Throwback Thursday: Churails, Scam 1992, Aashram - Here's what ruled on OTT in 2020!

New Delhi: Amid the lockdown imposed due to the deadly novel coronavirus pandemic, our lives switched to OTT platforms for respite. In this Throwback Thursday series, let's take a quick flashback drive and check out some of the biggest shows which streamed on various digital giants. Take a look:

Churails

Directed by the critically acclaimed Asim Abbasi, Zindagi’s original Churails on ZEE5 is a first-of-its-kind show that challenges the patriarchal norms of society. Set in Karachi, Churails is a story of four women from different walks of life who come together to open a covert detective agency to expose cheating husbands amongst the city’s elite. These self-proclaimed Churails run their operations under the guise of a fashion store named “Halal Designs” that specialize in conservative women’s attire. As their operations expand, they come to be the saviours of abused, mistreated and harassed women, and their search for a missing girl brings them face to face with the exploitative world of talent agencies, escort services, and cosmetic companies.  

Scam 1992

On 23rd April 1992, financial journalist Sucheta Dalal broke the story of India’s 500 Crore securities scam. Set in early nineties Bombay, the show captures the meteoric rise and the steep fall of Harshad Mehta - the flamboyant Big Bull of the stock market, and the investigation and repercussions of the scam that shook the nation. Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta story, produced by Applause Entertainment has been a record-breaking success story to tell. The show is the top-rated Indian web series on IMDB that received a phenomenal response for stellar performances by Pratik Gandhi and Shreya Dhanwantary and flawless direction by Hansal Mehta.

Aashram

Directed by Prakash Jha, Bobby Deol starrer Aashram Chapter 1 released in August, and the second chapter premiered on MX Player in November. The series revolves around the corruption and crime that happens under the guise of faith. The story talks about a self-proclaimed Godman who goes by the name Baba Nirala and is revered by his followers and devotees. As the story progresses, the audience realizes that the godman may not be who he claims to be and is harbouring dark secrets that include some heinous crimes.

Aaditi Pohankar, Darshan Kumar, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Adhyayan Suman, Anupriya Goenka and Tushar Pandey also play key roles in the show.

Mismatched

Mismatched is another project based on a book. It is adapted from Sandhya Menon’s novel – When Dimple Met Rishi. Directed by Akarsh Khurana and Nipun Dharmadhikari, Netflix original ‘Mismatched’ revolves around two young adults: a tech-savvy coder and gamer, Dimple Ahuja, who is super ambitious with a clear vision to feature on Forbes’ Cover Photo under 30 just like her role model Nandini Nahata. Rishi is a hopeless romantic young boy, who wants an early marriage and a settled life, unlike his parents who divorced and shattered their children’s life. Over a period of three months, this mismatched couple build an app, navigating a strange bunch of friends, an arrogant professor, unkind bullies, and of course, each other!

Ek Jhoothi Love Story

Zindagi’s second original ‘Ek Jhoothi Love Story’ on ZEE5 is a romantic comedy consisting of Salma and Sohail who live a simple life yet aim for the stars when it comes to a life partner. Both create artificial online accounts to find romance through their alter egos with their crushes Natalia and Nofil. Online Salma becomes Natalia and enjoys the attention she gets from Nofil, who is in-fact no other than Sohail’s fake profile. Both Salma and Sohail are living a lie when they find their real lives forever intertwined. But can they leave behind mistruths and find true love in each other?

High

High traces the life of Shiv Mathur (Akshay Oberoi), an addict struggling to get a grip on life, who eventually finds himself in a rehab facility. The rehab is run by Doctor Roy (Prakash Belawadi) and two other junior doctors Shweta (Shweta Basu Prasad) and Nakul (Nakul Bhalla) who are working on a mysterious compound. The existence and sampling of this pill creates the biggest disruption in the illegal drugs market and manages to grab the attention of professional assassin – Lakda (Ranvir Shorey), amongst many others. But will Shiv and the gang be able to achieve their dream? Or will they be eliminated?

The 9 episodic series is live on MX Player, directed by acclaimed ad filmmaker Nikhil Rao and also stars powerful performers like Mrinmayee Godbole, Kunal Naik, Mantra and Madhur Mittal in key roles.

Happily Ever After

The Zoom Studios’ Happily Ever After captures the reality of a modern millennial relationship and brings to light the hitches and glitches the millennial couple, Roneet Bagchi and Avani Mehndiratta faces as they strive to achieve their dream wedding.

The show marks the web debut of the acclaimed director, Navjot Gulati and brings together digital powerhouse talents, Naveen Kasturia (Roneet Bagchi) and Harshita Gaur (Avani Mehndiratta) to play the lead roles. Shot in Rajasthan, the show presents an ensemble cast of 54 actors from the small screen, coming together for the first time on a web series. Shivankit Parihar, Shruti Das, Gurpreet Saini, Shabnam Vadhera, Rajiv Khanna amongst others will be seen playing key characters in this situational drama-comedy.