General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20264 min read

Nakaab

Nakaab is a 2021 Indian Hindi-language crime thriller web series directed by Soumik Sen, starring Esha Gupta, Mallika Sherawat, and Gautam Rode, that follows a police officer investigating the high-profile death of a television actress.¹ It premiered on the free Indian streaming platform MX Player on September 15, 2021, as an MX Originals production.²^•³

Key fact	Detail
Format	One season of eight episodes, each roughly 30 minutes⁴
Premiere	September 15, 2021, exclusively on MX Player¹
Languages	Hindi, Telugu, Tamil, and Marathi⁵
Lead cast	Esha Gupta as Aditi Amre, Mallika Sherawat as Zohra Mehra, Gautam Rode as Pawan Bisht, Ankita Chakraborty as Vibha Dutta⁴
Director	Soumik Sen, director of Gulaab Gang, for his digital debut¹
IMDb rating	4.0/10 based on 225 votes⁶
Streaming status	On MX Player from September 2021 to May 2025; unavailable to stream in India as of mid-2025⁷

Spoilers

Plot

The story begins with the death of actress Vibha Dutta, which initially appears to be a suicide. Sub-inspector Aditi Amre, played by Esha Gupta, suspects foul play and investigates with her senior officer Pawan Bisht, played by Gautam Rode.⁴ Their inquiry leads into the entertainment industry, where they encounter power struggles, deceit, and corruption, and the series explores themes of fame, manipulation, and the price of success.⁴

Mallika Sherawat plays Zohra Mehra, a powerful television producer described in promotion as "the real queen of television," who comes under scrutiny because of her closeness to the deceased star and her behavior after the death.¹ The trailer hinted at criminal lords, drug mafia leaders, and human traffickers in the story.¹ As the investigation proceeds, Aditi discovers secrets Vibha hid behind her public profile, and the series poses the question of whether the death was a suicide or a murder.³

Episodes

The eight episodes of season 1 carry these titles, with runtimes between 27 and 34 minutes:³

"Murder Or Suicide?"
"Truth Is Stranger Than Fiction"
"#JusticeForVibha"
"The Search For Truth"
"Exxtacy"
"Will She Or Will She Not?"
"Two Lies & A Truth"
"A New Beginning"

In the middle of the season, the police close the official investigation and a media trial begins; Aditi and Pawan then investigate off the record and find that Vibha was involved in an underground syndicate, with Zohra and a figure named Vardhe identified as the kingpins of the nexus.³

Cast and production

The principal cast pairs the actors with their roles as follows: Esha Gupta as Aditi Amre, Mallika Sherawat as Zohra Mehra, Gautam Rode as Pawan Bisht, Ankita Chakraborty as Vibha Dutta, and Chandra Shekhar Dutta as Vinod Amre.² Supporting roles include Rohini Chatterjee as a News 365 anchor and Rohit Basfore as Shravan Kumar.⁴

Production background. Soumik Sen, previously known for directing Gulaab Gang, made his digital debut with the series, and it was the first screen collaboration between Sen, Sherawat, Rode, and Gupta.¹^•⁸ For Sherawat it was her second web series after ALTBalaji's 2019 horror-comedy Boo Sabki Phategi, and for Gupta her second after the 2020 Zee5 mystery thriller RejectX.⁸ The series was produced under the MX Originals label.³

Release and availability

The trailer was released on YouTube in early September 2021, and the series premiered exclusively on MX Player on September 15, 2021.⁸^•¹ MX Player offered the series free with ads, and dubbed it into Telugu, Tamil, and Marathi in addition to the Hindi original.⁴^•⁵

The series remained on MX Player from September 2021 until May 2025, after which it became unavailable to stream in India.⁷

Reception

On IMDb the series holds a rating of 4.0 out of 10 from 225 votes.⁶ A review in the Hindi outlet The Lallantop described the show as claiming to depict how the Mumbai film industry works, and placed it within the typical mold of MX Player web series.⁹ Ottplay's review of the trailer called it "a run-of-the-mill crime thriller."⁸

Similar titles

The name Nakaab (from the Hindi and Urdu word for a veil or mask) is shared by unrelated shows that should not be confused with it. Naqaab (2023) is a Hindi romance series on the PrimePlay platform starring Alok A Nath Pathak and Tarakesh Chauhan.¹⁰ Naqaab (2025) is a Pakistani Urdu-language drama on ARY Digital starring Ali Ansari, Hina Tariq, and Ghana Ali, about a businessman named Taimoor whose marriage and family tensions unravel when secrets emerge.¹¹

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 › South Asian web serials

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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