Streaming Guide: Movies, TV shows and web series to watch on April 11

Based on the infamous 1958 murder case KM Nanavati vs State of Maharashtra, Achanak had Vinod Khanna in the lead role. In the 90-minute song-less film, Gulzar tried to give the most debated case of free India his own interpretation and came up with an engaging courtroom drama.

Voice is one of those series that will blow you away by its sheer brilliance. The series is about a temperamental, guilt-ridden detective Moo Jin Hyuk (essayed by Jang Hyuk) and gifted profiler Kang Kwon Joo (Lee Ha Na) who join hands to catch the serial killer who murdered their loved ones. Let the simplistic premise not fool you as this show is filled with concepts of criminology and psychology that will fascinate you. Unfortunately, only the first season is available on Netflix, but don’t let that deter you. This show comes highly recommended.

Written and directed by Murramba fame Varun Narvekar, Ani Kay Hava, starring Priya Bapat and Umesh Kamat, Ani Kay Hava is a happy slice of life love story of a married middle class couple based in Pune. Stretched into two seasons, the show is about how the two love each other and dream together and yet have rollercoaster emotional moments.

By far the best thing on Quibi, When the Streetlight Go On is about a high school teacher and a teen girl murdered in cold blood. A boy goes on a quest to solve the mystery. It is Stranger Things, turned down a notch. Here is one series that uses the bite-sized format very well.

Looking for a tightly plotted edge-of-the-seat thriller? Look no further than Bodyguard. Richard Madden’s stars as a damaged war veteran David Budd tasked with protecting British Home Secretary. The job is not easy, but things are exacerbated by the fact that Bud has his own problems. He is separated from his wife due to his PTSD. He has hardly any friends and lots of enemies. The suspense in the series is almost palpable. The story is just okay, but top-notch direction gives it a lift. It was only after its Netflix debut that the rest of the world realised why the Brits were so crazy about it.

Relive your childhood and follow the adventures of ultra-rich Scrooge McDuck, and his three grandnephews Huey, Dewey and Louie in the classic series.

If you are looking to watch something light-hearted, Ayan Mukerji directorial Yeh Jawaani Hai Deewani, starring Ranbir Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Aditya Roy Kapur, Kalki Koechlin, Evelyn Sharma and late actor Farooq Sheikh, is the perfect pick. The film, with its elements of friendship and romance, is a coming-of-age love story.

Servant is a twist-filled, psychological thriller from M. Night Shyamalan. The series follows a Philadelphia couple in mourning after an unspeakable tragedy creates a rift in their marriage and opens the door for a mysterious force to enter their home.

Based on the British crime drama series of the same name by Peter Moffat, Criminal Justice questions the loopholes in Indian criminal justice system. It stars Vikrant Massey, Pankaj Tripathi, Jackie Shroff, Anupriya Goenka and Mita Vashisht. The original series also inspired a brilliant HBO miniseries starring Riz Ahmed, Michael Kenneth Williams and John Turturro.

Also Read | Criminal Justice review: Night after night

The Haunting of the Hill House is a 10-episode series and is based on a 1959 book of the same name by Shirley Jackson. The show follows the Crain family – husband, wife, and five kids – as they move into a new mansion. The Haunting of the Hill House is more of a psychological horror series instead of the ghosts-with-funny-make-up. Even though we don’t see many ghosts or spirits here, the storyline creates a deep impact on the viewer that forces them to stay with these characters much after the 10 episodes are over.

There is nothing like watching an atmospheric horror show. Supernatural is not one however, but is does have plenty of scares coupled with excellent characters (you could not ask for more developed characters than Winchester brothers) which makes it a solid TV show even if a sort of guilty pleasure.

Kaale Dhande is a Marathi comedy web show starring Mahesh Manjrekar, Sanskruti Balgude and Shubhankar Tawde. Surprising bold, this show is a new age comedy. The story revolves around Vicky, a young photographer and how his life changes because of various unforeseen situations. Desperate to put things in order, he gets entangled into further mess. Manjrekar plays a baddie and makes this show a total entertainer.

The French historical drama, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, starring Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. The film is set in the late 18th century and revolves around the forbidden affair between an aristocrat and a painter commissioned to paint her portrait.

This show is based on the children book series of the same name and follows two young siblings as they try to protect themselves and their fortune from the devilish Count Olaf (played with a menacing glee by the inimitable Neil Patrick Harris). The series is the right mix of horror and comedy and you scarcely mind the improbability of the events unfolding before you, since it is incredibly entertaining.

Gordon Ramsay has done it all, as far as food television is concerned. Yet, he manages to draw in more and more viewers every time he embarks on a new food journey. Here, Gordon Ramsay travels to little known corners of the world to bring out the food that might be unknown to you and me.

This latest Ekta Kapoor produced web series is about good parenting. However, that's not the only thing it has to offer. It's a show catering to mothers and actually ends up offering decent parenting advice. Read our review for more deets.

Starring Nina Dobrev, Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder, The Vampire Diaries was just the thing that teens loved after getting that initial introduction with The Twilight Series. While you could say that the vampire genre is done and dusted, The Vampire Diaries brings back the memories from those old days when teens were obsessed with this genre.

Do Not Disturb revolves around Maulik and Meera, a contemporary Gujarati couple living with Maulik's parents. The show brings to life the intimate conversations between the husband and wife, the difference in opinions and, the mark of a successful relationship, the compromises they make for their love.

Horpal, written and directed by Aniket Kulthe, is a story based on the condition of migrant workers of Maharashtra, from the point of view of a school going boy, Gunaa. In less than 12 minutes, the film throws light on how children of migrant workers lose out on education because of their constant migration in search of work.

“Tiger King: Murder, Mayhem and Madness will have you in its thrall, but perhaps it will leave you uneasy – uneasy enough for you to not talk about it at your next Zoom party, or put it up on Instagram as a must-watch. Maybe it will make you donate to PETA, or maybe make you help out a stray animal next time you see one,” writes The Indian Express’ Ektaa Malik in her review. Click here to read more.

Ishq, the Malayalam movie which hit the screens last year, is NOT a love story. The movie beautifully portrays a number of issues that are very prevalent in our society today, like moral policing, toxic masculinity etc. It is the antithesis of Kabir Singh. The movie dissects aggressive patriarchy in such a way that you will feel claustrophobic. 

A dazzlingly beautiful and bloody Neil Gaiman adaptation, American Gods has Bryan Fuller's distinctive touches that help make gore look beautiful. It is not just all visual, however, as American Gods nicely elaborates upon the eternal war between tradition and modernity without straying too far from its solid source material. Stream it on Amazon Prime Video. 

Before Game of Thrones, HBO had Rome, a lavish and no-holds-barred take on Roman Empire around the time of Caesar’s assassination. It is a gorgeously shot show that unfortunately turned out to be simply too expensive and was discontinued after 2 seasons in spite of huge success.

Ranbir Kapoor delivers his career-best performance in Imtiaz Ali’s Rockstar. AR Rahman’s music and Mohit Chauhan’s vocals add to Rockstar’s appeal.

Bamfaad brings back memories of the small-town love story that Bollywood used to tell, and keeps us watching with a fluid flourish or two, even if we wish for much more freshness, as it takes us to a fully filmi end, writes The Indian Express' film critic Shubhra Gupta. 

Also read | Bamfaad movie review: Aditya Rawal delivers a restrained, convincing performance

A story of identical twins and mistaken identities based on Shakespeare’s play ‘A Comedy of Errors’, Angoor is one of the finest Bollywood comedies ever made. Be it Sanjeev Kumar’s straight-faced dialogue delivery or Deven Verma’s impeccable expressions, everything about the film is flawless.

Also read | Streaming Guide: Gulzar movies

Omkara found its narrative in William Shakespeare’s Othello, a tale of friendship, jealousy and betrayal. Apart from an engaging story, the film boasts of some spectacular performances by Saif Ali Khan, Ajay Devgn, Konkona Sensharma and Vivek Oberoi. Bipasha Basu’s dance on “Beedi” became one of the highlights of the film and music by Bharadwaj played a character in the movie. You can’t miss this one from Vishal Bharadwaj’s filmography.

Different from anything you have seen before, True Detective (season 1 especially) is a thrillling and engaging watch. The second season is garbage, though, despite the cast and the third season is just okay. 

The Indian Express' Ektaa Malik, in her review of Panchayat wrote, "Panchayat incisively breaks the dual-tone presentation of the Indian small town in mainstream narratives. We are not treated to the lush fields and everyone singing and dancing – a nod to Yashraj/DDLJ — nor are we treated to a Gangs of Wassyepur throwback, where everyone has a weapon slinging from their backs. Here there is a rifle, but its usage is highly incidental. There is some rivalry, but again, its sole purpose is comic relief." 

Also read | Panchayat review: It takes a village

This Marathi series is a story of a fierce and rebellious independent woman who moves out of her parents’ house to explore life, standing on her own feet. The show talks about casual sexism, and the kind of inequality that women face on daily basis. Rewa, the central character of the show wants to break out, fight back and live life on her own terms. Moving Out stars Abhidnya Bhave and Dr. Nikhil Rajeshirke and is streaming on YouTube channel Reverb Katta.

Quibi, short for Quick Bites, is a streaming service founded by film producer Jeffrey Katzenberg which offers content in the form of episodes no more than 10 minutes long. Survive streams on Quibi. Sophie Turner (Sansa Stark of Game of Thrones) stars as a mentally-ill and suicidal woman in Survive which turns from a mental health drama to a survival drama in a bizarre twist.

Also read | Quibi: What to watch on this short-form streaming service

The story runs like this — It is 1999, and Sierra Leone is being systemically destroyed by violent politics. People are being enslaved and forced to harvest diamonds in mines, therefore the name Blood Diamond. Enter Vandy (Hounsou), a native fisherman who perchance finds a pink diamond. From thereon, the struggle begins. Somehow, a Rhodesian army veteran called Danny (DiCaprio) gets involved and plans to use the said diamond to make his escape from the country. The rest of the storyline takes off from here.

Also read | Hollywood Rewind | Blood Diamond: Worthy performances fall prey to poor storytelling

Sid (Ranbir) is the son of a rich businessman, played by Anupam Kher. He flunks in his college exams and is asked to join his father’s business, where he cannot survive for even a week. He meets an overtly ambitious Ayesha (Konkona Sensharma), and they become friends. But the two are completely different people. Now, what will happen when a careless Sid starts to live with Ayesha who has come to Mumbai to become a writer? This forms the narrative of Wake Up Sid. The film belongs entirely to Ranbir Kapoor.

Also read | Streaming Guide: Ranbir Kapoor movies

Hina Khan plays a successful businesswoman who becomes friends with a 19-year-old teenager (played by Rohan Shah) in Hacked. Rohan’s character is obsessed with Hina. He has put cameras in her entire house to stalk her 24X7. When Hina finds out, she refuses to give in to his feelings. Rohan’s desires have become bigger and dangerous, and that it is not just Hina, but many other girls who’ve fallen prey to the hacker. Directed by Vikram Bhatt, Hacked also stars Mohit Malhotra and Sid Makkar.

Hosted by Samin Nosrat, this Netflix show is divided into four parts – Salt, Fat, Acid and Heat. The four episodes take us through Italy, Japan, Mexico and California, USA, as Samin discusses the importance of these four elements in our food. The first episode titled Fat will make you drool with its indulgence in cheese and bread. 

Based on Rudyard Kipling’s book about a fictional boy raised by wolves in the jungle of central India, the tale of Mowgli is now well-known, and this is largely due to this 1967 animated feature that later spawned numerous series and movies, including the anime version that aired in India. The classic movie, despite its dated and basic animation style, is full of charm and still entertains.

Helmed by Aditya Sarpotdar, The Raikar Case narrates the story of a family which on the surface is a happy Indian family that lives together. But, lies and dark secrets start to unfold when the youngest member of the family Tarun commits suicide and blames the family for his death. The main selling point of The Raikar Case is its able cast. Atul Kulkarni, who plays the family patriarch, is as good as he has always been. Ashvini Bhave's experience shows in her performance. 

Also read | The Raikar Case review: An engaging whodunnit with compelling performances

Sufna, is a Punjabi movie, which chronicles the story of a man who falls in love with a daily wager from another village. The romantic-drama, which features Ammy Virk, Tania, and Jagjeet Sandhu in lead roles, received praise for its simplistic love story and the performance of the entire cast.

Operation MBBS showcases the story of three first-year MBBS students, Nishant (Ayush Mehra), Sakshi (Anshul Chauhan) and Huma (Sarah Hashmi). They come from diverse backgrounds and have their own reasons for pursuing MBBS. What happens when these three come together? Will they compete against each other or will they form great friendships? Will they become doctors for money or to save lives? That’s what forms the crux of Operation MBBS. Read the full review here.

Dickinson is an acclaimed comedy series, starring Oscar nominee Hailee Steinfeld. The show audaciously explores the constraints of society, gender, and family from the perspective of rebellious young poet Emily Dickinson. 

Cheesecake revolves around a married couple and how they are stuck in a rut of their fast-paced mechanical lives. Missing out on the joy of living, loving and companionship, their story sees a twist when they have an uninvited four-legged guest (dog) sitting in their house.  And how the dog’s unconditional love brings the couple closer and helps them find happiness in each other’s company. The series stars digital stars Jitendra Kumar and Akanksha Thakur.

Every “Best Korean drama” list will feature Signal and rightfully so. Starring Lee Je-hoon, Kim Hye-soo and Cho Jin-woong, Signal (2016) is a procedural show that revolves around a team of cops who solve a series of cold cases. The cases are all inspired by real-life crime incidents in South Korea, including the high-profile Hwaseong serial murders, which featured in Bong Joon Ho’s film Memories of Murder. If you are fascinated by true crime, then you must not miss this.

This Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar and Yami Gautam starrer deals with a variety of issues, including self-love and vanity. The lead star cast gave stunning performances, but it was Yami Gautam's act that grabbed the most eyeballs -- an up and coming model and Tiktok star.

The Elephant Queen is a genre-crossing wildlife documentary narrated by Chiwetel Eljiofor, which earned the Cinema for Peace International Green Film Award and is the recipient of two prestigious Critics’ Choice Documentary Awards nominations. The uniquely crafted, character-driven narrative follows Athena, a majestic elephant matriarch, who leads her family across an unforgiving, yet cinematic natural landscape made up of grasslands and woodlands, dotted with seasonal waterholes.

Bamfaad, which features Aditya Rawal, Shalini Pandey, Vijay Varma, Jatin Sarna, Vijay Kumar and Sanjeev Bhattacharya, premiered on ZEE5 today. Indian Express’ critic Shubhra Gupta praised the perfomance of Rawal and called it “restrained and convincing”. In her review, she wrote, “Bamfaad brings back memories of the small-town love story that Bollywood used to tell, and keeps us watching with a fluid flourish or two, even if we wish for much more freshness, as it takes us to a fully filmi end.” Click here for more deets.

Set in a single room occupied by many women, Devi is the story of perseverance. The film opens with a few women who seemingly belong to different worlds but are all stuck in the same room – but why? The story unravels in the next 13 minutes as we get to know the trauma that they have suffered. Written and directed by Priyanka Banerjee, Devi is an empathetic attempt to show that no matter the age, caste, religion and class, female rape victims are all stuck in the same purgatory. Read the full review here.

This Deepika Padukone starrer revolves around the story of one acid attack survior who fought against all odds to attain dignity of life. Also starring Vikrant Massey, the movie has been directed by Meghna Gulzar. While Chhapaak tanked at the box office, the film won critical acclaim, mainly thanks to Deepika's convincing act as Malti.

Indianexpress.com critic Manoj Kumar R gave Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo 3 stars out of 5 and wrote in his review, “The main pleasures of Ala Vaikunthapurramuloo are not unravelling of the secrets that the characters are determined to carry to their graves. It is Trivikram's writing and his intention to tell a story and entertain the audience without any rush.”

Another Oscar nominated film, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood by Quentin Tarantino is a love letter to the old Hollywood. The film has elements of an epic movie, a historical drama and a thriller and packs quite a few moments of dark humour, Tarantino style. It features Leonardo di Caprio, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie and a host of other well-known names of the industry in special appearances.

This classic 1999 film, now streaming on Netflix, is the perfect pick-me-up. Starring  Brendan Fraser and Rachel Weisz in the lead roles, the film follows adventurer Rick O'Connell as he travels to Hamunaptra, the city of the dead, with a librarian and her brother, where they accidentally awaken Imhotep, a cursed high priest from the reign of the pharaoh Seti I.

Sumukhi Suresh and Manish Anand starrer show mainly concerns itself with stalking and an obsessive kind of love (if at all it can be called that). Pushpavalli was supposed to marry a Brahmin man but things fall apart when she unwittingly falls for the charming Nikhil Rao. What follows next is chaos, madness and hilarity. 

Voot Select’s latest web series titled Asur is for fans of the crime-thriller genre. The show, with a fair dose of Indian mythology, revolves around a serial killer. It stars Arshad Warsi, Barun Sobti, Anupriya Goenka, Riddhi Dogra and Sharib Hashmi among others. According to Indianexpress.com, Asur is a web series that holds promise. "What is interesting about Asur is that it is dipping its hands into a lot of things - a dissolving marriage, love, crime, mythology and psychology,” read the first impression of Asur.

The series features Jodie Comer and Sandra Oh in the lead and both the seasons of this dark crime drama with humourous tones were received well by critics and audience. Need we add that Phoebe Waller Bridge of Fleabag fame was one of the writers and showrunners of the first season?

This 2019 Oscar-nominated movie is a biographical drama of well, two popes -- Pope Benedict and Pope Francis. While one is more orthodox and conventional in his ways, the latter likes to take life with a pinch of salt. A story of succession, power, peace and belief --The Two Popes features Anthony Hopkins and Jonathan Pryce in the lead. It has been helmed by Fernando Meirelles. 

If you are in the mood to explore some light-hearted regional shows, Paanch Phoron comes highly recommended. The Bengali anthology series comes in two-parts and attempts to explore love in all of its forms. Five different directors from West Bengal and Bangladesh come together to narrate five tales that are sure to make you feel a broad spectrum of emotions. Read the review for more details.

Starring Atul Kulkarni, Neil Bhoopalam, Ashwini Bhave, Kunal Karan Kapoor and Reena Wadhwa, The Raikar Case is Voot Select’s latest offering. Indianexpress.com’s Arushi Jain called the whodunnit “compelling” and wrote in her review, “The main selling point of The Raikar Case is its able cast. Atul Kulkarni, who plays the family patriarch, is as good as he has always been. Ashvini Bhave's experience shows in her performance.” Click here to read more.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters is the third film in the MonsterVerse after Godzilla and Kong: Skull Island (2017) and Godzilla (2014). This epic action-adventure pits Godzilla against some of the most popular monsters in pop culture history. The film stars s Kyle Chandler, Vera Farmiga, Millie Bobby Brown, Bradley Whitford, Sally Hawkins, Charles Dance, Thomas Middleditch and Aisha Hinds among others.

The French historical drama, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, starring Noémie Merlant and Adèle Haenel competed for the Palme d'Or at the 2019 Cannes Film Festival. The film is set in the  late 18th century and revolves around the forbidden affair between an aristocrat and a painter commissioned to paint her portrait.