This one practically came out of nowhere. Somehow, not much was said or heard about Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives in days leading to the Friday release of the realistic web series. Though the promo of this Karan Johar production had released a few days back, from the follow through perspective one would have expected a lot more, given the credentials involved. ALSO READ | OTT Round-Up Of The Week: Akshay Kumar, Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol Set To Strike In The Diwali Week
Of course, in the last week there was added visibility around this show when Madhur Bhandarkar took it to social media challenging the use of the title of his upcoming film Bollywood Housewives into the title of this Netflix offering. All ended well though when Karan Johar too took to the social media and apologized. Madhur Bhandarkar further closed the chapter as well while sharing his side of the story, and eventually all ended peacefully.
Meanwhile, reviews are still trickling in about the 'fabulous lives' of the ladies in question - Maheep Kapoor, Bhavana Panday, Neelam Kothari Soni and Seema Khan. Wives of Sanjay Kapoor, Chunky Pandey, Sameer Soni and Sohail Khan respectively, they of course are the high flying women of the Mumbai high society and for those who love to know the life and times of those in the world of glamour, there is something exciting in the offering.
That said, there is also a segment of audience which frowns upon the whole idea of this life being showcased on screen, and hence can well be expected to be scathing in their criticism.
On the other hand in the times when crime thrillers are the order of the day, yet another web series belonging to this genre with a dash of drama and politics immersed into it hit the OTT platforms over the week gone by. Arriving on ZEE5 and ALT Balaji, the Sumeet Vyas led Dark 7 White turned out to be a dark horse on the small screen, what with some good entertainment quotient in there.
As the promo had indicated, this one was a whodunit in the offering and to good credit of the web series, it managed to keep the suspense intact right till the big reveal. Of course, liberal use of cuss words as well as sexually explicit scenes meant that the audience was restricted for Dark 7 White. However, for an adult audience, there was 3 hours quick-fire entertainment in the offering. A 'masala' series directed by Sattwik Mohanty, this one was always meant to be taken with a pinch of salt, courtesy its various twists and turns, but then it did its job.
Coming next
There is a lot which is arriving on the OTT medium this week, starting with double bill offering on ZEE5, web series Naxalbari and direct-to-OTT release of Hindi film It's My Life. On the other hand there is also Bhaag Beanie Bhaag arriving on Netflix.
Naxalbari, as the name suggests, is the tale of Naxals and the battle which is being fought every day between them and the forces. Arriving on ZEE5, this is yet another one-web-series-every-week offering from the OTT channel which has been relentless in churning out new content at a very rapid pace despite the lockdown. Starring Rajeev Khandelwal in the lead along with Tina Datta, Sreejita Dey, Satyadeep Mishra and Aamir Ali, Naxalbari is expected to be an intense affair that should work for those who like their drama to be hard hitting.
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As for those who like to have a dekko at a romantic entertainer, there is It's My Life. A long delayed film which was stuck in the cans for many years, this one is an Anees Bazmee directed affair. The filmmaker has shown his mettle with Ajay Devgn and Kajol starrer Pyaar To Hona Hi Tha as someone who can bring on a good romantic musical. Though this Harman Baweja and Genelia D'Souza starrer with Nana Patekar in a key role is seeing a belated arrival for itself, it is expected to be a smile-through affair.
On the other hand Swara Bhaskar, who has already seen a couple of web series of hers arriving on the OTT platform this year [Rasbhari, Flesh], would be seen in Bhaag Beanie Bhaag next. This one is a romcom about a woman who just can't come up to taking a decision in her life. While Swara has experimented with action and erotica this year, it would be interesting to see how she brings on comedy with Bhaag Beanie Bhaag. One has good expectations though from this Netflix web series since the lady has done well in this zone back with Veere Di Wedding.
Release dates
It's My Life - 29th Nov - ZEE5
Naxalbari - 28th Nov - ZEE5
Bhaag Beanie Bhaag - 4th Dec - Netflix