20 Best Hindi Original Drama Series On Prime Video, Ranked
The best Hindi series on Amazon Prime Video features some of the highest-quality original dramas to arrive on the streaming service over the last decade, regardless of country of origin. Amazon India Originals has also been slowly but steadily gaining ground, bringing Indian dramas to audiences worldwide with some nail-biting thrillers, sports dramas, and relatable slice-of-life stories. The various Hindi TV shows on Amazon Prime Video not only feature some of the country's best melodramas that the world has come to know but also gripping, realistic stories that can leave viewers on the edge of their seats, creating genuine emotions.
While most people know about Bollywood, one of the biggest movie production genres in the world, that is only part of what represents Hindi dramas. Add in Pollywood, Tollywood, and more, and India has plenty of variety to offer viewers concerning the look and feel of its TV shows and movies. With several different genres in its offerings, the Amazon Prime Video series produced in India continues to gain traction with its global audience as more and more quality content drops on the service. With new series coming to the platform consistently, Prime Video has become a true destination.
22 Crash Course (2022)
A Drama About Students Preparing For Exams
Release Date 2022 - 2022-00-00
Network Prime Video
Directors Vijay Maurya
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Annu Kapoor
Ratanraj Jindal
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Chirag Vohra
Mayank Batra
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Bhanu Uday
Shashank Batra
At 10 episodes, this drama is a relatively quick watch for someone looking for a Hindi-language binge-watch. The series focuses on a group of students who are feeling the pressure to prepare for exams. Not only are they trying to live up to the expectations of their parents and teachers, but they find themselves caught between two rival academic coaches who are struggling to maintain their power and success in the same city.
In the US, series about academic pressure are few and far between. In Japan, South Korea, and India, however, they are incredibly popular because of how competitive academic tracks can be. Many critics compared the series to the Netflix original Kota Factory, which is set in the same city and features a similar concept. While critics might have preferred the Netflix series, drama fans who have Prime Video instead of Netflix will find this a good substitute.
21 Bandish Bandits (2019-)
A Romantic Musical About Opposites
Release Date August 4, 2020
Network Prime Video
Directors Anand Tiwari
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Naseeruddin Shah
Panditji
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Western audiences will find a lot of commonalities between Bandish Bandits and movies like Save The Last Dance or the original Step Up. Of course, while those movies focused on merging different dance styles, this series focuses on two different musical styles instead.
Bandish Bandits sees a classical music student and a pop star clash over their very different musical background as they grow closer. The show brings up the debate among its characters and its audience as to whether music is a discipline to be learned or an art that sets someone free. While both things can be true, it’s the exploration of those ideas that leads to a love story of opposites attracting.
While critics were quick to point out that the show’s writing didn’t always engage them, the performances of the leads did. With Indian movies and television once being known for their musical sequences, the show also has a nostalgic feel for those who miss the earlier days of Indian cinema.
20 Jee Karda (2023)
Twenty-somethings Face Reality As Their Dreams Don’t Come True
Release Date 2023 - 2023-00-00
Network Prime Video
Directors Homi Adajania
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Simone Singh
Antara Singh
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Tamannaah Bhatia
Lavanya Singh
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Suhail Nayyar
Rishabh Rathore
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Jee Karda received mixed reviews from critics, but the show is a great exploration of what it means to experience a coming-of-age in one’s late 20s. Most coming-of-age stories focus on the teen years and moving from adolescence to adulthood. Jee Karda moves that line to 29 instead.
That’s because the show follows a group of seven people who grew up as friends. They all had big ideas about what it would be like to grow up and all expected to have reached certain milestones and successes by the time they turned 30. As they all approach 30, however, they all realize that reality is very different than what they initially dreamed up.
Tamannaah Bhatia in particular was noted as a standout among the ensemble cast. Bhatia won 2023’s Best Actor of the Year Female (Series) for the Bollywood Hungama OTT India Fest for her work in the show.
19 Call Me Bae (2024)
An Heiress Has To Put Herself To Work
Release Date September 6, 2024
Network Prime Video
Directors Collin D'Cunha
There’s been a trend in Indian television in recent years toward hard-hitting dramas. Even outside of Hindi-language programming, TV fans are more likely to find a thriller or a horror series than they are a rom-com or equally lighter fare. Call Me Bae is a step toward rectifying that and bringing back some lighter content. The series isn’t a straight-up comedy, but more of a dramedy.
Call Me Bae sees an heiress fall from grace and has to start earning her keep. While she maintains her style with some truly fantastic ensembles, she has to use her street-smarts to work as a news reporter in Mumbai.
For Western audiences, comparisons to something like Schitt’s Creek, where the loss of a fortune sees an entire family have to figure out how to become working class in a small town, wouldn’t entirely be out of place. This series, however, focuses on one character, not a whole family, and is still on its way to having the same kind of heart as Schitt’s Creek.
18 The Forgotten Army – Azaadi Ke Liye (2020)
A War Drama About The Fight For Indian Independence
Release Date 2020 - 2020-00-00
Network Prime Video
Directors Kabir Khan
Nearly every colonized country has fictional depictions of their fight for independence that have been inspired by history. That is what The Forgotten Army is.
The series recounts the story of Indian soldiers who allied with Japanese military members to march on the capitol and overthrow colonial rule. The real-life soldiers were comprised of both male and female regiments and both get the spotlight here, which is unusual for series depicting war. In fact, the series gets its heart from the love story at the center of it between a male and female soldier both fighting for independence.
With only five episodes, the show is better classified as a miniseries, but with its heavier subject matter, it’s not the quickest binge of the Hindi-language programs on Prime Video. The series has been a labor of love for Kabir Khan, who began planning the series 20 years before it debuted after he made a documentary about the same soldiers. Khan is the director and a co-writer for the series.
17 Panchayat (2020- )
A Comedy About An Engineering Graduate Working As A Panchayat Secretary
Release Date March 5, 2020
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Jitendra Kumar
Abhishek Tripathi
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Raghubir Yadav
Brijbhushan Dubey
Panchayat is an Indian comedy-drama on Prime Video that has run for three seasons and 24 episodes. The drama series stars Jitendra Kumar as Abhishek Tripathi, an engineering graduate from the big city who can't find a job in the tough economy and decides to take a low-salary job as a secret of a Gram panchayat (a basic governing institution) in a remote village called Phulera. This creates a fish-out-of-water story as he deals with unfamiliar village cultures.
This is a quick binge-watch, even with three seasons, as the episodes are all short half-hour snippets showing Abhishek attempting to make changes in the village that doesn't care and soon realizing that he might not have all the answers. While the series is an easy watch and doesn't push too far with its messages, it does offer a bit of a satire on local customs and politics, which don't always mix. Reviews were positive, and Panchayat won four Filmfare OTT Awards, including Best Comedy Series.
16 Dil Dosti Dilemma (2024- )
Based On The Novel Asmara's Summer By Andaleeb Wajid
Release Date 2024 - 2024-00-00
Based on the novel Asmara's Summer by Andaleeb Wajid, Dil Dosti Dilemma is a teen drama about a teen girl named Asmara, who has to move into her grandparents' home for the summer while her parents travel to Canada. However, as a popular girl in college, she doesn't want anyone to know she is staying in a lower-class neighborhood for the summer, so she lies and tells everyone she is going to Canada. However, when she starts to make new friends, she realizes it might be time for change.
This is a morality tale, with Asmara's parents forcing her to stay with her grandparents rather than travel to Canada when she shows how embarrassed she is of her mother's family because they don't have money. Critics praised the Hindi series for its look at how it is important to balance tradition and modernity and realize that cultural and familial heritage is just as important as social status. The series premiered in 2024 on Prime Video, with its first season totaling seven episodes.
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14 Do You Wanna Partner (2025-)
A Comedic Drama About Women In A Male Dominated Industry
Prime VideoAs one of the newer selections on Prime Video, Do You Wanna Partner is a Hindi-language drama that follows Tamannaah Bhatia and Diana Penty as Shikha and Anahita, two friends who launch a craft beer startup company that challenges the status quo. Working in urban India in a culture that is traditionally dominated by men, the business partners featured in Do You Wanna Partner have to navigate the business itself, as well as their skeptical families and professional hurdles that make it clear they're stepping into a whole new world. Do You Wanna Partner blends humor, friendship, and personal growth.
13 Aspirants (2021- )
A Drama About Three UPSC Aspirants
Release Date April 7, 2021
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Naveen Kasturia
Abhilash Sharma
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Shivankit Singh Parihar
Guri
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Aspirants is a Hindi series on Prime Video that follows the lives of three former USPC aspirants (hopefuls) and it shows how their pasts led them to where they currently are in their present-day lives. The drama series focuses mostly on the psychological aspects of working as a civil servant, and it looks at how these friends' decisions altered their lives. The series picks up with all three friends preparing for the UPSC exam and how their struggles affect their personal lives.
The series has two seasons so far on Prime Video, with a total of 10 episodes. While the first season was released on TVF Play, Prime took over the production for the second season as its exclusive home. It was so popular that spinoffs were produced, with SK Sir Ki Class released in 2023 and Sandeep Hhaiya released in 2023, both on YouTube and not on Prime Video. Aspirants earned two Filmfate OTT Awards nominations, including Best Screenplay and Best Original Soundtrack.
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