Like all of us, Bollywood’s favourite pastime is to catch up on the latest shows and films on OTT.
Mayur Sanap finds out exactly what movie folk are watching.
Kalki Koechlin
Photograph: Kind courtesy Kalki Koechlin/Instagram
Kalki is hooked on Trial By Fire on Netflix, directed by Prashant Nair and Randeep Jha.
Headlined by Abhay Deol and Rajshri Deshpande, the show is based on the Uphaar Cinema tragedy of 1997 and showcases the tragic fire incident and the subsequent legal battle.
“It is an excellent piece of work. I have not seen a show of this quality coming out of India since the first season of Delhi Crime”, says Kalki, adding, “Both Rajshri and Abhay have done a fantastic job. It is so well put together: From director to actors to music to photography. It is really an engaging and powerful piece of work.”
Rakul Singh
Photograph: Kind courtesy Rakul Singh/Instagram
Rakul recently finished watching the Shahid Kapoor and Vijay Sethupathi-starrer Farzi on Amazon Prime Video and has now moved on to a documentary on Netflix.
“I loved Farzi and have started watching MH370: The Plane That Disappeared. It’s really interesting,” says the Chhatriwali star.
Karan Tacker
Photograph: Kind courtesy Karan Tacker/Instagram
Karan, who was last seen in Neeraj Pandey’s Khakee: The Bihar Chapter, picks Farzi, Taaza Khabar and the Manoj Bajpayee-Sharmila Tagore’s OTT film Gulmohar as his current favourites.
“I walk into shows without expectations because that’s when you get entertained the most. (I like) Any show that keeps you going because the idea of OTT is to binge,” Karan says.
Avinash Tiwary
Photograph: Kind courtesy Avinash Tiwary/Instagram
Karan’s Khakee co-star calls himself a “very poor audience” because of his “very bad attention span”.
Instead of tuning in to long-format shows, Avinash recently finished watching three critically acclaimed international films in just two days: The Banshees of Inisherin, Decision to Leave and Aftersun.
But this does not mean Avinash is averse to watching Indian shows. Of course, the last two shows he watched had released during the pandemic-induced lockdown.
“I hardly watch stuff but when I do, I keep going. Paatal Lok would be a very good example. It really grabbed me right at the start and kept me engaged throughout. So did Scam 1992,” he says.
Pavail Gulati
Photograph: Kind courtesy Pavail Gulati/Instagram
Pavail Gulati garnered immense appreciation for his performance in Director Ashwiny Iyer Tiwari’s romance-drama series Faadu: A Love story, co-starring Saiyami Kher. Giving a shoutout to his own show, the actor feels, “Everybody should watch it.”
So which show did he like besides his own?
“Khakee was very good. I liked the show because it’s really raw,” says Pavail. “I liked Avinash Tiwary’s character. Karan Tacker was also very good.”
Sanjana Sanghi
Photograph: Kind courtesy Sanjana Sanghi/Instagram
Sanjana is clearly a Vijay Sethupathi fan, and can’t stop praising him after watching Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK’s crime caper Farzi.
“Oh my God, I loved all the characters in Farzi. Vijay Sethupathi sir is an absolute God. He is so menacing in the show,” Sanjana says, adding, “Shahid Kapoor has killed it too.”
Tisca Chopra
Photograph: Kind courtesy Tisca Chopra/Instagram
Tisca ‘was very, very addicted’ to Khakee: The Bihar Chapter.
Praising the show, the actor, whose last outing was the OTT series Dahan: Raakan Ka Rahasya, says, “Neeraj Pandey has done a really great job with that show. I really liked Avinash Tiwary’s character.”
Sunny Kaushal
Photograph: Kind courtesy Sunny Kaushal/Instagram
Did you know Sunny is an anime fan?
The Chor Nikal Ke Bhaga actor was last hooked to watching Bleach: Thousand-Year Blood War on Netflix.
“I am a huge anime fan so I watched the latest season of Bleach during my shoot in the last two months,” Sunny says.
