Top 7 Entertaining Bengali Web Series

The first Bengali OTT platform was Hoichoi, and now there are many like Addatimes, Klikk and of course Zee5. There is a new trend in web series where a housewife gets involved in some mysteries and tries to unfold them. While when this trend started, it was somewhat refreshing to watch (Hello!) but then later on with similar sort of plots this trend lost its charm. However, amongst these monotonous series, few series release that have strong stories to tell. Today I am going to discuss few such series which are quite entertaining.

1. Dakghor: This series has the simple flavour of rural Bengal. A newly appointed postmaster comes to a village post office that hardly operates. With the help of some villagers he revives the Post Office and almost becomes the Hero of the village. Some scenes and instances from the series will remind you of Panchayat. However the makers have managed to create a fresh story with a powerful cast. Suhotra Mukhopadhyay, Ditipriya Roy and Kanchan Mullick deliver well in terms of performance. This is a 2 seasons web series and the simplicity and instances of the daily rural life is quite enjoyable to watch.

2. Abar Proloy: This started with the film Proloy, where Animesh Dutta, a dare-devil cop investigates the most notorious cases. This time, he is after a gang of human traffickers who operate from the Sundarban region. Now this series is one of the most action-packed series with some wonderful locales of Sundarbans. A special mention to the camera work and music. The item song "Menoka" is perhaps one of the most popular songs in any web series. Coming to the performances, Saswata Chatterjee as Animesh Dutta is phenomenal, and so is Ritwik Chakrabarty as the antagonist. Every actor, even the ones with minimal screen presence, has given their best. The series also has Koushani, Gourab, Sayoani Gupta and Paran Bandopadhyay in important roles. This series has the flavour of any commercial entertainer.

3. Indubala Bhaater Hotel: This is a beautiful story of a widow's life from her young to old age, where she single-handedly starts and runs a hotel with her impeccable culinary skills. It was so good to see Subhashree shedding her glamorous avatar to make Indubala and her struggles realistic. The actor has undoubtedly given her best for the role. For those more inclined towards books, this story is by noted Bengali author Kallol Lahiri. The series takes the audience through an emotional roller-coaster of the woman's life.

4. Shikarpur: A rural private investigator used to getting petty cases finally gets into something serious. In this, he gets the support of his mentor and guide, along with the latter's daughter, whom our investigator is secretly dating. This happens much to the dismay of the investigating officer, who also has a romantic interest in the same lady. Shikarpur is a mix of comedy and thrill and is a nice, entertaining watch. Performances of Ankush and Kaushik Ganguly are noteworthy. There are a few twists in the series that make things more interesting.

5. Dugdugi: A man often ridiculed by everyone for being a loser, from his wife to his boss and even his girlfriend, somehow finally gets to lead the life of his dreams, and how! That is what the story is about. Anirban Chakrabarty is effortless in this character, and so is Biswanath Basu, as his colleague. The series has some very funny moments, and even the story's serious aspects have been skillfully dealt with humour. This will be a perfect watch for someone looking for good comedy content.

6. Pashbalish: This is the most recent web series that I have watched when it comes to Bengali content. The series has comedy, romance, violence and thrill. Seeing a pure love story after such a long time is nice. Suhotra Mukhopadhyay and Sourav Das both give good performances. Some of the sequences look quite dragged and repetitive. Also, it is difficult to fathom the female lead,  played by Isha Saha, who is shown as a fearless journalist and can do anything for her mission to nab criminals, suddenly becomes so helpless and weak-minded that she only struggles to find who genuinely loves her and who loves her for their own profit. The story is good; the execution could have been better.

7. Chotolok: This is a murder mystery with many social messages. An aspiring actress who leads a double life gets murdered in her apartment. There are many suspects, and the investigating officer who takes charge of the murder cracks it after fighting a lot of powerful people, including a politician who can do anything for power. The performances are strong, especially with Daminee Beni Basu as SI Mondol, supported by Indrani Haldar, Priyanka Sarkar, and Gourab Chakraborty. This is a web series that is gripping throughout its runtime.