New Delhi: It was a massive week for the OTT releases, what with as many as five notable releases. These were Coolie No. 1, Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors, AK v/s AK, Black Widows and Sandwiched Forever. The good part was that each of these belonged to a different genre.

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Let’s talk about Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors first. This one shocked in a big way and was one of the most intense web series to have arrived out of Indian OTT arena in 2020. Picking on issues around domestic abuse and marital rape, this Pankaj Tripathi and Kirti Kulhari starrer didn’t mince any words whatsoever and said things as they are. Reminding of the kind of dark theme and narrative that Shefali Chhaya’s Delhi Crime had adopted, this Rohan Sippy and Arjun Mukherjee directed drama is yet another winner for Applause Entertainment close on the heels of their best offering for 2020, Scam 1992.

AK v/s AK is clearly the surprise of the season. 2020 has been a mixed year for Netflix when it comes to Indian content but with this Vikramaditya Motwane directed original film, they have scored a winner here. Though the film had seen a unique marketing and promotional campaign around it, audiences weren’t quite prepared for the kind of drama with a lace of humour that Anil Kapoor and Anurag Kashyap had planned to unleash on them.

Varun Dhawan and Sara Ali Khan starrer Coolie No. 1 had seen some of the biggest hype ever for an OTT film en route release and that ensured very good eyeballs on the day of its arrival at Amazon Prime. For the producers (Vashu Bhagnani, Jackky Bhagnani, Deepshikha Deshmukh) and director David Dhawan, it was a reason to rejoice as the film had managed to defeat the trolls and enjoy the best ever viewership for a straight-to-digital film. Yes, mischief makers have been at it again even now and social media negativity has been on an upswing as well. However, numbers tell a different story and if reports are to be believed, Amazon Prime is quite gung ho post the weekend response.

Meanwhile ZEE5 released its crime thriller Black Widows which had Mona Singh, Shamita Shetty and Swastika Mukherjee coming together. Pretty much playing as a pulp fiction, this one made for an easy timepass watch for those who like a dash of thrills in their television watch before retiring for the night. Though this one has cinematic liberties to the fullest, the fast paced narrative ensures that you move on to the next scene quick enough.

On the other hand Rohan Sippy had a double bill as other than Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors, his sitcom Sandwiched Forever released too. With Kunaal Roy Kapur and Aahana Kumra coming together, this Sony LIV offering is an urban romcom for those who have been exposed to such genre from their Hollywood counterpart.

Coming soon

In days to come, there are two prominent releases that are arriving on OTT. Both are ZEE5 offerings where Paurashpur is a flagship show in partnership with ALT Balaji while Nail Polish is an original film that is standalone.

Paurashpur is a period drama from the time of ‘Raja maharaja’ and has love, lust, power and crime forming its core foundation. Featuring Annu Kapoor and Milind Soman in never-seen-before roles along with Shilpa Shinde and Shaheer Sheikh, the lavishly designed web series arrives on 29th December.

On the other hand the New Year will begin with the arrival of courtroom drama Nail Polish which is spearheaded by Arjun Rampal. The actor has earlier done a web series The Final Call for ZEE5 and now that he is donning the lawyer’s coat, one waits to see his brooding act on display all over again along with Manav Kaul. The film premieres on 1st January.

Release dates

Paurashpur - 29th Dec - ALT Balaji and ZEE5

Nail Polish - 1st Jan - ZEE5

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