{ "id": "ep9mscyv3g", "slug": "apharan", "title": "Apharan", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted", "label": "Unscripted, reality, and web-native series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native", "label": "Web-native and streaming-original series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native.indian_southasian_webseries", "label": "Indian and South Asian web series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native.indian_southasian_webseries" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native.indian_southasian_webseries.yr-2003-2020", "label": "Premiered 2003 to 2020", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native.indian_southasian_webseries.yr-2003-2020" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.ind.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native", "label": "India · 2001 to 2020: Web-native and streaming-original series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native", "path": [ { "id": "geo.ind", "label": "India", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t2001", "label": "India · 2001 to 2020", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t2001" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t2001.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t2001.culture" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t2001.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t2001.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t2001.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t2001.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted", "label": "Unscripted, reality, and web-native series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native", "label": "Web-native and streaming-original series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t2001.culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Apharan is a 2018 Indian Hindi crime thriller web series created by Sidharth Sengupta for ALTBalaji, starring Arunoday Singh as Uttarakhand inspector Rudra Srivastava; 12-episode season 1 premiered 14 December 2018, with season 2, Apharan 2: Sabka Katega, on Voot in March 2022.", "snippet": "Apharan is a 2018 Indian Hindi crime thriller web series created by Sidharth Sengupta for ALTBalaji, starring Arunoday Singh as Uttarakhand inspector Rudra Srivastava; 12-episode season 1 premiered 14 December 2018, with season 2, Apharan 2: Sabka Katega, on Voot in March 2022.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native.indian_southasian_webseries.yr-2003-2020", "markdown": "# Apharan\n\n**Apharan** is an Indian Hindi-language crime thriller web series created and directed by Sidharth Sengupta, which premiered on the streaming platform [ALTBalaji](https://www.edgepedia.org/altbalaji) on 14 December 2018. Set in the hill stations of [Uttarakhand](https://www.edgepedia.org/uttarakhand), it follows senior police inspector Rudra Srivastava, who is drawn into a kidnapping-for-ransom plot that goes wrong and leaves him entangled in corruption, murder, and political conspiracy. A second season, *Apharan 2: Sabka Katega*, followed in March 2022 as a Voot Select original also streaming on Alt Balaji.\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Format | Hindi-language crime, drama, and thriller web series; two seasons totaling 23 episodes (12 in season 1, 11 in season 2)[1](https://www.gadgets360.com/entertainment/apharan-season-1-web-series-106328) • [2](https://seriesreminder.com/series/apharan) |\n| Season 1 release | 14 December 2018 on ALTBalaji, with all 12 episodes streaming at launch; rated 18+[1](https://www.gadgets360.com/entertainment/apharan-season-1-web-series-106328) |\n| Season 2 release | 18 March 2022, as a Voot Select original presented by Jio Studios, also streaming on Alt Balaji[3](https://www.tring.co.in/popular-web-series/apharan) • [4](https://balajitelefilms.com/pdf/quaterlyreports/fy2022-23/MDA-Q12023%20Final.pdf) |\n| Lead role | Arunoday Singh as Rudra Srivastava, a senior inspector in the Uttarakhand Police (a dual role in season 2 as Vikram Bahadur Shah)[5](https://onelifestudios.in/portfolio/apharan/) |\n| Main cast | Mahie Gill, Nidhi Singh, Varun Badola, Saanand Verma, Monica Chaudhary, Sanjay Batra, and Neha Kaul, among others[1](https://www.gadgets360.com/entertainment/apharan-season-1-web-series-106328) |\n| Episode titles | Every episode of the series is named after a Bollywood song from the 1980s[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8392006/) |\n| Reception | About 8.2/10 on IMDb from roughly 21,000 votes; cited in a 2022 Balaji Telefilms filing as a top-rated ALTBalaji show at 8.4[7](https://www.justwatch.com/in/tv-show/apharan) • [8](https://bsmedia.business-standard.com/_media/bs/data/announcements/bse/20052022/3f019087-d754-4ea8-a2fd-f76726def243.pdf) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Premise\n\nSeason 1 centers on Rudra Srivastava, a celebrated but financially pressed senior inspector in the Uttarakhand Police who agrees to kidnap a young woman, Anusha Tyagi, at the request of a politician's wife, with the plan of extorting ransom money from her family. The scheme goes wrong: Anusha is murdered, Rudra is falsely accused, and he spends time in jail while trying to identify who killed her and why the kidnapping was arranged. The season frames his fight for survival through kidnapping, a mysterious murder, desperation for money, and betrayal in love, in what publicity materials described as a 1970s-style masala (Bollywood genre mixing action, romance, comedy, and melodrama together) thriller[5](https://onelifestudios.in/portfolio/apharan/) • [9](https://nettv4u.com/about/hindi/web-series/apharan-season-1) • [10](https://www.thestatesman.com/entertainment/apharan-trailer-launched-altbalaji-web-series-starts-streaming-14-december-1502714284.html/amp).\n\nThe plot also forces Rudra to investigate his own crime as he becomes caught in a web of lies, a turn the show's promotion highlighted as its central hook[11](https://www.mumbailive.com/en/digital/altbalaji-announces-season-2-of-thriller-show-apaharan-38268). The series treats systemic corruption and political conspiracy as the backdrop to the kidnapping[7](https://www.justwatch.com/in/tv-show/apharan).\n\n### Season 2\n\n*Apharan 2: Sabka Katega* premiered on 18 March 2022 on Voot Select, with Alt Balaji also carrying the series, and was presented by Jio Studios[3](https://www.tring.co.in/popular-web-series/apharan) • [4](https://balajitelefilms.com/pdf/quaterlyreports/fy2022-23/MDA-Q12023%20Final.pdf). Rudra, now out of jail, is a suspended cop who takes on a high-stakes mission involving international crime when his wife's life becomes entangled with RAW intelligence operations, and part of the season plays out in Serbia rather than India[5](https://onelifestudios.in/portfolio/apharan/) • [12](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/web-series/reviews/hindi/apharan/seriesreview/90217708.cms). Singh played a dual role in this season, as Rudra and as Vikram Bahadur Shah, and new characters included Nafisa, played by Sukhmani Sadana[5](https://onelifestudios.in/portfolio/apharan/) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8392006/). The Times of India's review gave the season 3.5 out of 5, calling it a homage to Bollywood heroes, masala storytelling, and the era's nostalgic music, while noting it lacked the pace of a conventional comedy-thriller[12](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/web-series/reviews/hindi/apharan/seriesreview/90217708.cms).\n\n## Production and style\n\nSidharth Sengupta directed and co-produced the series, with Mohinder Pratap Singh writing the screenplay and actor [Varun Badola](https://www.edgepedia.org/varun-badola), who also appears in the cast, writing the dialogues. The producers were Siddharth Sengupta and Jyoti Sagar, and the series was developed by [Ekta Kapoor](https://www.edgepedia.org/ekta-kapoor) under the [Balaji Telefilms](https://www.edgepedia.org/balaji-telefilms) banner[5](https://onelifestudios.in/portfolio/apharan/) • [9](https://nettv4u.com/about/hindi/web-series/apharan-season-1). Music was composed by Subham Sen Gupta, the director's son[10](https://www.thestatesman.com/entertainment/apharan-trailer-launched-altbalaji-web-series-starts-streaming-14-december-1502714284.html/amp).\n\nThe show's style mixes pulp crime with 1970s [Hindi cinema](https://www.edgepedia.org/hindi-cinema) conventions: retro music, one-liners, and a rugged lead character with a Bhojpuri accent modeled on the era's angry-young-hero image. [Arunoday Singh](https://www.edgepedia.org/arunoday-singh) said he worked to grasp the Hindi dialect for the part[10](https://www.thestatesman.com/entertainment/apharan-trailer-launched-altbalaji-web-series-starts-streaming-14-december-1502714284.html/amp). The episode titles carry the homage further, each one borrowed from a Bollywood song of the 1980s, including \"Ek Haseena Thi, Ek Deewana Tha\" and \"Chahe Koi Mujhe Junglee Kahe\"[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8392006/) • [7](https://www.justwatch.com/in/tv-show/apharan).\n\n## Reception and availability\n\nThe first season was one of ALTBalaji's most successful series, drawing praise for its narrative pace, twists, and background score[11](https://www.mumbailive.com/en/digital/altbalaji-announces-season-2-of-thriller-show-apaharan-38268). A 2022 Balaji Telefilms presentation listed *Apharan* among the platform's top-rated shows on IMDb at 8.4[8](https://bsmedia.business-standard.com/_media/bs/data/announcements/bse/20052022/3f019087-d754-4ea8-a2fd-f76726def243.pdf); current aggregate listings put the IMDb score at about 8.2 with roughly 21,000 votes[7](https://www.justwatch.com/in/tv-show/apharan). Season 1 was subsequently dubbed into Tamil and Kannada[1](https://www.gadgets360.com/entertainment/apharan-season-1-web-series-106328).\n\nStreaming availability has shifted between platforms over the series' life: season 1 was an ALTBalaji original and later appeared on Voot and [MX Player](https://www.edgepedia.org/mx-player) catalogs, and as of recent listings the series streams free with ads on MX Player, Amazon MX Player, and Amazon Prime Video Free with Ads[7](https://www.justwatch.com/in/tv-show/apharan). No third season has been confirmed by its producers[2](https://seriesreminder.com/series/apharan).\n\n## References\n\n1. [Apharan Season 1 Web Series (2018), Gadgets 360](https://www.gadgets360.com/entertainment/apharan-season-1-web-series-106328)\n2. [Apharan Season 2 Schedule & Episodes, SeriesReminder](https://seriesreminder.com/series/apharan)\n3. [Apharan 2018: Plot, Cast, Reviews, Trailer, and More, Tring](https://www.tring.co.in/popular-web-series/apharan)\n4. [About Balaji Telefilms, Q1 FY2023 MDA (Balaji Telefilms)](https://balajitelefilms.com/pdf/quaterlyreports/fy2022-23/MDA-Q12023%20Final.pdf)\n5. [Apharan, One Life Studios](https://onelifestudios.in/portfolio/apharan/)\n6. [Apharan (TV Series 2018– ), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8392006/)\n7. [Apharan - watch tv show streaming online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/in/tv-show/apharan)\n8. [Balaji Telefilms BSE announcement, 20 May 2022 (Business Standard)](https://bsmedia.business-standard.com/_media/bs/data/announcements/bse/20052022/3f019087-d754-4ea8-a2fd-f76726def243.pdf)\n9. [Hindi Web Series Apharan Season 1, Nettv4u](https://nettv4u.com/about/hindi/web-series/apharan-season-1)\n10. [Apharan trailer launched, ALTBalaji web series starts streaming from 14 December, The Statesman](https://www.thestatesman.com/entertainment/apharan-trailer-launched-altbalaji-web-series-starts-streaming-14-december-1502714284.html/amp)\n11. [AltBalaji's 'Apharan' gears up for season 2, Mumbai Live](https://www.mumbailive.com/en/digital/altbalaji-announces-season-2-of-thriller-show-apaharan-38268)\n12. [Apharan Season 2 review, The Times of India](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/web-series/reviews/hindi/apharan/seriesreview/90217708.cms)\n\n---\n*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 › Premiered 2003 to 2020*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/apharan", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/apharan.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Apharan\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/apharan. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Apharan](https://www.edgepedia.org/apharan)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/apharan](https://www.edgepedia.org/apharan). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Apharan\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/apharan. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Apharan is a 2018 Indian Hindi crime thriller web series created by Sidharth Sengupta for ALTBalaji, starring Arunoday Singh as Uttarakhand inspector Rudra Srivastava; 12-episode season 1 premiered 14 December 2018, with season 2, Apharan 2: Sabka Katega, on Voot in March 2022." }