{ "id": "epnn6yre4e", "slug": "avrodh-the-siege-within", "title": "Avrodh the Siege Within", "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": "Avrodh: The Siege Within (अवरोध) is a SonyLIV Hindi war thriller series (2020–2022) directed by Raj Acharya, adapting Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh's India's Most Fearless books; season 1 dramatizes the 2016 Uri attack and surgical strike, season 2 a counterfeit-currency plot.", "snippet": "Avrodh: The Siege Within (अवरोध) is a SonyLIV Hindi war thriller series (2020–2022) directed by Raj Acharya, adapting Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh's India's Most Fearless books; season 1 dramatizes the 2016 Uri attack and surgical strike, season 2 a counterfeit-currency plot.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native.indian_southasian_webseries.yr-2003-2020", "markdown": "# Avrodh the Siege Within\n\n**Avrodh: The Siege Within** (अवरोध) is an Indian Hindi-language war thriller streaming television series that dramatizes the 2016 Uri attack and the surgical strike carried out by the [Indian Army](https://www.edgepedia.org/indian-army) ten days later. Directed by Raj Acharya and presented by Applause Entertainment, its first season premiered on SonyLIV on 31 July 2020[1](https://www.iradaentertainment.com/avrodh.html). The series is adapted from the book *India's Most Fearless* by military journalists Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh[2](https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/entertainment/ott/story/avrodh-the-siege-within-review-neeraj-kabi-amit-sadh-go-back-to-uri-2016-in-new-series-1706071-2020-07-30).\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Format | Hindi scripted web series, 2 seasons of 9 episodes each (18 total), average runtime about 37 minutes, streamed on SonyLIV from 2020 to 2022[3](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/50461/avrodh) |\n| Season 1 subject | The 18 September 2016 Uri attack, in which four militants killed 19 soldiers at an army brigade headquarters, and the surgical strike launched 10 days later[1](https://www.iradaentertainment.com/avrodh.html) |\n| Source material | Season 1 adapts the chapter \"We Don't Really Know Fear\" from *India's Most Fearless* by Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh, with creative liberties[2](https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/entertainment/ott/story/avrodh-the-siege-within-review-neeraj-kabi-amit-sadh-go-back-to-uri-2016-in-new-series-1706071-2020-07-30) |\n| Lead cast | Amit Sadh as Major Videep Singh, Neeraj Kabi as the National Security Advisor (Shailesh Malviya), Darshan Kumaar, Madhurima Tuli, Vikram Gokhale, and Anil George[4](https://www.justwatch.com/in/tv-show/avrodh-the-siege-within) |\n| Season 2 subject | A fictionalized retelling of the chapter \"Just tell me when to begin Sir\" from *India's Most Fearless 2*, following a plot to destabilize India with counterfeit currency[5](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/web-series/web-series-details/hindi/avrodh-the-siege-within/season-2/seasonshow/92355802.cms) |\n| Reception | IMDb rating of 7.7/10 from about 4,800 votes; critical responses ranged from 2 stars (NDTV) to 3.5 out of 5 (The Times of India)[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12392458/) • [7](https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/avrodh-review-amit-sadh-is-solid-but-hobbled-by-dreary-narrative-2-stars-out-of-5-2271402) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Premise and source material\n\nSeason 1 opens before the Uri attack and builds toward the retaliation. On 18 September 2016, four militants attacked the Indian Army brigade headquarters at Uri in Kashmir, killing 19 soldiers; ten days later, [Indian Special Forces](https://www.edgepedia.org/special-forces-of-india) struck militant camps across the [Line of Control](https://www.edgepedia.org/line-of-control) (LoC)[1](https://www.iradaentertainment.com/avrodh.html). The series traces the intelligence gathering, the closed-door meetings between the Prime Minister and other leaders, and the planning that led to the government's decision to retaliate with surgical strikes on terrorist launch pads[8](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/avrodh-review-amit-sadh-neeraj-kabi-sonyliv-6531321/).\n\nThe adaptation draws on the chapter \"We Don't Really Know Fear\" from *India's Most Fearless*, a book of first-hand accounts of modern Indian military heroes by Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh; the makers took creative liberties in expanding one chapter into a full season[2](https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/entertainment/ott/story/avrodh-the-siege-within-review-neeraj-kabi-amit-sadh-go-back-to-uri-2016-in-new-series-1706071-2020-07-30). Producer Samar Khan of Juggernaut Productions said the series was initially planned as ten episodes and was first titled \"10 Days\", covering the period from the Uri attack to the strike; the scripting process took eight to nine months[9](https://test.indiantelevision.com/content/juggernaut-productions-samar-khan-shares-his-untold-experience-in-making-avrodh-the-siege-within/).\n\n### Season 2\n\nA second season premiered in June 2022, again directed by Raj Acharya and written by Brijesh Jayrajan and Sudeep Nigam[11](https://scroll.in/reel/1026793/avrodh-season-2-the-plot-has-changed-but-the-strategy-is-familiar"). It adapts the chapter \"Just tell me when to begin Sir\" from the follow-up book *India's Most Fearless 2* and follows Pradeep Bhattacharya, an Additional Income Tax Officer who is also a Captain in the Indian Army, as he decodes an elaborate siege planned against the country[5](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/web-series/web-series-details/hindi/avrodh-the-siege-within/season-2/seasonshow/92355802.cms). The plot centers on an attempt to destabilize India's economy through a massive influx of counterfeit currency, and [Abir Chatterjee](https://www.edgepedia.org/abir-chatterjee) leads the new cast[11](https://scroll.in/reel/1026793/avrodh-season-2-the-plot-has-changed-but-the-strategy-is-familiar"). The two seasons share no storyline or characters and can be watched independently[5](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/web-series/web-series-details/hindi/avrodh-the-siege-within/season-2/seasonshow/92355802.cms).\n\n## Structure and characters\n\nThe nine-episode first season spends seven episodes on how the operation was built, showing the strike itself only in the final two episodes[2](https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/entertainment/ott/story/avrodh-the-siege-within-review-neeraj-kabi-amit-sadh-go-back-to-uri-2016-in-new-series-1706071-2020-07-30). [Amit Sadh](https://www.edgepedia.org/amit-sadh) plays Major Videep Singh, a special task officer who, in the series' telling, has spent a decade of his 13 service years in [Jammu and Kashmir](https://www.edgepedia.org/jammu-and-kashmir) and taken part in 20 successful anti-terror operations, making him the officer chosen to plan the strike and select his men[2](https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/entertainment/ott/story/avrodh-the-siege-within-review-neeraj-kabi-amit-sadh-go-back-to-uri-2016-in-new-series-1706071-2020-07-30). Darshan Kumaar plays Major Raunaq Gautam, and Pavail Gulati appears as Major Sood[4](https://www.justwatch.com/in/tv-show/avrodh-the-siege-within) • [10](https://www.peepingmoon.com/index.php/webcast-reviews/news/47333/Avrodh-The-Siege-Within-Review-Amit-Sadh-and-Darshan-Kumaar-lead-from-the-front-in-this-adrenaline-pumping-retelling-of-URI-surgical-strike.html).\n\n**Political and antagonist threads.** [Neeraj Kabi](https://www.edgepedia.org/neeraj-kabi) plays the National Security Advisor, and [Vikram Gokhale](https://www.edgepedia.org/vikram-gokhale) plays the Prime Minister modeled on [Narendra Modi](https://www.edgepedia.org/narendra-modi)[8](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/avrodh-review-amit-sadh-neeraj-kabi-sonyliv-6531321/). Anil George plays Abu Hafiz, a Jaish-e-Mohammed leader; through his sequences the show depicts how the outfit recruits young schoolboys in the name of religion[8](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/avrodh-review-amit-sadh-neeraj-kabi-sonyliv-6531321/). Madhurima Tuli plays journalist Namrata Joshi, a role the Indian Express review called half-baked[8](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/avrodh-review-amit-sadh-neeraj-kabi-sonyliv-6531321/).\n\n## Production and release\n\nApplause [Entertainment](https://www.edgepedia.org/entertainment) presented the series, with Samar Khan, Sameer Nair, Deepak Segal, and Aditya Pittie producing; cinematography was by Shanu Singh Rajput[12](https://pro.imdb.com/title/tt12392458/). Khan brought in Raj Acharya, director of the film *Neerja*, to direct, and Amit Sadh was the first choice for the lead[9](https://test.indiantelevision.com/content/juggernaut-productions-samar-khan-shares-his-untold-experience-in-making-avrodh-the-siege-within/). Season 1 began streaming on SonyLIV on 31 July 2020, about a year and a half after the theatrical film *Uri: The Surgical Strike* (January 2019) covered the same event[1](https://www.iradaentertainment.com/avrodh.html) • [7](https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/avrodh-review-amit-sadh-is-solid-but-hobbled-by-dreary-narrative-2-stars-out-of-5-2271402). The series ran until 2022, ending after two seasons[3](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/50461/avrodh).\n\n## Reception\n\nCritical responses differed mainly on pacing and tone. [The Indian Express](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-indian-express) called it an interesting retelling without jingoistic dialogues, praising Sadh and Kabi while noting that the action arrives only toward the end[8](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/avrodh-review-amit-sadh-neeraj-kabi-sonyliv-6531321/). The Times of India gave the first season 3.5 out of 5, calling it a gripping watch[13](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/web-series/reviews/hindi/avrodh-the-siege-within/seasonreview/76889922.cms), and PeepingMoon also rated it 3.5, highlighting the more in-depth analysis of how the strike was carried out compared with the film[10](https://www.peepingmoon.com/index.php/webcast-reviews/news/47333/Avrodh-The-Siege-Within-Review-Amit-Sadh-and-Darshan-Kumaar-lead-from-the-front-in-this-adrenaline-pumping-retelling-of-URI-surgical-strike.html). NDTV gave 2 stars out of 5, finding the narrative dreary and mechanical[7](https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/avrodh-review-amit-sadh-is-solid-but-hobbled-by-dreary-narrative-2-stars-out-of-5-2271402). On IMDb the series holds a 7.7/10 rating from about 4,800 users[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12392458/).\n\n## References\n\n1. [Avrodh – the siege within, Irada Entertainment](https://www.iradaentertainment.com/avrodh.html)\n2. [Avrodh The Siege Within Review: Neeraj Kabi, Amit Sadh go back to Uri 2016 in new series, India Today](https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/entertainment/ott/story/avrodh-the-siege-within-review-neeraj-kabi-amit-sadh-go-back-to-uri-2016-in-new-series-1706071-2020-07-30)\n3. [Avrodh, TVmaze](https://www.tvmaze.com/shows/50461/avrodh)\n4. [Avrodh: The Siege Within streaming online, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/in/tv-show/avrodh-the-siege-within)\n5. [Avrodh: The Siege Within Season 2, The Times of India (ETimes)](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/web-series/web-series-details/hindi/avrodh-the-siege-within/season-2/seasonshow/92355802.cms)\n6. [Avrodh: The Siege Within (TV Series 2020–2022), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt12392458/)\n7. [Avrodh Review: Amit Sadh Is Solid But Hobbled By Dreary Narrative, NDTV](https://www.ndtv.com/entertainment/avrodh-review-amit-sadh-is-solid-but-hobbled-by-dreary-narrative-2-stars-out-of-5-2271402)\n8. [Avrodh The Siege Within review, The Indian Express](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/avrodh-review-amit-sadh-neeraj-kabi-sonyliv-6531321/)\n9. [Juggernaut Productions' Samar Khan shares his untold experience in making Avrodh: The Siege Within, Indian Television](https://test.indiantelevision.com/content/juggernaut-productions-samar-khan-shares-his-untold-experience-in-making-avrodh-the-siege-within/)\n10. [Avrodh: The Siege Within Review, PeepingMoon](https://www.peepingmoon.com/index.php/webcast-reviews/news/47333/Avrodh-The-Siege-Within-Review-Amit-Sadh-and-Darshan-Kumaar-lead-from-the-front-in-this-adrenaline-pumping-retelling-of-URI-surgical-strike.html)\n11. ['Avrodh' season 2: A new plot and the same old strategy, Scroll.in](https://scroll.in/reel/1026793/avrodh-season-2-the-plot-has-changed-but-the-strategy-is-familiar")\n12. [Avrodh: The Siege Within, IMDbPro](https://pro.imdb.com/title/tt12392458/)\n13. [Avrodh The Siege Within Season 1 Review, The Times of India](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/web-series/reviews/hindi/avrodh-the-siege-within/seasonreview/76889922.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 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 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/avrodh-the-siege-within", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/avrodh-the-siege-within.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": "\"Avrodh the Siege Within\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/avrodh-the-siege-within. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Avrodh the Siege Within](https://www.edgepedia.org/avrodh-the-siege-within)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/avrodh-the-siege-within](https://www.edgepedia.org/avrodh-the-siege-within). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Avrodh the Siege Within\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/avrodh-the-siege-within. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Avrodh: The Siege Within is a SonyLIV Hindi war thriller series directed by Raj Acharya, adapting Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh's India's Most Fearless books; season 1 dramatizes the 2016 Uri attack and surgical strike, season 2 a counterfeit-currency plot." }