General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20264 min read

Puli Meka

Puli Meka (పులి మేక) is a 2023 Indian Telugu-language crime thriller web series streaming on ZEE5, in which a serial killer targets police officers in Hyderabad and a female police officer leading the Special Investigation Team works with a forensic expert to find the culprit.¹ It was directed by K. Chakravarthy Reddy, written by Kona Venkat, and produced by Kona Film Corporation together with ZEE5.²^•³

Key fact	Detail
Platform and languages	ZEE5 original, available in Telugu and Tamil with English subtitles⁴
Release	Season 1 of 8 episodes, all dated 23 February 2023 on ZEE5⁵
Episode length	Roughly 22 to 35 minutes each (E1 32 min, E2 25 min, E3 22 min, E4 30 min, E5 31 min, E6 35 min, E7 28 min, E8 35 min)⁵
Lead cast	Lavanya Tripathi as IPS officer Kiran Prabha; Aadi Saikumar as forensic expert Prabhakar Sharma²^•⁶
Key crew	Director K. Chakravarthy Reddy; writer and producer Kona Venkat; music Praveen Lakkaraju; cinematography Ram K. Mahesh²^•³
Audience rating	6.3 on IMDb (about 320 votes); UA16+ age rating⁷
Viewership milestone	ZEE5 announced the series crossed 100 million streaming minutes on the platform⁸

Spoilers

Premise and story

The series is a murder mystery set in Hyderabad, where a serial killer is targeting police officers.¹ The police commissioner, Anurag Narayan, assigns officer Kiran Prabha to the case, and forensic expert Prabhakar Sharma is also appointed; the first episode, "The Hunt Begins", establishes this pairing.⁴ Kiran Prabha is written as an IPS officer with a master's degree in criminal psychology who, as a trainee, caught a serial killer in Karimnagar within 48 hours.² How Prabhakar helps solve the mystery alongside Kiran Prabha forms the core of the story.⁶ Episode 5, "Kiran's Past", reveals the incidents that made her the vengeful officer she is.⁴

Cast and production

Lead roles. Lavanya Tripathi plays Kiran Prabha and Aadi Saikumar plays Prabhakar Sharma; the series marked the OTT debut of both actors.⁶ The supporting cast includes Suman as police commissioner Anurag Narayan, Raja Chembolu, Siri Hanumanthu, Goparaju Ramana, Spandana Palli, Mukku Avinash, and Sai Srinivas.⁴^•³^•⁹

Crew. Kona Venkat wrote the series and produced it under his Kona Film Corporation banner in partnership with ZEE5; Chakravarthy Reddy, previously the director of Gopichand's Pantham, directed.²^•³ Praveen Lakkaraju composed the music and Ram K. Mahesh handled cinematography.³

Release and promotion

The teaser was released by Ram Charan, and the series itself was launched on ZEE5 by Nani.¹⁰^•¹¹ All eight episodes of season 1 went up on ZEE5 on 23 February 2023.⁵ ZEE5 later announced that the series had achieved 100 million streaming minutes on the platform.⁸

Reception

Critical response. Reviews were mixed. 123telugu rated the series 2.75 out of 5, ABP Desam gave it 2.5 out of 5, and NTV Telugu gave it 3 out of 5.¹²^•²^•¹³ Gulte's review found Lavanya Tripathi convincing in her first cop role but criticized Kona Venkat's writing for adding a love story and family emotions that diluted the thriller element, and called Praveen Lakkaraju's music and background score ordinary.⁶ Andhra Jyothy's review described the series as interesting overall despite small flaws.³ TrackTollywood reported a good start with positive reviews and called Lavanya Tripathi's portrayal of the IPS officer the highlight of the show.¹⁴

Audience ratings. The series holds a 6.3 rating on IMDb from roughly 320 user votes, with a UA16+ age rating and a listed runtime of about 30 minutes per episode.⁷

Availability

The series streams on ZEE5, and in India it is also available through VI movies and tv, including free-with-ads options on both services.⁷ In India it can also be watched on Airtel Xstream Play via ZEE5, depending on the user's Airtel plan and subscription access.¹⁵

References

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

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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