The pandemic has opened the gates wide open for OTT platforms, both for Indian companies and for international players. So, when there are shows, there are bound to be rewards. Understanding the impact of OTT among viewers and given the popularity of such series, Filmfare has launched its 1st OTT awards. Called the FlyxFilmfare awards, Pataal Lok and The Family Man took home the top honours.
The series that starred Manoj Bajpai and Priyamani in lead roles, won the awards for best directors, best dialogues, best actor, best actress and the best series in the critics category. The team has a happy time posing for shutterbugs on the red carpet.
However, the best series went to Paatal Lok, a series based around a disillusioned cop who lands the case of an assassination attempt gone wrong. The series is loosely based on Tarun Tejpal’s The Story of My Assassins. In fact, both HuffPost and The Indian Express called it the best Hindi film/ series of 2020. The series happens to be an Amazon Prime Video which was released on May 15, 2020. Paatal Lok starred Jaideep Ahlawat in the lead role, apart from Gul Panang.
The winner of critics’ awards, The Family Man is yet another Amazon Prime Video original series that starred Manoj Bajpai and Priyamani. The series is about a middle-class man secretly working as an intelligence officer for the TASC, a fictitious arm of National Investigation Agency. The series premiered in September 2019 and has two more seasons coming up.
As for the very 1st OTT awards in India, the FlyxFilmfare awards, here are some of the winners – Best series Pataal Lok, Best Director Avinash Arun and Prosit Roy (Paatal Lok), Best actor in drama series Jaideep Ahlawaat (Paatal Lok), Best actor in drama series female Sushmita Sen (Aarya), Best actor in a comedy series male Jitendra Kumar (Panchayat), Best actor in comedy series female Mithila Palkar (Little Things Season 3), Best actor in comedy series critics Dhruv Sehgal (Little Things Season 3). The best comedy series/ specials went to Panchayat, while Best film web original went to Raat Akeli Hai.