General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Choona

Choona (Hindi for "lime powder", used in the phrase lagao choona, to swindle someone) is a 2023 Indian Hindi-language heist comedy-drama streaming television series created, written, and directed by Pushpendra Nath Misra for Netflix. Produced by Flying Saucer, it follows a group of misfits who plot a heist against Avinash Shukla, a ruthless yet superstitious politician who has wronged each of them.¹^•²

Key fact	Detail
Format	Limited series, 8 episodes, Hindi language, Netflix²
Release	Originally announced for 3 August 2023; premiered 29 September 2023¹^•³
Creator	Pushpendra Nath Misra (showrunner, director, writer); produced by Flying Saucer¹
Lead cast	Jimmy Shergill as Avinash Shukla; Aashim Gulati, Namit Das, Monika Panwar, Vikram Kochhar, Chandan Roy, Gyanendra Tripathi, Atul Srivastava, Niharika Lyra Dutt; Arshad Warsi as narrator¹^•⁴
Premise	Six ordinary people plot to steal 6 billion (600 crores) from the politician who ruined them⁵
Production scale	Almost 3 years of creation, 100 days of shooting across Mumbai and Lucknow, 1,200 VFX shots across 12 vendors⁵
Reception	IMDb 6.5/10 (2.1K votes); Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer 43% from 7 reviews⁶^•³

Spoilers

Premise

The series centers on Avinash Shukla, an all-powerful politician and power broker in a small town in North India, played by Jimmy Shergill. Six people he has wronged, an astrologer, a shape-shifting informer, a street goon (gully ka gunda), a demoted police officer, a once-successful contractor, and the resourceful mediator Bishnu, join forces to steal 6 billion (600 crores) of his ill-gotten money. Shukla's party office is guarded by armed men, more than a hundred workers, and CCTV cameras at every corner, and the plan is highly disorganized, so the heist's success depends on fate and astrology.⁷^•⁵

Astrology runs through the narrative: Shukla believes deeply in astrology and consults the stars on his political survival, and the theft is set in motion on the day of a solar eclipse in the final episodes.⁸^•² Misra described the world as "quintessentially Indian because of elements like astrology and jugaad" (improvised problem-solving), combined with the polish of an international thriller.⁷

Cast and characters

Jimmy Shergill plays Avinash Shukla, in his first Netflix project; he described the character as spiteful yet appealing, smart, savvy, and unpredictable. Aashim Gulati plays Yakub Ansari Sheikh, a local goon; Namit Das plays Triloki, a thief with a knack for jugaad; Vikram Kochhar plays the contractor J.P. Yadav, once formidable but struggling with alcoholism; Gyanendra Tripathi plays Baankey, whose career was ruined by Shukla; Chandan Roy plays Bishnu, Shukla's brother-in-law, who gives the gang access to his inner circle; Atul Srivastava plays the astrologer Pandit Ramacharya Upadhyay; and Monika Panwar (Bela) and Niharika Lyra Dutt (Jhumpa) play the leading female roles.¹^•⁴^•⁹ Arshad Warsi serves as the narrator, credited as the Voice of Author.⁴

Production

Creating the series took almost three years. Shooting ran for 100 days across Mumbai and Lucknow and passed through two waves of Covid-19, which halted the schedule after some cast members fell ill. The production was equipment-heavy to achieve a modern, stylish look, and coordinating the ensemble cast's schedules required numerous permutations.⁵^•¹⁰

Post-production proved trickier than the shoot: the series required 1,200 VFX shots distributed across 12 vendors. Composer Dhruv Ghanekar, who began work in 2021 during the pandemic, said the show initially had a more serious tonality and his task was to shift the music toward a lighter, action-based dramedy sound, mixing cinematic and local elements.⁵^•¹⁰ The crew included cinematographers Will Humphris and Aditya Kapur, editor Aarti Bajaj, production designer Sonali Bhatia, and casting director Mukesh Chhabra.⁵

Release

Netflix announced the series on 11 July 2023 with a premiere date of 3 August, and released the trailer on 25 July. The release was then postponed, and the eight episodes dropped on 29 September 2023.¹^•⁷^•³ Netflix India's series head Tanya Bami positioned it in a year of Indian originals including Rana Naidu, Scoop, Kohrra, Class, and Trial By Fire, noting audience appetite for heist titles such as Money Heist and Chor Nikal ke Bhaaga.⁷

Reception

Critical response was mixed. The Times of India gave it 3.5 out of 5, calling it an "enthralling desi heist drama" and praising Shergill's portrayal of "Calculator Shukla" and the character development, while noting that some plot elements were placed too conveniently for the gang.⁹ Scroll.in called it "an impish caper with memorable characters".¹¹ Bollywood Bubble, by contrast, gave it 2 stars, finding the plot confusing, the astrology element complicating the story, and the pacing slow, with the heist spread over several episodes rather than delivered in one sequence.¹² On aggregate measures, the series holds an IMDb rating of 6.5/10 from about 2,100 votes and a 43% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes from 7 reviews.⁶^•³

The series received two SWA (Screenwriters Association) nominations, for its dialogues and its screenplay.⁵ Netflix lists it as a limited series, and no second season has been announced.²

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › South and Southeast Asian serials › Hindi serials and Indian Hindi-language dramas › Comedy serials and sitcoms

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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