Black Warrant (Netflix)

when the likes of Anurag Kashyap (Gangs of Wasseypur, Sacred Games) recommend a watch, it’s bound to be good. And Netflix’s latest production, Black Warrant exceeds expectations. Co-created and co-directed by none other than Vikramaditya Motwane (Urrta Punjab, Sacred Games, Jubilee), Black Warrant is a must-watch series, steeped in reality and adapted from the non-fiction book, Black Warrant: Confessions of a Tihar Jailer,by Sunil Gupta and Sunetra Choudhury.

Set in the 1980s, the series is based on Gupta’s own life and experiences and takes viewers into the murky world of the infamous Tihar Jail and the dynamics between the inmates and the prison staff. Every episode deals with a case that happened in real life, sometimes showcasing high profile prisoners and their influence, and shedding a light on caste and class disparities in India, how gangs are formed and how their influence shapes the communities and activities within the prison. One of the things that stands out is how a prison is really run by the inmates themselves, and not just the wardens.

Our heroes, a group of three wardens inducted into Tihar and who’re trying to find their footing in the prison world, are imperfect and so are their morals. But they are, in their own way, trying to survive. Life isn’t perfect and that’s what makes Black Warrant such a compelling watch.

Paatal Lok (Amazon Prime)

The first season of Paatal Lok [The Netherworld] came out sometime in 2020, with the second season coming out this year in 2025. This cops-and-crime series follows the inspector Hathiram Chaudhry (Jaideep Ahlawat), a perpetually down-on-his-luck, seasoned and somewhat jaded cop, and `Imran Ansari (Ishwaq Singh) a hardworking and honest new recruit hungry to move up in the ranks, who’s painfully aware of how his Muslim identity might hold him back.

Want imperfect heroes, plots inspired by real cases and stories that keep you at the edge of your seat? Here’s a selection of strong crime thriller series currently available to stream…

Each season follows these cops investigating a case — whether they are assigned to it or not! — while also trying to navigate issues within their personal lives, office politics, corruption, discrimination and with extremely low resources. Paatal Lok is based in areas (East Delhi, Nagaland) whose very soul is in need of saving, and where corruption that goes all the way to the top.

While the first season follows a case where a popular journalist is targeted, echoing a real-life case that happened in India in the past decade, the second season takes us to the conflict-ridden state of Nagaland and sheds light on the culture and issues of the Naga people in India. It’s a fascinating watch on the different communities and cultures that exist on the peripheries of the Indian state.

Once you start watching the series, it’s hard to stop until its finished.

CAT (Netflix)

If you’re a fan of Urrta Punjab (2016), you will love CAT (2022). The logline reads, “Living under an alias, a former police informant is summoned to infiltrate a major drug empire but uncovers a dangerous connection to his dark past.”

Netflix’s first official Punjabi language series, CAT (a police informant) features Randeep Hoda as Gurnam, who worked covertly with the cops during the Sikh insurgency in the 1990s in Punjab. The insurgency isn’t the only thing fuelling violence in Punjab; the province is deeply infected by a cross-border drug trade, with politicians in cahoots with local drug lords.

Gurnam’s younger brother gets caught in a drug-peddling case and Gurnam manages to rescue him with the help of a cop called Sehtab Singh, the same cop for whom Gurnam worked for when he was young informing on the insurgents. Gurnam is re-hired to infiltrate the drug mafia operating in the city and, while doing so, discovers secrets that turn his entire world upside down.

Somehow, when the series first came out in 2022, despite getting steller reviews and nearly perfect ratings on Rotton Tomatoes, it didn’t get that much attention on social media. Interest has surprisingly picked up again though, even though there is no release date of a second season, despite trailers of one being leaked online last year.

CAT may have borrowed themes from similar productions that have been released before, but what sets it apart is that it gives a vivid and macroscopic look into the plight of Punjabi hinterlands. This is woven into a compelling story, held together by Randeep Hoda’s powerful portrayal of a character that believed in doing the right thing, despite losing everything and everyone dear to him. That is, of course, until he discovers how he was betrayed by the one person he trusted the most.

Published in Dawn, ICON, February 16th, 2025