet slightly comical character- Antonio Varghese. The crime-lord operating under the ruse of businessman is sharp, witty and merciless, and Arbaaz portrays him perfectly.
Poison blurs the line between what is right and what is wrong, venturing into the grey area that generates a conflict of interest towards certain characters and the story. It shows the dark depths of human nature; how power, greed and revenge can turn honest men into ugly people, with stark, unflinching clarity. Many important characters end up dead throughout the series, shocking you for a while, and leaving you admiring the will and daring of the creators.
The composers have done an incredible job at supplementing the series with the apt background score, be it the melancholic, thrilling music or the intimate, warm score, when necessary. The opening credits with its trippy visuals and mysterious, war-cry like music creates anticipation for the proceeding plot.
Poison is far from being watch-worthy material, let alone binge-watch worthy.

'Untouchables' revolves around a medical student Natasha(Sreejita) who is an escort. She falls into a murder trap involving her wealthy client. Bhatt Senior, who plays a lawyer named Aakash Awasthi, comes to her rescue. The show is largely a courtroom drama, inspired by real-life events.
The story is set up for a gripping drama, with the required twists and turns. Natasha's fiancé will have a tough time when he comes to know of her nocturnal deeds. Her rep is already in tatters, as she is picked up by the cops from the hospital where she interns.
Sreejita shows sparks of brilliance right up front. We can feel her fear when she is running away from the five-star hotel crime scene. Wiping the blood stains from her dress is another killer shot.
The scene towards the end of the first episode, when Natasha begs the female cop for light in her detention room and is humiliated for being an escort, is touching.
The series will mark Vikram’s digital debut as an actor. Vikram acts in this series as Aakash Awasthi, a lawyer who helps Sreejita with the case.
Overall this series is worth watching.

'City of Dreams' is essentially the story of Poornima (Priya Bapat) and Ashish Rao Gaikwad (Siddharth Chandekar), the two children of Ameya Rao Gaikwad (Atul Kulkarni), who’s a prominent political figure in Maharashtra and has eyes on New Delhi. A failed assassination attempt on the senior Gaikwad, which has rendered him comatose, leads to a polarised power-tussle between the petulant, man-child brother, Ashish, and his suave, thinking and even-tempered sister, Poornima. The assassination attempt is described as ‘flashback style’ by the cops — as a throwback to the 90s, and we see that style sporadically rearing its head all through the show.
The aftermath of the assassination brings the other story arcs into the mainstream narrative. The search for the two assailants brings in the disgraced ‘encounter Wasim’ (Eijaz Khan), a police officer who’s seeking to redeem himself and his vardi. Credited for having cleansed Mumbai of the underworld in the late ‘90s, he now rides his Enfield everywhere, wears aviators and has a network of informants that includes the local butcher and bar dancers, who serve as veritable mines of information. Wasim, at one point, mentions that he was discriminated by the department on account of his religion, but it’s not built upon much. There is also the ‘hooker with a heart of gold’, who goes by the name of Katrina and helps out with the good cause, and dispenses pearls of wisdom like “Mumbai ka paisa, Mumbai main hi rehta hai”.
City of Dreams has a couple of parallel narratives running, but at least one of them about a prostitute, Katrina (Amrita Bagchi), and her lover-boy (Vishwas Kini), appears completely redundant. And there are far too many scenes that could have been edited out, making the series tighter and an easier watch.While it is much too glossy, making the whole series look like the setting of a rich-fat Indian wedding (with Bapat and Chandekar appearing all dressed up all the time), the tendency to paint Ashish all black and Poornima all white is like letting the cat out much too soon.
Overall 'City of Dreams' is eminently watchable, binge-watch-worthy material.

'Haq Se' starts as a story of a family, comprising of two women, and the four daughters of one of the women, the Mirza family. The daughters are young women with their own minds and set to live life on their terms. The eldest, Meher, signs up to intern with the charismatic doctor Naushad Rizvi. Jannat Mirza is a freelancer who wants to change Kashmir with her blog, while Rabiyah and Amal Mirza are still finding their footing in a world full of grown-ups.
But that’s just the top-line of the story. Under this, there’s a lot more sub-text about women living in a man’s world – however shielded world that is. The dreamy doc may have murdered his wife. The blog’s no longer an innocent diary, and children finding their footing in a world full of grown-ups are destined for heartbreak, sometime or the other.
The story’s well thought of, the characters are the essence of the on-going and you can feel the layers that the lead characters have. It’s said that in films, it’s the small things that make up the bigger picture and few web series prove it like Haq Se does. Come for the story and performance and Haq Se for the quirky twists that are masterstrokes.
The story is set in modern times where we are fighting for equal rights, culture and ideologies of the society. A debate that we usually see happening on social media or news channels about relationships, love, an 'ideal' woman , etc. happens in the Mirza family. It's a debate you can't miss! Not to mention, what a beautiful set! The makers have shot the series in Manali but the set looks so beautiful, you'd feel like moving there immediately.
'Haq Se' is well worth your time.

'Baarish' is shallow, unoriginal and there is no character for which you will want to go back. Sharman and Asha’s mediocre acting adds to the misery.
Anuj (Sharman Joshi), an ‘adarsh’ son of an uber-rich household, loves his siblings – Rishi and Shreya – like his children. He has worked towards making the family business grow but lets younger brother Rishi take credit for it. He loves his employees like his family. One day, while it is raining, he meets Gauravi (Asha Negi), an employee of the company and offers her a lift. She, like him, is an ‘adarsh’ daughter of a middle-class family. Attracted by her simplicity and honesty, he helps in getting her job back, after she is fired by Rishi.
The first episode shows Gauravi (Asha Negi) being led to jail for an undisclosed crime. The narrative then goes into flashback mode, as Gauravi narrates her story to her defence lawyer, describing the events that led to her incarceration.
At its heart, Baarish is the heart-touching tale of the unconditional, unreserved love that blooms between middle-class Marathi mulgi, Gauravi, and uber-rich Gujarati diamond merchant, Anuj Mehta (Sharman Joshi), owner of Mehta Diamonds. The whimsical Mumbai rains play cupid in bringing the two together, hence the name of the show.
One of the things we loved about Baarish was its music. The series is studded with silvery songs that are melodious, affecting and eminently hummable. The production values of the show are top-notch. Every frame of Baarish looks pretty as a picture, with nary a discordant note to mar the mesmerizing beauty of the settings.
Baarish is a beautiful show, made with passion and fervour. It is like that favourite easy-chair you sink into at the end of a particularly frazzled day, which melts away your fatigue in its warm solace. It is the blissfully cool relief of the first monsoon showers after the heat of the sweltering Indian summer. Watch Baarish for its enchanting, old-worldly romance.

Gandii Baat Season 2 is an anthology of quick-fire, twisted tales of lust, love and everything in between. The four episode mini-series is moulded in the ways of the soft-core stories that are a part of every adolescent’s growing up years. Only this time, the stories are a bit female-centric and that’s what adds to the flavour.
Ekta Kapoor and her team of minds dole out a hedonistic, absurd, nonsensical, sex toned story which is more bizarre than arousing.Replete with crudity, sexual innuendos and misogynistic scenes, Gandii Baat attempts to be a rebel content, delving into ‘you cannot mention’ topics but sadly, it puts its faith too much on sex than the ‘real’ stories of small town. Apart from fantasies and fanaticism, the narrative could have been more evocative, depicting varied nuances of the characters in play.
Gandii Baat doesn’t rise above the clinical, it skims the surface and what could have been gritty and grim, ends up being loutish.The idea is interesting, making a concoction of India and Bharat, the two worlds stirred with lust and lascivious, often propelling sinister ambitions.
Performances are loud and over the top, and blend with the stories. Characters look more urbane than rural. The background score with sex sounds find inspiration from soft porn and the overall treatment and feel has a Kashyap like ‘Wasseypur’ feel.
If you have nothing else to do on a certain evening then enjoy a brainless entertainment like Gandii Baat. Watch it at your own risk.

The web series starts with monologue of Kiyan (Rajeev), who is a famous novel author but has been chased badly a girl named as Kasti (Priya). He is there to release his new novel. But lands in a trouble or in a dark pleasure, which leads him to his end. He has been married and has very settled life but soon his life gets disturbed with entry of Kasti in it. The girl makes his nostalgic then hits him, making him in confusion that she gives him pleasure or pain. He soon finds himself obsessed with Kasti and uses him and drives him more towards herself, after many struggles and many twists Kiyan finds himself all ruin. Whatever he loved whatever he had has all ruined up, he is not left with anything now and is completely demolished. You will find this web series interesting to watch and you will definitely love it.Rajeev Siddhartha and Priya Banerjee will be seen in the lead roles as Kiyaan and Kashti respectively, while the gorgeous Madhu Sneha Upadhyay looks very impressive playing the character of a progressive, yet culturally deep-rooted Indian girl.
The show is full of thrills, mystery and lies with lots of twists and turns, which will keep you hooked to your screens.

ALTBalaji’s love saga 'Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain' is a mature story of a man who chooses to walk out of his marriage and seek love in a girl, who he feels is perfect for him. While we usually shun tales of infidelity, this Ekta Kapoor show will make you realise that life is beyond seeing things in just black and white.
Season 1 of the show ended with Poonam (Gurdeep Kohli) and Rohit (Ronit Roy) getting divorced and Rohit getting married to Ananya (Mona Singh). Rohit and Poonam’s daughters Bani (Pooja Bannerjee) and Nikki (Palak Jain) too, mess up their lives. While Bani marries in haste and regrets her decisions, Nikki is falling in love but is conflicted about reacting on her feelings, for the fear of messing up her relationship, like her parents’. And all is not hunky dory between Rohit and Ananya, when the latter decides to go to Qatar to make a career for herself, while Rohit’s stubborn attitude and male ego keep him back in India.
As far as performances are concerned, with actors Mona Singh, Gurdeep Kohli and Rohit Roy acing the show, there is no doubt that the trio completely owns their scenes. And add into the mix Suchitra Pillai and that’s what we call terrific casting. While in the initial episodes, you might feel things going a little over-the-top, the actors have completely shouldered the show and will leave a lasting impact on your mind with their performances. Music also plays a very important part of the series.
Also, kudos to the team of writers for writing a story which has aspects that everyone in daily life can relate to in some way or the other. It only drives certain realizations closer home. All in all, 'Kehne Ko Humsafar Hain'is a must watch.

Set against the backdrop of the holy city of Haridwar, the story revolves around a cop-turned-gangster. The story of a man, the love of his life and the other woman, this ‘abduction’ drama has been beautifully wrapped in a mix of masala, swift comic bouts, emotion and a lot of mind-boggling twists.
Director Siddharth Sengupta has adeptly put actors Arunoday Singh, Mahie Gill, Nidhi Singh, Sanjay Batra, Monica Chaudhary, Saanaad Verma and Varun Badola into the shoes of their characters and has created a startling suspenseful story for the audience.
The cop, who is removed from the position of a Crime Branch inspector, is desperate as his wife is having an affair, he has no job and everything is falling apart. Enter Mahie Gill’s character, the wife of a wealthy man. She offers this man a huge amount of money for something really big in return and that is how the story unfolds. The Ghats of Rishikesh, the bodyguards we see in the trailer, Saanaad Verma and Varun Badola’s characters, and the implausible abduction makes this show worth watching.
They have paid attention to little things, like dialect, costumes and dialogue really well. To reinstate that it is a true-blue UP-based drama, they have used too many cuss words.
Arunoday Singh, Mahie Gill and Nidhi Singh’s characters have done full justice to their respective roles. Arunoday Singh’s character will make you feel just as miserable as he feels on the screen; Nidhi Singh’s character adds a humourous yet charming element; while Mahie Gill, as usual, sets the screen on fire with her carnal yet witty character. Not to forget, Monica Chaudhary, who has done a great job as well.
The supporting characters add to the drama in the story and make it a thrilling crime drama. Apart from engaging performances, a twisted story, an unexpected climax several other elements add to the charm of the show.