In 2025, the streaming war reached an all-time high, but with high volume came high-profile disasters. While some shows pushed the envelope, others collapsed under the weight of poor execution, creative burnout, or, in one special case, a literal soulless technological experiment.
Here are the top 5 most disappointing OTT titles of 2025 that left viewers reaching for the exit button.
1. Mahabharat: Ek Dharmayudh (JioHotstar)
JioHotstar hailed this one as India’s first grand-scale mythological epic created entirely by AI, but it emerged as a serious creative crime against all forms of entertainment. While the visuals were lush, the characters were a complete laughing stock. Their dialogue delivery, expressions, and every physical, costume, and facial detail were relentlessly ridiculed by viewers.
Some even spotted a modern 20th-century bedside table with drawers sitting in the middle of ancient Hastinapur. This show was JioHotstar’s cheap, AI-generated attempt to recreate the magic of past adaptations of the epic mythological saga, even making Lord Krishna sound like a motivational YouTuber.
2. The Royals (Netflix)
Despite the eye-popping sets and Zeenat Aman’s grace, The Royals was panned for its lifeless script. The show was doomed from the moment its makers announced Ishaan Khatter and Bhumi Pednekar as the leading pair. Both are talented, but their chemistry looked way off. Or should we say there was no chemistry at all?
This was the kind of show you could leave playing in the background while doing chores, because the plot was too shallow and boring to demand full attention.
3. Do You Wanna Partner (Amazon Prime Video)
What could have been an intriguing and fun exploration of the craft beer industry turned into a mundane and hollow viewing experience. The biggest issue? By the time the series reached its end, its so-called “strong and independent” female leads had turned into nothing more than caricatures.
Many viewers found Shikha (played by Tamannaah Bhatia) toxic and manipulative, a character that was impossible to root for. On top of that, the male characters ended up looking more interesting than the female ones.
4. Hai Junoon (JioHotstar)
A mindless musical drama that struggled with its own ambition throughout its runtime. While it attempted to tackle heavy themes such as social media pressure and mental health, it lost connection with a large portion of the audience by getting entangled in far too many subplots.
Some of the musical performances were decent, but the narrative was so overcrowded that the emotional beats never landed properly.
5. Khakee: The Bengal Chapter (Netflix)
This was Neeraj Pandey’s follow-up to the blockbuster Khakee: The Bihar Chapter, set in the gritty underbelly of Kolkata. However, this chapter remained a formulaic mess that played things far too safely.
Unlike its predecessor, which was grounded in a true story, The Bengal Chapter was entirely fictional and felt like a poorly rehashed version of familiar crime thrillers. It borrowed heavily from titles like Mirzapur and others. Despite a stellar Bengali cast (Jeet, Prosenjit Chatterjee), the predictable twists and uninteresting slow-motion sequences made the season a hard watch for many viewers.
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