The immeasurable thrill that comes from watching a show that ties in with some aspects of real life and the connection we feel with characters that we relate to our own selves is indescribable, to say the least. Despite being a new show with barely 8 episodes, Special Ops have made their way into the hearts of many people all around the world. we have compiled a list of the best web series like Special OPS.
It has taken inspiration from the many missions that have been undertaken by the Indian Government over the course of two decades. The critically acclaimed story of RAW agent Himmat Singh resonated with many. If you have been craving more shows like that and haven’t found the perfect ones to add to your watchlist, this is your chance.
Here is the list of Web Series like Special Ops:
The Family Man
The Family Man is an action thriller web series that is available on Amazon Prime Video and is created and directed by Raj and D.K. The story has also been written by the creators in addition to Suman Kumar. It was initially released on 20th September 2019.
The first seasons show the story of an analyst named Srikant Tiwari in a fictional unit of the NIA (National Intelligence Agency) of India who is married and has two children. Srikant investigates a potential attack by terrorists whilst handling the crisis in his tumultuous personal life.
Real-life newspaper articles acted as inspiration for this story. The cast of the show is as jam-packed as you’d expect it to be with Manoj Bajpayee playing the protagonist Srikant and Priyamani Iyer as his wife.
Sharib Hashmi, Neeraj Madhav, Kishore Kumar, Gul Panag and Shreya Dhanwanthary make up the rest of the main cast, with solid acting. The second season is expected to be released in February of 2021.
Bard of Blood
Premiered on Netflix on 27th September 2019, Bard of Blood is a 7-episode web series based on a novel by the same name which was written by Bilal Siddiqi. The direction is provided by Ribhu Dasgupta in collaboration with production from Red Chillies Entertainment.
The story follows Kabir Anand, a former IIW (Indian Intelligence Wing) agent who has spiralled out of control after an operation results in the death of his colleague/partner. Recovering from the trauma, he takes the job as a Literature teacher and takes care of his partner’s widow and their son.
After a mission by the IIW officers goes awry and results in four of them being kidnapped by the Taliban, the director of IIW, Sadiq Sheikh asks for Kabir to save them. When he comes to Sheikh’s house to accept the proposal put forth by him, he finds him dead and is considered the first suspect and interviewed by the head of intelligence, Arun Joshi who decides that he is indeed not guilty.
During the cremation of Sadiq Sheikh, Kabir notices a man clicking pictures and chases him around, when he accidentally chances upon another analyst named Isha Khanna.
A message left by Sheikh before his death, upon being decoded, leads Kabir to believe that a mission involving him, Isha and another agent by the name of Veere Singh would conclude in Balochistan and would not be sanctioned.
This starts a chase with Arun Joshi tracking their movement after the trio teams up to complete their mission.The show features the likes of Emraan Hashmi who plays the titular role of Kabir, Vineet Singh as Veere Singh, Sobhita Dhulipala as Isha Khanna, Rajit Kapur as Sadiq Sheikh and Shishir Sharma as Arun Joshi.
State of Siege: 26/11
The limited web series that premiered on Zee5, centers around the 26/11 attack that took place in Mumbai in 2008 and shook the whole country by its core. Created by Abhimanyu Singh, this show celebrates and highlights the sheer bravery with which Indian forces fought to save the city of dreams.
It is based on Sandeep Unnithan’s book, Black Tornado: The Three Seiges of Mumbai 26/11. The show highlights the difficulties the NSG faced and the underfunding of the department and the lack of advanced weapons. The first few episodes focus on building the plot and introducing you to the fearless characters inspired from real life.
It shows how meticulous the attacks were and despite of all the hurdles that were in the way, Mumbai Police gave it their all and got the situation in control. The series is a painful reminder of the black day but it’s informational and respectful.
Performances by the actors are getting praise everywhere, Arjan Bajwa plays the role of Colonel Kunal Sahota, the commanding officer of NSG. Arjun Bijlani’s part takes direct inspiration from Major Sandeep Unnikrishnan, a brave soldier who lost his life while Mukul Dev acts as the antagonist who funds terrorists.
Naxalbari
Scoring an 8.2 out of 10, this Zee5 original is co-written by Amit Babbar, Ambar Hada, Prakhar Vihaan, Pulkit Rishi and Pradeep Atluri and directed by Partho Mitra. Rajeev Khandelwal who plays the titular role of Raghav Joshi, a Special Task Force agent.
As a part of his mission, he has to embark on a journey to Gadchiroli in Maharashtra to stop the rallying of Naxals. While investigating a blast that killed an MLA, Raghav and his colleague Mohit Kale (played by Sameer Roy) are forced to arrest the two supposed masterminds behind the attack, Binu and Pahaan, which are played by Shakti Anand and Satyadeep Mishra respectively.
Raghav and his team fall into the web of a grim world wherein they find out that a naxalite armed rebellion is slowly encroaching and infiltrating the jungles and nearby cities.Aamir Ali, Sreejita De, Narayani Shastri, Tina Datta are also part of the notable cast and have gained immense appreciation for their acting.
Asur: Welcome to your dark side
A Voot original web series, Asur is co-produced by Tanveer Bookwala of Ding Entertainment and Viacom 18 Studios. It is co-created by Shweta More, Vaibhav Shikdar and Gaurav Shukla and is based on the American anthology crime drama, True Detective.
This Oni Sen directed saga marks the debut of Arshad Warsi on web series. Set in the picturesque town of Varanasi, Barun Sobti takes on the role of Nikhil Nair, a former forensic expert who has traded in his medical equipment for the life of a teacher.
Set in Varanasi, the show follows Nikhil returning to his old life at the Central Bureau of Investigation. Along with his former mentor, Dhananjay Rajpoot, played by the beloved Arshad Warsi, Nair finds himself in an exciting game of chase with a serial killer.
Paatal Lok
Ranked as the best Hindi Film/Series of 2020 by the Huffington Post India and The Indian Express, Paatal Lok has wowed the audience with its mature and gripping content. Created by Sudip Sharma, this series is loosely based on the book The Story of My Assassins by Tarun Tejpal. It is co-directed by Avinash Arun and Prosit Roy and produced by Anushka Sharma’s Clean Slate Filmz.
It follows the story of a lowly police officer named Hathiram Chaudhary, played by Jaideep Ahlawat, who is chasing four criminals who are the prime suspects in the attempted execution of a journalist. The slow burning yet enticing chase leads him to Paatal Lok, another name for the Underworld. The cast was showered with a ton of praise for their performance; Jaideep Ahlawat, Gul Panag, Neeraj Kabi, Swastika Mukherjee, Abhishek Bannerjee and Jagjeet Sandhu are some names you’d never forget after watching Paatal Lok.
Abhay
Produced by B.P Singh under the label of Fiction Factory Productions, ZEE5’s Abhay, is a thriller web series, starring Kunal Khemu in the titular role. The show is directed by Ken Ghosh. Abhay solves numerous intriguing cases along with his team. The show sends the audience’s curiosity soaring, as it runs high on the element of shock value. The show revolves around Special Task Force officer Abhay Pratap Singh, who has his hands full. Khemu as Abhay delivers with a stellar performance.
The show also has another season which is set in succession to the events that happened in the first season. The premise of this season focuses on the implications of morality in Abhay as he hunts downs criminals and becomes better at the game of chase than the villains themselves. In total, Abhay has two seasons, with a total of 16 episodes, spanning for over 2 seasons, that will provide you with some jaw-dropping scenario, making you binge the show and finish in a short period of time.
Sacred Games
When we talk about the initial phase of the series making a mark in the Indian OTT space, Sacred Games is one of the first shows that crosses our minds. Directed by Anurag Kashyap, Vikramaditya Motwane and Neeraj Ghaywan, the plot of this successful series revolves around a washed-out Mumbai Police inspector Sartaj Singh, portrayed by Saif Ali Khan who receives a cryptic phone call from a man who once used to be a powerful kingpin but has been underground for 16 years.
Ganesh Gaitonde portrayed by Nawazuddin Siddiqui. When we talk about some of the most renowned web series all across the world, Sacred Games arguably stands at the top of the ladder.
Delhi Crime
This Netflix limited series revolves around the real-life rape case that occured in Delhi, back in 2016. The show is led by a team of cops who have a task at hand of finding perpetrators but the time given to them is limited and the resources are meagre.
The show shines with incredible performances by Shefali Shah, Rajesh Tailang and Rasika Dugal. The entire cast of the show shines throughout the series. The fact that a sensitive subject is handled with perfection in this series, makes it worth your time.
In addition to that, where this show particularly scores is its portrayal of a troubled police force, that is easy to blame, and the low quality of life makes them engage in questionable scenarios. Scoring a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, this show was bestowed upon the honor of receiving an International Emmy Award for Best Drama Series.
The Raikar Case
Voot’s The Raikar Case is a family thriller drama that revolves around the murder of the youngest family member. It is a nail biting thriller that perfectly depicts the concepts of deceit, love and life and blows your mind with the numerous twists and turns along the way.
All the episodes of the show are beautifully connected and keep you engaged throughout. The creators of the show are able to leave us confused, while we are completely hooked to the series. The Raikar Case is indeed one of the better original web series delivered by Voot till now.
The head of the family is portrayed by the talented Atul Kulkarni and Ashwini Bhave who depict the role of the patriarch and matriarch of the family, respectively. The show came out in 2020 and was directed by Aditya Sarpotdar.
Memories
Memories is a psychological thriller that revolves around Siddharth Sareen (Rohit Roy), the owner of a news channel with the name of “India Now”, who returns from the dead after being killed in a road accident. As fate would have it, he was blessed/cursed with a superpower that would allow him to access the memories of a dead person, upon touch.
The reason behind this power is still unknown. This power, aptly named, the gift of Siddharth has also been of great benefit to the others, as it has allowed him to aid the police in solving various cases where the secret clues were hidden within the memories of the dead. The show provides you with an engaging thriller experience with a supernatural element.
The Chargesheet : Innocent or Guilty?
The Chargesheet is crime related mini web series that was released at the beginning of the year. The show begins with a heart-wrenching murder, and the victim is a national level table tennis player.
A CBI officer is on his quest to seek the truth behind this gruesome murder and what follows is the complete package that will keep you engaged throughout all the episodes of the show.
This ZEE5 series fulfills your expectations of being the ultimate combination mystery and action with power packed performances by Sikandar Kher and Arunoday Singh. It is an intense work of fiction with a binge-worthy plot line.
Criminal Justice
Based on the popular British drama series by Peter Moffat, the critically acclaimed Indian version of Criminal Justice revolves around Aditya (played by Vikrant Massey) whose experience of a one night stand turns into an absolute nightmare.
It shows the changes in Aditya as he goes from being a naive and innocent guy to a rebellious prisoner. The show also stars the famous Pankaj Tripathi, who portrays Madhav Mishra, a notorious and money-minded lawyer who accidentally ends up being Aditya’s defense council as a fluke.
Overall, Criminal Justice is an engaging experience for all the crime thriller enthusiasts out there. The show is binge-worthy, as the story keeps you hooked from the very beginning till the end.
The Investigation
Eros Now Quickie’s first entry on the list features their drama called, The Investigation which is an intriguing crime saga that stars Hiten Tejwani, Leena Jumani, Aryamann Seth and Prakash Ramchandani as the main cast.
The show follows an investigative offer of Mumbai crime branch, who has to solve a murder case that was thrown to him for investigation. The instinct hits him hard and he realises that he holds the responsibility for this particular death.
His morality is questioned by the viewers as the question of will he/won’t he surrender lingers in the air.The Investigation is driven by a stellar performance by Hiten Tejwani, who has stepped out of his comfort zone of soft/romantic roles and has stepped into an unfamiliar territory of thrill which he has absolutely nailed. The Investigation is worth the watch, as every episode will keep you waiting for more.
Operation Cobra
Another Eros Now feature, this original features Gautam Gulati in the role of the protagonist as RAW agent Karan Shah who has the task at hand to locate nuclear switches that are connected to destructive nuclear bombs. During this mission, they come across a deadly terrorist organization that goes by the name of RPG. Operation Cobra catches the vibe of Special Ops with its plot line. The show features numerous interesting arcs to keep you hooked throughout its duration. It is definitely worth checking out if you are fond of Special Ops.
Conclusion
With this newfound knowledge of TV web series, you wouldn’t have to worry too much about how to pass your time. All these shows are available all over the internet and would warrant only a single viewing to make you a lifelong fan. The Indian Entertainment Industry has been proving the naysayers wrong with the strong plotlines and stellar acting and making a name for itself in the international sphere.
Since one Emmy has been won by an Indian web series already, one would be foolish to think that others are not on the way. With the Entertainment Industry going all the way to provide us with bing-worthy content, lists like these would be a common phenomenon.
