The week gone by has seen the arrival of two offerings, and both have ZEE5 as a common element. These are LSD - Love Scandals and Doctors, and Lahore Confidential. While former is an offering from ALT Balaji and ZEE5, Lahore Confidential is a ZEE5 original film.
Let's talk about LSD - Love Scandal and Doctors first. This one has sprung a pleasant surprise. A murder mystery cum thriller, it also boasts of a unique set up due to a hospital background. Though there have been web series set in the politics [Tandav, Dark 7 White] and heartland [Mirzapur 2, Bichhoo Ka Khel] arena in last few months, this one has a medical backdrop to it which brings on a different touch. Of course, this one is for the adults, given the heavy dosage of cuss words as well as sexual overtones. Thankfully though, it is not on your face.
The web series is about a group of five interns who are guilty of murdering a patient in the hospital. What sets it apart is the fact that not just each and every character out there has a clear motive for the murder, they also believe that they are solely responsible for the killing, hence making it intriguing not just for the audiences but also the characters.
While Rahul Dev leads the show as a veteran of the pack, the youngsters Pulkit Makol, Ishaan Khanna, Siddharh Menon, Neha Hinge, Tanaya Sachdeva, Srishti Rindani, Punit Pathak, Ayush Shrivastav and Ashmita Jaggi truly impress in this Sattwik Mohanty, Preya Hirji, Danish Mansurie and Saaqib Pandor directed web series.
As for Lahore Confidential, it has turned out to be rather underwhelming. Given the fact that Kunal Kohli is at the helm of affairs and has made a geo-political dramatic thriller Fanaa on the same lines many years back, one would have expected this Richa Chadha, Arunoday Singh and Karishma Tanna film (all of 68 minutes) to be engaging as well. However, there are many loose ends as well as inexplicable turns in the narrative that turn out to be rather unconvincing. With a better written material and tighter script, it could have been more interesting.
Coming soon
Coming week would see the arrival of three distinct OTT offerings. While a couple of these are web series [Live Telecast, Crashh], there is also an original movie [Namaste Wahala].
Live Telecast is interesting as it is one of the rare horror thrillers to be arriving on OTT. Moreover, it has Kajal Aggarwal leading the pack. The actress has been amongst the top leading ladies down south and after marriage, she has wrapped this one in a jiffy and is now bringing it on the small screen. Though there has been an anthology Ghost Stories around a year back, Live Telecast has a rather unique concept about the happenings in the house being 'live telecast'. Disney+Hotstar is bringing it in Tamil, Telugu, Marathi, Hindi, Kannada and Malayalam.
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Crashh is a web series arriving on ZEE5 and ALT Balaji. It is about siblings getting separated in childhood and then how fate brings them together. A bittersweet family tale with a glossy feel to it, Crashh again stars primarily newcomers and caters to the youth and the family audiences. Though there was a buzz around the web series being based on American romantic family drama television series This Is Us, Ekta Kapoor has clarified that Crashh is loosely based on the her own series Bandhan that had released in 1997.
For those looking forward to some quintessential Valentine's Day entertainment, there is Namaste Wahala arriving on Netflix. This one is unique since it narrates the love story of an Indian boy (Ruslan Mumtaz) and a Nigerian girl (Ini Dima-Okojie). This is a territory that hasn't been explored before on either the big screen or the small screen, and hence one waits to see what director Hamisha Daryani Ahuja has in store for the audiences. Surprisingly, there has been absolutely no promotion around this original film despite streaming plans on a major OTT.
Release dates
Live Telecast - Disney+Hotstar - 12th February
Crashh - ALT Balaji and ZEE5 - 14th February
Namaste Wahala - Netflix - 14th February
(Joginder Tuteja is a trade expert and film critic, and loves to talk and write about anything that is related to films. Views are personal)