{ "id": "ep81773d10", "slug": "murder-in-the-hills", "title": "Murder in the Hills", "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-2021-2025", "label": "Premiered 2021 to 2025", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native.indian_southasian_webseries.yr-2021-2025" } ], "geo": [ { "id": "geo.ind.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native", "label": "India · 2021 and later: Web-native and streaming-original series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t2021.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.t2021", "label": "India · 2021 and later", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t2021" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t2021.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t2021.culture" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t2021.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t2021.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t2021.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t2021.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series", "label": "Series and fictional screen worlds", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted", "label": "Unscripted, reality, and web-native series", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.ind.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_unscripted" }, { "id": "geo.ind.t2021.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.t2021.culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Murder in the Hills (মার্ডার ইন দ্য হিলস) is a 2021 Bengali-language mystery thriller web series on Hoichoi, Anjan Dutt's first web series, in which journalist Amitabha investigates retired film star Tony Roy's death in Darjeeling.", "snippet": "Murder in the Hills (মার্ডার ইন দ্য হিলস) is a 2021 Bengali-language mystery thriller web series on Hoichoi, Anjan Dutt's first web series, in which journalist Amitabha investigates retired film star Tony Roy's death in Darjeeling.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.series.series_web_native.indian_southasian_webseries.yr-2021-2025", "markdown": "# Murder in the Hills\n\n**Murder in the Hills** (মার্ডার ইন দ্য হিলস) is a 2021 Bengali-language mystery thriller web series directed by Anjan Dutt and released on the Hoichoi streaming platform, in which the death of a retired film star in [Darjeeling](https://www.edgepedia.org/darjeeling) draws an investigative journalist into the town's hidden past[1](https://hoichoi.tv/shows/watch-murder-in-the-hills-bengali-web-series-online) • [2](https://svf.in/news/murder-in-the-hills-trailer-anjan-dutt-is-driving-force-in-thriller-set-in-underbelly-of-darjeeling/). It is Dutt's first web series, produced by SVF Entertainment with music by Neel Dutt[2](https://svf.in/news/murder-in-the-hills-trailer-anjan-dutt-is-driving-force-in-thriller-set-in-underbelly-of-darjeeling/) • [3](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wxxU401N3w).\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Platform and premiere | Hoichoi, from 23 July 2021[2](https://svf.in/news/murder-in-the-hills-trailer-anjan-dutt-is-driving-force-in-thriller-set-in-underbelly-of-darjeeling/) |\n| Format | One season of eight episodes, roughly 23 to 36 minutes each[1](https://hoichoi.tv/shows/watch-murder-in-the-hills-bengali-web-series-online) |\n| Creator | Anjan Dutt, his debut web series; music by Neel Dutt[2](https://svf.in/news/murder-in-the-hills-trailer-anjan-dutt-is-driving-force-in-thriller-set-in-underbelly-of-darjeeling/) • [3](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wxxU401N3w) |\n| Setting | Darjeeling, shown through its alleys, bazaars and slums rather than its tourist scenery[2](https://svf.in/news/murder-in-the-hills-trailer-anjan-dutt-is-driving-force-in-thriller-set-in-underbelly-of-darjeeling/) |\n| Main cast | Arjun Chakrabarty, Anindita Bose, Sourav Chakraborty, Rajdeep Gupta, Sandipta Sen, Suprobhat Das, Rajat Ganguly, with Anjan Dutt as the star Tony Roy[1](https://hoichoi.tv/shows/watch-murder-in-the-hills-bengali-web-series-online) |\n| Audience rating | 6.1/10 on IMDb from about 644 votes[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14994366/ratings/) |\n| Languages | Bengali original, with a Hindi-dubbed version also distributed[5](https://www.jiotv.com/tv-shows/murder-in-the-hills--hindi-/747698f7d98854cb90c42848d686ba4d) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Premise\n\nThe series opens at the 66th birthday party of Tony Roy, a retired superstar of Bengali cinema living in Darjeeling, where he collapses and dies in what appears to be a natural death[1](https://hoichoi.tv/shows/watch-murder-in-the-hills-bengali-web-series-online). The tagline used across platforms describes how this death threatens to expose the dark past of the hill station, with the Apple TV listing specifying the dark past of six individuals[6](https://tv.apple.com/in/show/murder-in-the-hills/umc.cmc.7cseov991gh6sawxbx51hc7w7).\n\nAmitabha, a journalist invited to the party by his girlfriend, grows suspicious that Roy's death was murder[7](https://letterboxd.com/amartya/film/murder-in-the-hills/). His investigation begins with a diary found at Sheela's place that reveals a dark chapter of Roy's life, and continues through interviews with filmmaker Bijoy Mukherjee, a photograph at Dr. Neema's clinic, and a clue at the home of DSP Subhankar Banerjee[8](https://www.bioscopelive.com/series/murder-in-the-hills). The final episode, \"Ultimate Truth\", brings Amitabha to Roy's villa, where he finds himself surrounded by all of Roy's supposed friends[1](https://hoichoi.tv/shows/watch-murder-in-the-hills-bengali-web-series-online).\n\n### Episodes\n\nThe eight episodes are titled Birthday Party, Secret Diary, Dangerous Bob, Kidnap, Mysterious Cellphone, Suspicious Sheela, Showdown, and Ultimate Truth[1](https://hoichoi.tv/shows/watch-murder-in-the-hills-bengali-web-series-online). Their runtimes run from 23 minutes for Suspicious Sheela to 36 minutes for the finale[1](https://hoichoi.tv/shows/watch-murder-in-the-hills-bengali-web-series-online).\n\n### Cast and characters\n\nThe series uses a young ensemble cast assembled by Dutt and his production team[9](https://svf.in/news/murder-in-the-hills-exposes-the-underbelly-of-darjeeling/). Arjun Chakrabarty plays the journalist who investigates the death; Rajdeep Gupta plays a police officer who abuses his power and intimidates people; Anindita Bose plays a local teacher with a complex relationship to the journalist and to a football coach played by Suprobhat Das; Sandipta Sen plays the local doctor; Sourav Chakraborty plays a filmmaker and Rajat Ganguly a writer[2](https://svf.in/news/murder-in-the-hills-trailer-anjan-dutt-is-driving-force-in-thriller-set-in-underbelly-of-darjeeling/). Dutt himself portrays the star Tony Roy, with Suhotra Mukhopadhyay playing the young Tony[10](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/web-series/reviews/bengali/murder-in-the-hills/seriesreview/84749818.cms) • [11](https://www.digit.in/digit-binge/shows/murder-in-the-hills-741942.html).\n\nReviewers singled out individual performances: Anindita Bose as Sheela and Suprobhat Das as Bob drew particular praise from a [Letterboxd](https://www.edgepedia.org/letterboxd) review, which also credited the ensemble as a whole and noted the background score of indie rock and rap songs[7](https://letterboxd.com/amartya/film/murder-in-the-hills/).\n\n## Production and setting\n\n**Darjeeling as a lived-in space.** Dutt, for whom Darjeeling was once home, wrote that the series deliberately treats the town not as a touristy location but as a lived-in space, with characters who are real and contemporary[12](https://www.telegraphindia.com/entertainment/why-darjeeling-is-perfect-for-murder-in-the-hills/cid/1823296). He described how, in the underbelly of a beautiful tourist location, lie death, deceit, scandal, and suspense[12](https://www.telegraphindia.com/entertainment/why-darjeeling-is-perfect-for-murder-in-the-hills/cid/1823296). The trailer coverage in Cinestaan made the same point, noting that the series does not highlight the gorgeousness of the hill station but works through murky alleys and crowded colonies, the hideouts of criminals in the town[2](https://svf.in/news/murder-in-the-hills-trailer-anjan-dutt-is-driving-force-in-thriller-set-in-underbelly-of-darjeeling/).\n\nThe shoot took place on real locations, including houses, balconies, terraces, the bazar, slums, and back alleys. Dutt wrote that many sequences were planned with Season 2 in mind, imagining how the characters and locations would look a year later, and that he had created characters he was prepared to live with for over a year[12](https://www.telegraphindia.com/entertainment/why-darjeeling-is-perfect-for-murder-in-the-hills/cid/1823296).\n\n## Reception\n\nThe series holds a 6.1/10 rating on IMDb, weighted from about 644 user votes with an unweighted mean of 6.3; episode-level ratings ranged from 6.9 to 7.4, peaking at 7.4 for \"Showdown\" and 7.3 for the finale[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14994366/ratings/). The Times of India gave season 1 a critic rating of 2.5[10](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/web-series/reviews/bengali/murder-in-the-hills/seriesreview/84749818.cms). A Leisurebyte review credited the acting, especially Arjun Chakrabarty, Sandipta Sen, and Anindita Bose, but judged the series to lag from glacial pacing, with unnecessary or overlong scenes in the middles of episodes, and found the final revelation unsurprising; the reviewer suggested it would have worked better as five or six episodes[13](https://leisurebyte.com/hoichoi-murder-in-the-hills-review/).\n\n## References\n\n1. [Murder in the Hills, Hoichoi series page](https://hoichoi.tv/shows/watch-murder-in-the-hills-bengali-web-series-online)\n2. [Murder In The Hills trailer: Anjan Dutt is driving force in thriller set in underbelly of Darjeeling, Cinestaan via SVF](https://svf.in/news/murder-in-the-hills-trailer-anjan-dutt-is-driving-force-in-thriller-set-in-underbelly-of-darjeeling/)\n3. [Murder In The Hills Official Trailer, Hoichoi on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wxxU401N3w)\n4. [Murder in the Hills Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14994366/ratings/)\n5. [Murder In The Hills (Hindi), JioTV](https://www.jiotv.com/tv-shows/murder-in-the-hills--hindi-/747698f7d98854cb90c42848d686ba4d)\n6. [Murder In The Hills, Apple TV](https://tv.apple.com/in/show/murder-in-the-hills/umc.cmc.7cseov991gh6sawxbx51hc7w7)\n7. [Review by Amartya Acharya, Letterboxd](https://letterboxd.com/amartya/film/murder-in-the-hills/)\n8. [Murder in the Hills, Bioscopelive](https://www.bioscopelive.com/series/murder-in-the-hills)\n9. [Murder In The Hills exposes the underbelly of Darjeeling, SVF](https://svf.in/news/murder-in-the-hills-exposes-the-underbelly-of-darjeeling/)\n10. [Murder In The Hills series review, The Times of India](https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/web-series/reviews/bengali/murder-in-the-hills/seriesreview/84749818.cms)\n11. [Murder in the Hills, Digit Binge](https://www.digit.in/digit-binge/shows/murder-in-the-hills-741942.html)\n12. [Why Darjeeling is perfect for Murder In The Hills, Anjan Dutt, The Telegraph India](https://www.telegraphindia.com/entertainment/why-darjeeling-is-perfect-for-murder-in-the-hills/cid/1823296)\n13. [Hoichoi's Murder in the Hills Review: Bogs Itself Down, Leisurebyte](https://leisurebyte.com/hoichoi-murder-in-the-hills-review/)\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 2021 to 2025*\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/murder-in-the-hills", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/murder-in-the-hills.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": "\"Murder in the Hills\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/murder-in-the-hills. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Murder in the Hills](https://www.edgepedia.org/murder-in-the-hills)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/murder-in-the-hills](https://www.edgepedia.org/murder-in-the-hills). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Murder in the Hills\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/murder-in-the-hills. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Murder in the Hills is a 2021 Bengali-language mystery thriller web series on Hoichoi, Anjan Dutt's first web series, in which journalist Amitabha investigates retired film star Tony Roy's death in Darjeeling." }