What Lies Ahead In 2023: 5 Bengali Web Series To Kickstart Your Entertainment Journey

As you cherish the initial days of the new year, here’s a round-up of last year’s best 5 Bengali titles from West Bengal and Bangladesh, which must be on your watchlist.

Prateek Sur

Updated on: 9 January 2023 4:09 pm

A Still From ‘Feludar Goyendagiri: Darjeeling Jawmjawmat’

With the language barrier being a thing of the past when it comes to content viewing, audiences across the country can now enjoy quality content from every region, from not only India but also across the globe. The Bengali entertainment industry has regularly provided the country with some cinematic gems since its inception and the OTT space isn’t any different. With content from both India and Bangladesh, Hoichoi is all set to make this new year super entertaining.

So, here are 5 shows on Hoichoi from 2022 that you must add to your watchlist now, as you cherish the initial days of 2023 on a high note. Have a look:

‘Karagar’ (Seasons 1 and 2)

Spread across two parts, ‘Karagar’ is one of the most popular and critically acclaimed shows of the year. A stellar creation by Hoichoi Bangladesh, ‘Karagar’ tackles the story of what ensues when a mysterious prisoner suddenly appears in a cell that has been locked for the past 50 years and claims to be over 250 years old, the reason behind a historical murder and only speaks in sign language? Part 1 cooks up an intense mystery that will have you at the edge of your seat, while the second part unravels these mysteries and is bound to leave gaping mouthed for sure. Directed by Syed Ahmed Shawki and starring the extremely talented Bangladeshi actor Chanchal Chowdhury, ‘Karagar’ is a must-watch for all binge-watchers.

‘Sampurna’

One of Hoichoi’s strongest offerings to its slate of female forward content, ‘Sampurna’ starring Sohini Sarkar and Rajnandini Paul and directed by Sayantan Ghosal is a strong move against an issue like marital rape. The story follows Sampurna’s (Sohini Sarkar) journey as she goes against her family, husband and the society to fight for her sister- in-law who’s a victim of marital rape. When everyone chooses to stay shut or overlook the gravity of the crime committed, Sampurna takes it upon herself to stand by Nandini (Rajnandini Paul) to fight for justice. ‘Sampurna’ brings to light an issue that far too common yet not spoken about enough.

‘Feludar Goyendagiri: Darjeeling Jawmjawmat’

Before we dive into the details of this series, let’s just face it, nobody does detective thrillers as well as Bengalis and one of our greatest offerings to the Genre is Satyajit Ray’s Pradosh Chandra Mitter aka Feluda. ‘Feludar Goyendagiri: Darjeeling Jawmjawmat’, directed by national film award-winning director - Srijit Mukherji, and starring Tota Roy Chowdhury as Feluda, Anirban Chakrabarti as Jatayu and Kalpan Mitra as Topshe is an adaptation of one of Satyajit Ray’s stories ‘Feluda - Darjeeling Jomjomaat’ and explores a murder when the trio go to witness a film shoot in this gorgeous hill station. Watch this to experience a thrilling murder mystery, Feluda’s suave and the world of Satyajit Ray’s detective mysteries beautifully executed by Srijit Mukherji. We mean there’s a reason why getting to play Feluda on screen is one of the highest honours for an actor in the industry.

‘Kaiser’

Another addition to the detective thriller slate, this time from across the border is ‘Kaiser’. Hoichoi Bangladesh brings to its audiences an extremely lovable homicide detective with quirks galore. With a convoluted personal life and borderline addiction to - Video Games of all things, ‘Kaiser’ directed by Tanim Noor starring the Bangladeshi superstar - Afran Nisho is a story about a homicide detective Kaiser Chowdhury who is handed a run-of-the-mill case of double murder, which turns out to be connected to a ruthless mob hell-bent on taking Kaiser to task in a battle of wits, brawn, and age-old emotions.

‘Gora’

Another detective thriller on this list – ‘Gora’ is more of a private defective than a detective, while his mystery-solving skills are top-notch, his social skills? Not so much! With a string of gory serial killings strewn across the city, it's on Gora to figure out the motive and culprit behind the heinous crimes. Created by Sahana Dutta, directed by Sayantan Ghosal and starring Ritwick Chakraborty, Suhotra Mukhopadhyay and Ishaa Saha for pivotal reasons. ‘Gora’ is a must-watch for all thriller lovers.