5 Controversial Web Series From 2021 To Catch Before The Year Ends

2021 might go down as the year of controversial web series in India until the incoming year seeks to replace its not-so-enviable position. Overall, this year had a good run of well-produced and well-spun Hindi OTT shows that kept audiences hooked to their screens, offering them momentary respite from the pandemic raging outdoors. But popular content today comes at the cost of abject and often harsh scrutiny.

Several web series ushered in consequent outrage from sections of people who may or may not actually have watched those releases. From coming under the scanner for the alleged hurt caused to religious sentiments to boycott calls demanding the takedown of show bits that were an alleged assault on culture, OTT shows witnessed drastic responses.

Audience censorship was happening under the shadow of the centre's proposal to introduce fresh OTT regulation guidelines announced last year that carry the risk of endangering free speech and creative freedom. Read more here.

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Even so, with these changing trends still in their nascent stages, the OTT space remains one of the most liberated as far as Indian entertainment is concerned. They are pushing the boundaries on "controversial" conversations mainstream Bollywood sanctimoniously distances itself from and so, if only just for that, deserve a watch. Decide for yourself whether they warranted the controversy that surrounded them or not.

Controversial Web Series That Stirred Things Up In 2021:

1. Decoupled 

The most recent release on the list, Decoupled marks its lead stars R Madhavan and Surveen Chawla's first on-screen pairing. The show is also marked by a wave of poor reviews that have not missed the reliance of the script on slut-shaming and body-shaming troped to elicit laughs from the audience. Many have pointed out that the ironically ends up strengthening the very stereotypes about marriage and divorce that it sets out to supposedly break. One particular scene set against a religious background has also become a site for debate on the internet; read here.

2. Tandav 

Despite being a multi-starrer with veterans like Dimple Kapadia leading the fore, &t=2s">Tandav, directed by Ali Abbas Zafar, could not escape controversy. The show began the year with a bang, premiering in January, and sparking wide backlash over certain scenes with religious overtones. Things turned serious when an FIR was filed against the show's makers for "hurting" sentiments, which led to two scenes being deleted from Tandav after its release. The head of Amazon India, where the show is streaming, too faced the risk of arrest but was granted relief by the Supreme Court.

3. Bombay Begums 

Headlined by strong female leads, Bombay Begums took on daring themes that came under fire for allegedly promoting child sex and drug abuse. Ever since its release in March, the show was mired in controversy, prompting the National Commission For Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) to step in and ask streaming giant Netflix to take down the show since it would "pollute" young minds. Even until months after the release of Bombay Begums, right-wing outfits were calling for action against the show for endorsing "child pornography." Read here.

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4. Dhoop Ki Deewar 

A Pakistani web series that premiered in India on ZEE5, Dhoop Ki Deewar showed a cross-border, interfaith love story set against an army background in the conflict zone of Kashmir. All of those elements make up a sure-shot recipe for controversy, being politically and communally charged. Starring both Pakistani leads, the show faced more heat in Pakistan with netizens claiming it challenged the foundational two-nation theory in the country. The circumstances surrounding the show were intense, with memories of the Uri and Pulwama terror attacks still fresh.

5. Family Man 2 

The second season of the critically acclaimed Family Man, headlined by Manoj Bajpayee, found itself in a soup even prior to its release in June. Much of the outrage was directed towards the second season's newest cast member, Samantha Akkineni. She played Raaji, a rebel from the LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) militant group, and was accused by a section of netizens for "betraying" the Tamil community with her extremist portrayal. The show's makers were also heavily called out for using brownface for Akkineni's character with allegations of stereotyping South Indians.