Television series
Paatal Lok
- Police procedural
- Detective mystery
- Very dark
A disgraced Delhi cop gets a second chance investigating an assassination attempt on a TV journalist, only to discover the case spirals into something far darker and more complex. Sharp, propulsive crime drama that treats its underworld characters with genuine dignity. For anyone who wants their thrillers morally messy and their mysteries actually mysterious.
Should you watch it?
Watch it if you like crime stories that dig into caste, class and the grubby machinery of power, and you're happy to sit with a slow-building, morally murky investigation that rewards patience with unexpected depth.
Skip it if you want a tidy whodunit with brisk pacing; at seventeen episodes of roughly forty-four minutes each, it lingers in its characters' lives and the violence can feel heavy going.
What it asks of you: Settle in for a long haul: the episodes are unhurried, the mood is bleak and often brutal, and it wants your full attention across many evenings rather than a casual glance.
Not sure? Find tonight's pick in a minute.
If you liked this
Sacred Games2018
Netflix's flagship Indian crime series has the same kinetic energy and moral ambiguity. Raoul Nawaz and Nawazuddin Siddiqui elevate what could be straight procedural into something mythic and urgent.
But Two seasons, eight hours each. It demands sustained attention and doesn't offer easy catharsis.
Andhadhun2018
A blind pianist becomes entangled in a murder mystery where every reveal dismantles what you thought you knew. Vishesh Bhatt's plot mechanics are Byzantine in the best way, funny and cruel by turns.
But The tonal shifts are severe and sometimes jarring. It's less grounded than Paatal Lok and asks you to follow increasingly unlikely twists.
Article 152019
Ayushmann Khurrana as a cop investigating caste-based violence. Unflinching about corruption, power and who society chooses to protect. Anubhav Sinha's direction is patient and observant.
But It's an argument as much as a thriller. If you want narrative momentum over investigation into social systems, it won't satisfy.
Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Paatal Lok
The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Rang De Basanti2006
Both are about systems of injustice that survive because they're protected by power. Both ask what ordinary people do when institutions fail them.
A film about ordinary engineering students who become political activists after a friend is killed by state apathy. It has Paatal Lok's obsession with corruption and powerlessness, but channels it into rage and agency. Aamir Khan at his most vulnerable.
But It was controversial on release for seeming to endorse violence. Some find it preachy; others find its idealism dated. It's also three and a half hours.
More like this (7)
Mirzapur2018
A crime family drama set in a Uttar Pradesh gangland. Raw, violent, unapologetically trashy in the best way. Pankaj Tripathi and Ali Fazal are magnetic as men corrupted by power.
But Relishes its brutality sometimes more than it earns it. Certain scenes feel designed to shock rather than illuminate character.
Badhaai Ho2018
Not a crime film, but a gem about middle-class life and unexpected warmth. Ayushmann Khurrana and Neena Gupta's performances prove Indian cinema at its most observant doesn't need spectacle.
But It's deliberately small and domestic. Some viewers find comfort in that; others find it slight.
Khosla Ka Ghosla!2006
A family comedy about property fraud in Delhi. Dileep Rao and Boman Irani are wonderful. It's breezier than Paatal Lok but has the same DNA—ordinary people in the machinery of deception.
But It's twenty years old and feels it. The humour is gentler and the stakes smaller.
Udta Punjab2016
A crime-tinged film about Punjab's drug crisis, made with genuine reporting and anger. Alia Bhatt, Shahid Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor Khan all prove they can do serious work.
But It was censored on release and remains somewhat compromised. The structure doesn't always cohere.
Mulk2018
Rishi Kapoor in a legal drama about a Muslim family accused of terror links. Understated and dignified, it asks difficult questions about justice and belonging.
But It's deliberately quiet and courtroom-bound. After Paatal Lok's propulsive narrative, this might feel static.
The Godfather Part II1974
Both are about men trying to escape their circumstances through crime, and both refuse to let viewers judge them too easily. The structure of revelation—peeling back lies to find the real rot—is identical.
Coppola's examination of corruption, ambition, and family obligation across two timelines. Like Paatal Lok, it finds humanity in criminals and shows how good men become compromised by increments. Perfect filmmaking.
But It's Coppola's masterpiece and impossible to live up to. It's also nearly four hours. Some find the pacing glacial by modern standards.
A Prophet2009
Both present the criminal underworld as a complete society with its own logic, rules, and inevitabilities. Both ask whether the system corrupts the man or chooses men already corrupted.
A French-language prison drama about a young man who rises through the criminal underworld. Like Paatal Lok, it's about education through crime, about systems that create monsters and then pretend to be shocked. Jacques Audiard's direction is immaculate.
But It's in French with subtitles. It's also brutally violent and offers no moral comfort. The protagonist is not sympathetic, only comprehensible.
People
Cast
Writing
- Sudip SharmaCreator