Here you can find out the list of best and latest web series and trending TV shows of different genres : thriller, science fiction, action, romance, comedy and politics with people choice and ratings
Though the cinema halls were shut for most of 2021, OTT platforms took care of our daily dose of entertainment. They churned out some interesting content in the first half of the year, making binge-watching a matter of routine.
From a heartwarming story in American Gods to an edge-of-the-seat thriller in Amazon Prime Video’s The Family Man 2, the digital medium kept us occupied in these grim times with some brilliant content.
So, as we enter the second half of the year and look forward to some more amazing web shows, here’s a list of the best content we watched till now.
1.) American Gods:
American Gods is an American fantasy drama television series based on Neil Gaiman's 2001 novel of the same name and developed by Bryan Fuller and Michael Green for the premium cable network Starz. Produced by Fremantle North America and distributed by Lionsgate Television, the first season premiered on April 30, 2017. Fuller and Green served as the showrunners for the first season and were replaced by Jesse Alexander for the second season. Charles H. Eglee serves as showrunner for the third season. Gaiman serves as an executive producer.
Ricky Whittle plays the series' lead Shadow Moon, who meets a strange man named Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane) after being released from prison and soon becomes embroiled in a large-scale conflict between the Old Gods and the New Gods, who grow stronger each day. In May 2017, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on March 10, 2019. The following week, Starz renewed American Gods for a third season, which premiered on January 10, 2021. In March 2021, the series was canceled after three seasons.
The series received praise for its visual style and acting and received two nominations at the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Main Title Design and Outstanding Special Visual Effects. It also received three nominations at the 8th Critics' Choice Television Awards, including Best Drama Series, Best Actor in a Drama Series for McShane, and Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for Gillian Anderson.
2.) Mirzpur Season 2:
Mirzapur is an Indian action crime thriller streaming television series on Amazon Prime Video, created by Karan Anshuman, who wrote the script along with Puneet Krishna and Vineet Krishna. Anshuman directed the first season of the series, along with Gurmmeet Singh and Mihit Desai, who also directed the second season of the series. The series is produced by Rithesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar of Excel Entertainment. The series is Amazon Prime Video's third Indian original after Inside Edge and Breathe.
The story follows the rule of Akhandanand Tripathi (Pankaj Tripathi), also known as Kaleen Bhaiya, the mafia don and proverbial ruler of Mirzapur in the Purvanchal region of Uttar Pradesh. The series chronicles the events which follows. In the first season, it features Pankaj Tripathi, Shweta Tripathi, Divyendu Sharma, Ali Fazal, Vikrant Massey, Shriya Pilgaonkar, Rasika Dugal, Harshita Gaur and Kulbhushan Kharbanda, whereas the second season retains the principal cast from the first season, excluding Massey and Pilgaonkar, with new cast consisting of Vijay Varma, Isha Talwar, Lilliput, Anjum Sharma, Priyanshu Painyuli, Anangsha Biswas and Neha Sargam.
The series was filmed mostly across Uttar Pradesh, primarily shot in Mirzapur, and many locations which include Jaunpur, Azamgarh, Ghazipur, Lucknow, Raebareli, Gorakhpur, and Varanasi. Sanjay Kapoor served as the cinematographer, with Manan Mehta and Anshul Gupta edited the series. John Stewart Eduri composed the background score.
The first season of Mirzapur was released on 16 November 2018. The series opened to eventually positive response from audiences, while critics gave mixed reviews to the series. The performances of the cast members, particularly Pankaj Tripathi's, received rave response. It eventually became the most popular web series of India, followed by Sacred Games. The second season of Mirzapur was released on 23 October 2020. The series was renewed for a third season on 12 November 2020 by Amazon Prime Video.
3.) Siren Season 3:
Siren is an American television drama series that premiered on Freeform on March 29, 2018. The first season included 10 episodes. In May 2018, the series was renewed for a second season which premiered on January 24, 2019. In May 2019, the series was renewed for a third season which premiered on April 2, 2020. In August 2020, the series was cancelled after three seasons.
4.) The Family Man Season 2:
The Family Man is an Indian espionage action thriller streaming television series created by Raj Nidimoru and Krishna D.K. for the streaming service Amazon Prime Video and features Manoj Bajpayee as Srikant Tiwari, a middle-class man secretly working as an intelligence officer for the Threat Analysis and Surveillance Cell (TASC), a fictitious branch of the National Investigation Agency. It also stars Priyamani, Sharad Kelkar, Neeraj Madhav, Sharib Hashmi, Dalip Tahil, Sunny Hinduja and Shreya Dhanwanthary. The series is produced and directed by Raj & D.K, who also co-wrote the story and screenplay with Suman Kumar, with dialogue penned by Sumit Arora and Kumar. Samantha Akkineni was hired for the second season of the series as the main antagonist, making her foray into the digital medium with Suparn S. Verma directing a section of the season.
The series was announced in June 2018, with the filming of the first season began simultaneously in Mumbai, Delhi, Kerala, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and was wrapped up within May 2019. Filming for the second season began in November 2019, and was wrapped up in September 2020. The cinematography for the first season was handled by Azim Moolan and Nigam Bomzan, with Cameron Eric Bryson hired for the second season. Sumeet Kotla edited the series, while Ketan Sodha composed the background score.
The Family Man: Season 1 was showcased at the Television Critics Association's summer press tour held in Los Angeles in July 2019. and was eventually premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 20 September 2019. It received positive response from critics and audiences, praising the performance of the cast members, and writing and execution. It eventually became the most viewed web series on Amazon Prime Video. The second season was scheduled to be aired on 12 February 2021 but was delayed, and it was finally released on 4 June 2021.
The Family Man received eleven nominations at the Filmfare OTT Awards. It eventually won five awards – Best Actor (Critics) for Manoj Bajpayee, Best Actress (Critics) for Priyamani, Best Series (Critics), Best Director (Critics), and Best Dialogues. In May 2020, Raj and D. K. announced that the third season of The Family Man, is to be conceptualised.
5.) Finding ʻOhana:
Finding ʻOhana is a 2021 American family adventure film by Jude Weng in her directorial debut and written by Christina Strain. The film stars Kea Peahu, Alex Aiono, Lindsay Watson, Owen Vaccaro and Kelly Hu. It premiered on Netflix on January 29, 2021.
6.) Oxygen: The Series:
Oxygen: The Series is a 2020 Thai drama about a boy who has nothing left but his smile and one that has everything but that, who meet in a cafe every night.
Orphaned at a very young age, Gui, a fourth-year engineering student, has had to work hard and earn for himself for as long as he can remember. Still, through the test of time, he still has a soft demeanor and a smile on his face.
Solo, a freshman in the Faculty of Music, can get anything he wants with a flick of his wrist. Money, fame, good looks, the boy has everything, except his smile. When Solo's mother passed away, she took his smile with her. Nothing could fill this missing hole in him... that is until one day when he sees a smiling boy working at a cafe.
One night the two worlds collide in a small coffee shop. For a cup of hot milk and a warm smile, Solo finds himself back in the cafe every night. For a soft boy who reminds him of a husky, Gui finds himself waiting for a late-night visitor with a cup of hot milk, night after night.
Night after night, the two boys continue to meet. At the same spot, at the same time, until they soon come to realize that they have become each other's breath. A necessity. Just like Oxygen.
7.) Blue Miracle:
Blue Miracle is a 2021 American drama film directed by Julio Quintana from a screenplay by Quintana and Chris Dowling. The film stars Dennis Quaid, Jimmy Gonzales, Raymond Cruz, Anthony Gonzalez, Dana Wheeler-Nicholson, Fernanda Urrejola and Bruce McGill. It was released by Netflix on May 27, 2021.
8.) Aarya:
Aarya is an Indian Hindi-language crime drama web series on Disney+ Hotstar, co-created by Ram Madhvani and Sandeep Modi, who also directed the series, with Vinod Rawat, serving as the co-director. Produced by Madhvani under the banner Ram Madhvani Films, along with Endemol Shine Group, it stars Sushmita Sen in the titular role and is based on the Dutch drama series Penoza. The series is about Aarya, an independent woman who seeks to protect her family and joins a mafia gang in order to get revenge for her husband's murder.
Madhvani bought the remake rights to the series in early 2011, and planned to adapt it into a feature film in 2014. However the film was eventually shelved due to casting and budgetary issues. He decided later to direct it instead as a web series for Hotstar's original content label Hotstar Specials. Filming for the first season began in December 2019 and ended in March 2020, with the series been filmed across Mumbai, Jaipur, Udaipur and Palgadh. The cinematography is handled by Harshvir Oberoi and editing was done by Khushboo Raj and Abhimanyu Chaudhary. Vishal Khurana composed the background score.
Aarya was initially slated to release on 29 March 2020, but was postponed due to delay in post-production work. It was released on Disney+ Hotstar on 19 June 2020. The series marked the comeback of Sushmita Sen, as well as her digital debut. It has received positive reviews with critics praising Sen's performance. Sen received the award for Best Actress – Female, at the Filmfare OTT Awards, with the series receiving eight nominations. In July 2020, Sushmita Sen and Ram Madhvani announced the second season of the series. The second season started filming on 1 March 2021 in Jaipur, but having been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic is scheduled to wrap up in June 2021.
9.) Lucifer Season 5:
Lucifer is an American urban fantasy superhero television series developed by Tom Kapinos that premiered on Fox on January 25, 2016. It is based on the DC Comics character created by Neil Gaiman, Sam Kieth, and Mike Dringenberg taken from the comic book series The Sandman, who later became the protagonist of a spin-off comic book series, both published by DC Comics' Vertigo imprint. The series is produced by Jerry Bruckheimer Television, DC Entertainment and Warner Bros. Television.
The series revolves around the story of Lucifer Morningstar (Tom Ellis), the Devil, who abandons Hell for Los Angeles where he runs his own nightclub named Lux and becomes a consultant to the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD). The ensemble and supporting cast include Lauren German as Detective Chloe Decker, Kevin Alejandro as Detective Daniel "Dan" Espinoza, D. B. Woodside as Amenadiel, Lesley-Ann Brandt as Mazikeen, Rachael Harris as Dr. Linda Martin, and (beginning in season 2) Aimee Garcia as Ella Lopez. Filming took place primarily in Vancouver, British Columbia, before production was relocated entirely to Los Angeles, California, beginning with the third season.
The first season received mixed reviews from critics, though subsequent seasons were better rated; many critics particularly praised Ellis' performance. Despite initially high viewership for its debut, ratings remained consistently low throughout the series' three-season run on Fox. Fox cancelled Lucifer after three seasons; a month later, Netflix picked up the series for the fourth season, which received high ratings and critical acclaim. Netflix renewed the series for a fifth season of 16 episodes, which was released in two halves between August 2020 and May 2021. Although the fifth season was initially reported to be the last, in June 2020 the series was renewed for a sixth and final season of ten episodes, which is set to premiere on September 10, 2021.
10.) Into the Beat:
Feel the Beat is a 2020 American family dance comedy-drama film directed by Elissa Down, written by Michael Armbruster and Shawn Ku and starring Sofia Carson, Enrico Colantoni and Wolfgang Novogratz.
Top 10 web series and best TV shows of the world with Rankings, Reviews : You Cannot Afford To Miss and How to Watch. - Published by The Beyond News (Entertainment).