# A Simple Murder
**A Simple Murder** is a 2020 Hindi-language dark comedy crime thriller web series directed by Sachin Pathak and streamed as a SonyLIV Original. Its seven-episode first season premiered on 20 November 2020.[1](https://www.medianews4u.com/sonyliv-premieres-a-simple-murder-series-on-20th-november/) The story follows Manish, a failed entrepreneur who, through a case of mistaken identity, receives a contract killing assignment with an advance of five lakh rupees, and the chain of greed-driven consequences that follows.[2](https://www.sonyliv.com/shows/a-simple-murder-1500001178)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Platform and premiere | SonyLIV Original, 20 November 2020, seven episodes[1](https://www.medianews4u.com/sonyliv-premieres-a-simple-murder-series-on-20th-november/) |
| Genre | Dark comedy, crime thriller[1](https://www.medianews4u.com/sonyliv-premieres-a-simple-murder-series-on-20th-november/) |
| Director and writers | Sachin Pathak; written by Akhilesh Jaiswal and Prateek Payodhi[3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13085546/fullcredits/) |
| Production | JAR Pictures, its third web production after *Rangbaaz* (2018) and *The Final Call* (2019)[4](https://www.peepingmoon.com/exclusive-news/news/46669/PeepingMoon-Exclusive-SonyLIV-starts-the-shooting-for-its-new-show-Simple-Murder-in-Hyderabad.html) |
| Lead cast | Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub (Manish), Priya Anand (Richa), Amit Sial (Santosh), Sushant Singh (Himmat)[5](https://www.justwatch.com/in/tv-show/a-simple-murder) |
| IMDb rating | 6.9/10 from about 4,200 user ratings[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13085546/ratings/) |
| Filming | 41 days during the COVID-19 pandemic, in Hyderabad, Amritsar, and Delhi[7](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/a-simple-murder-trailer-mohammed-zeeshan-ayyub-amit-sial-dark-comedy-6956642/lite/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise
Manish ([Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub](https://www.edgepedia.org/mohammed-zeeshan-ayyub)) is a middle-class Delhi man struggling to save a failing marriage and waiting for his start-up ambitions to take off while his wife Richa ([Priya Anand](https://www.edgepedia.org/priya-anand)) grows impatient for money.[1](https://www.medianews4u.com/sonyliv-premieres-a-simple-murder-series-on-20th-november/) While hunting for an investor for his business idea, he knocks on the wrong door and finds himself involved in a case of mistaken identity, ending up with a contract to kill a young girl, the daughter of an influential politician with his eyes on the [Hoshiarpur](https://www.edgepedia.org/hoshiarpur) ticket, along with an advance of five lakh rupees.[2](https://www.sonyliv.com/shows/a-simple-murder-1500001178) The murder goes wrong, and Manish acquires a nemesis in Santosh (Amit Sial), who sets out to avenge his girlfriend's death.[7](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/a-simple-murder-trailer-mohammed-zeeshan-ayyub-amit-sial-dark-comedy-6956642/lite/)
The series braids together several storylines: Manish and Richa; Richa's lover Rahul (Ayaz Khan); the contract-killer network run by Pandit (Yashpal Sharma), whose roster includes Santosh and the ghazal-reciting hitman Himmat (Sushant Singh); and a young inter-religion couple on the run from her furious politician father.[8](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/a-simple-murder-review-sonyliv-guns-and-roses-7056832/) Two Delhi police officers, Inspector Amit Mehta (Gopal Datt) and his sharper deputy Sub Inspector Pratik ([Vikram Kochhar](https://www.edgepedia.org/vikram-kochhar)), enter the crowded scene once the bodies start piling up, and [Vijay Raaz](https://www.edgepedia.org/vijay-raaz) serves as narrator.[5](https://www.justwatch.com/in/tv-show/a-simple-murder) • [9](https://scroll.in/article/978867/portraits-of-indias-people-by-a-flemmish-artist-who-lived-on-the-margins-of-18th-century-calcutta)
## Production
JAR Pictures, the production company behind the ZEE5 shows *Rangbaaz* (2018) and *The Final Call* (2019), produced the series as its third web project, with [Ajay Rai](https://www.edgepedia.org/ajay-rai) as producer.[4](https://www.peepingmoon.com/exclusive-news/news/46669/PeepingMoon-Exclusive-SonyLIV-starts-the-shooting-for-its-new-show-Simple-Murder-in-Hyderabad.html) Shooting began in July 2020 at [Ramoji Film City](https://www.edgepedia.org/ramoji-film-city) in [Hyderabad](https://www.edgepedia.org/hyderabad), one of the first Hindi productions to resume during the pandemic lockdown.[4](https://www.peepingmoon.com/exclusive-news/news/46669/PeepingMoon-Exclusive-SonyLIV-starts-the-shooting-for-its-new-show-Simple-Murder-in-Hyderabad.html) Director Sachin Pathak, who had previously directed the ZEE5 series *Rangbaaz Phirse*, said the unit completed 41 days of shooting following safety guidelines in Hyderabad, Amritsar, and Delhi.[7](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/a-simple-murder-trailer-mohammed-zeeshan-ayyub-amit-sial-dark-comedy-6956642/lite/)
The screenplay is credited to Akhilesh Jaiswal, known for *Gangs of Wasseypur* and *Mastram*, and Prateek Payodhi.[4](https://www.peepingmoon.com/exclusive-news/news/46669/PeepingMoon-Exclusive-SonyLIV-starts-the-shooting-for-its-new-show-Simple-Murder-in-Hyderabad.html) • [3](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13085546/fullcredits/) Karsh Kale composed the music and S Bharathwaaj handled cinematography.[10](https://www.indianfilmhistory.com/web-series/a-simple-murder) SonyLIV positioned the series as a follow-up to the success of *Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story* earlier in 2020; Saugata Mukherjee, the platform's head of original content, described dark comedy as a genre that was largely underserved on Indian OTT platforms and named *A Simple Murder* the service's second offering in that space after *Kadakh*.[1](https://www.medianews4u.com/sonyliv-premieres-a-simple-murder-series-on-20th-november/)
## Reception
**Critical response was divided.** Shubhra Gupta of The Indian Express praised the series for nailing its serio-comic tone, singling out Sushant Singh as a killer who is also a closet poet and the West Delhi locations of Dwarka, Janakpuri, and Mayapuri, while noting a few pacing problems.[8](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/a-simple-murder-review-sonyliv-guns-and-roses-7056832/) A review in The New Indian Express called it an effective dark comedy carried by consistently good performances, brazen violence, and non-judgmental writing, though it found the tonal shift into the Hindu-Muslim storyline jarring.[11](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/amp/story/reviews/something/2020/Nov/20/a-simple-murder-web-series-review-great-writing-makes-this-an-effective-dark-comedy-21395.html) Scroll.in found the show repetitive by design and unevenly paced but credited its seasoned cast, while criticizing the writing for laying most of the blame on Priya Anand's character Richa.[9](https://scroll.in/article/978867/portraits-of-indias-people-by-a-flemmish-artist-who-lived-on-the-margins-of-18th-century-calcutta) The Times of India gave the season a critic's rating of 2.5 out of 5, calling it unnecessarily complex, and Film Companion described it as a dry, done-to-death black comedy whose seven-episode length strained its cinema of eccentricity.[12](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/web-series/reviews/hindi/a-simple-murder/a-simple-murder-season-1/amp_seasonreview/79305234.cms) • [13](https://www.filmcompanion.in/reviews/streaming-reviews/a-simple-murder-sony-liv-review-dry-done-to-death-black-comedy)
Audience measures were middling. The series holds an IMDb rating of 6.9/10 from about 4,200 users, with individual episode ratings declining from 6.3 for the first episode to 5.8 for the seventh.[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13085546/ratings/) India Today included it in a December 2020 roundup of under-hyped Hindi web series of the year, calling it a gripping dark comedy with an unconventional, absurdist approach.[14](https://www.indiatoday.in/entertainment/ott/story/scam-1992-to-asur-how-under-hyped-web-series-were-the-best-of-2020-1748656-2020-12-11) As of late 2026 the series remains streamable on SonyLIV in India.[5](https://www.justwatch.com/in/tv-show/a-simple-murder)
## References
1. [SonyLIV premieres 'A Simple Murder' series on 20th November, MediaNews4U](https://www.medianews4u.com/sonyliv-premieres-a-simple-murder-series-on-20th-november/)
2. [A Simple Murder - Watch Online, Sony LIV](https://www.sonyliv.com/shows/a-simple-murder-1500001178)
3. [A Simple Murder (TV Series 2020– ) - Full cast & crew, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13085546/fullcredits/)
4. [PeepingMoon Exclusive: SonyLIV starts the shooting for its new show, Simple Murder in Hyderabad!](https://www.peepingmoon.com/exclusive-news/news/46669/PeepingMoon-Exclusive-SonyLIV-starts-the-shooting-for-its-new-show-Simple-Murder-in-Hyderabad.html)
5. [A Simple Murder - streaming tv show online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/in/tv-show/a-simple-murder)
6. [A Simple Murder (TV Series 2020– ) - Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt13085546/ratings/)
7. [A Simple Murder trailer: Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Amit Sial lock horns in dark comedy, The Indian Express](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/a-simple-murder-trailer-mohammed-zeeshan-ayyub-amit-sial-dark-comedy-6956642/lite/)
8. [A Simple Murder review: Guns and roses, The Indian Express](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/a-simple-murder-review-sonyliv-guns-and-roses-7056832/)
9. ['A Simple Murder' review: Love is as complicated as death, Scroll.in](https://scroll.in/article/978867/portraits-of-indias-people-by-a-flemmish-artist-who-lived-on-the-margins-of-18th-century-calcutta)
10. [A Simple Murder, Indian Film History](https://www.indianfilmhistory.com/web-series/a-simple-murder)
11. [A Simple Murder Web Series Review: Great writing makes this an effective dark comedy, The New Indian Express](https://www.cinemaexpress.com/amp/story/reviews/something/2020/Nov/20/a-simple-murder-web-series-review-great-writing-makes-this-an-effective-dark-comedy-21395.html)
12. [A Simple Murder Season 1 Review: Unnecessarily complex, The Times of India](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/web-series/reviews/hindi/a-simple-murder/a-simple-murder-season-1/amp_seasonreview/79305234.cms)
13. [A Simple Murder On SonyLiv: A Dry, Done-To-Death Black Comedy, Film Companion](https://www.filmcompanion.in/reviews/streaming-reviews/a-simple-murder-sony-liv-review-dry-done-to-death-black-comedy)
14. [Scam 1992 to Asur, how under-hyped web series were the best of 2020, India Today](https://www.indiatoday.in/entertainment/ott/story/scam-1992-to-asur-how-under-hyped-web-series-were-the-best-of-2020-1748656-2020-12-11)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Web-native and streaming-original series › Indian and South Asian web series*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license