Just the second week into August, and OTT platforms are churning out content at high speed, with the Indian side receiving three major TV series releases. The standout has to be Made in Heaven season 2, as Sobhita Dhulipala and Arjun Mathur return to plan and navigate a slew of big fat Indian weddings, only to uncover secrets and bizarre traditions plaguing the uber-rich families. It drops this Friday on Amazon Prime Video, competing with a TV series adaptation of the Commando film series on Disney+ Hotstar. There’s also The Jengaburu Curse, a climate-thriller series which attempts to start a conversation on how human greed and exploitation of natural resources could have fatal consequences.
Here’s a compilation of the biggest TV series coming to streaming platforms this week:
Made in Heaven season 2
When: August 11
Where: Amazon Prime Video
In just half a year, our returning duo of Tara Khanna (Sobhita Dhulipala) and Karan Mehra (Arjun Mathur) have successfully planned eight grand weddings, albeit they’re unable to turn in a huge profit. In their hunt for bigger, richer fish to fry, they never expected things to get complicated with the couples, who are somewhat at loggerheads when it comes to finding even ground where age-old customs and modern aspirations could meet. While every wedding starts joyfully — almost comedic — with the fiancés hiring others to write wedding vows, planning huge baraats, and opting for an outlandish Mughal-themed marriage, the cracks underneath those smiles slowly start to show.
Made in Heaven season 2 is largely focused on the female perspective of these weddings, with abuse, mistrust, and divorces serving as the core themes — a key segment being the wedding expert Tara suing her ex-husband Adil (Jim Sarbh) to win the settlement she thinks she deserves. Co-creators Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti also confirmed that it leans into the LGBTQ+ aspect as well, expanding past the closeted gay man Karan, and looking into couples who are asked not to ‘flaunt’ their sexuality. The new chapter also stars Shashank Arora (Neeyat), Shivani Raghuvanshi, Radhika Apte (Sacred Games), Kalki Koechlin (Gully Boy), and Nattasha Singh.
Commando
When: August 11
Where: Disney+ Hotstar
A TV series expanding on the Commando series of films without Vidyut Jamwal in the lead feels odd, which is also a sentiment a lot of fans share. The streamer hasn’t divulged much information on this new series apart from calling it ‘action-packed’ and adding debutant Prem Parrijaa as the leading man, though the original films follow a pretty straightforward plot where the titular Commando partakes in various life-threatening missions with the goal of protecting India from any attacks. Adah Sharma, who played the Encounter Specialist Bhavna Reddy in those films, reprises her role in the upcoming web series.
Only Murders in the Building Season 3
When: Now streaming
Where: Disney+ Hotstar
I’m just glad this one didn’t get delayed, because I’ve been quite excited to see Meryl Streep deliver another masterful performance, this time as a bumbling stage actress suspected of murder. Only Murders in the Building season 3 picks up the investigation of Ben Glenroy’s (Paul Rudd) on-stage death, who had previously created numerous enemies within the troupe, raising the stakes for our true crime loving podcast group of Mabel (Selena Gomez), Charles (Steve Martin), and Oliver (Martin Short). To make matters worse, the leading man’s death has put a dent in Oliver’s Broadway play, causing them to solve the mystery fast enough so they can get the show back on the road.
The new season brings an ensemble cast ranging from Ashley Park (Emily in Paris) as the TikTok-obsessed Kimberly to Jesse Williams (Cabin in the Woods) as an invasive documentarian. There’s a lot to unpack here, from dance and musical performances, to a collapsing theatre, to Charles and Oliver struggling with Gen-Z terms. The first two episodes are now available to stream, with the remaining eight dropping every Tuesday after the release.
Strange Planet
When: Now streaming
Where: Apple TV+
Set in a whimsical pastel-coloured landscape of cotton candy pink and purple, Strange Planet follows a group of blue-tinted lanky beings who explore the absurdity of human life through a literal, deadpan sense of humour, such as describing coffee as ‘jitter fluid’ or trying to grasp the concept behind trashing homes with confetti in the name of celebration. If the title feels familiar, it’s because you might have come across these mini-comics on Nathan W. Pyle’s Instagram handle, offering a perspective look at human behaviour and how it weird it might come off to aliens.
An animated series could only enhance the experience of comic panels and Pyle seems to have picked the right partner to convey them — Dan Harmon, best known for co-creating the Rick and Morty series. The first three episodes of Strange Planet are out now on Apple TV+, with new episodes dropping every Wednesday until September 27.
The Jengaburu Curse
When: Now streaming
Where: Sony Liv
When a London-based financial analyst Priya Das (Faria Abdullah) is forced to return to her hometown in Orissa, she realises that something is amiss about the small town of Jengaburu. An illegal bauxite mining operation is causing unexplained deaths and radiation sickness among the citizens, all of which are tied to turning the city into a metropolis attraction and a darker international conspiracy. The responsible parties seem to have also wiped out the Bondriya tribe from the map, to exploit resources from their dwelling and fuel a secret nuclear operation 3,000 feet below the ground.
Nila Madhab Panda — best known for Kadvi Hawa — helms The Jengaburu Curse, delving into how human greed for exploiting natural resources would lead to their downfall. The seven-episode series also stars Nassar (Ponniyin Selvan: I), Makarand Deshpande (The Fame Game), Sudev Nair (Monster), Deipak Sampat (Faadu: A Love Story), and Indraneel Bhattacharya. The first episode is available to watch for free on Sony Liv, while the remaining can be accessed once you purchase a subscription.
