Renowned review aggregator portal Rotten Tomatoes had recently collated a humungous list of the best original Netflix series and shows streaming on the OTT platform across the globe. The list was compiled and ranked as per Rotten Tomatoes’ in-house Tomatometer score.
While there were many expected popular titles such as ‘Money Heist’, ‘Stranger Things’, ‘Cobra Kai’, ‘The Crown’, ‘Mindhunter’, ‘Narcos’, ‘Dark’, ‘Black Mirror’, and ‘Lupin’, etc., the list sprung a few surprise entries as well.
And when it comes to the inclusion of Netflix India’s original series in the list, just three titles were found (at the time of writing this article). These are ‘Ghoul’, ‘Bombay Begums’, and ‘Sacred Games’.
The star-studded crime thriller starring Saif Ali Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui – ‘Sacred Games’, which is the most high-profile Indian title on the list, is surprisingly the least rated Indian show and ranks behind ‘Ghoul’ and ‘Bombay Begums’. ‘Sacred Games’ is currently placed at 159th rank while ‘Ghoul’ and ‘Bombay Begums’ are at 105th and 145th ranks, respectively.
Noticeably, one Indian web series that is conspicuous by its absence on the Rotten Tomatoes list is Richie Mehta’s hard-hitting crime drama ‘Delhi Crime’ featuring Shefali Shah in the lead role. Incidentally, ‘Delhi Crime’ is the only Indian series to have won an International Emmy Award for ‘Outstanding Drama Series’.
Although ‘Delhi Crime’ boasts of an impressive 94% Tomatometer score and 93% audience score, however, still it didn’t make it to the coveted list. A possible reason for its exclusion is apparently because the series did not meet the criteria regarding the minimum number of specified reviews for the title. The show’s exclusion validates our disappointment regarding Indian series titles on this Rotten Tomatoes list.
On the brighter side, however, is the inclusion of the criminally underrated horror miniseries based on the titular Arab folklore monster – ‘Ghoul’. The show comprising three episodes was the second Netflix India original series after ‘Sacred Games’. It has secured the highest rank amongst the three Indian shows on the list.
Some segment of audiences might find the inclusion of Pooja Bhatt’s on-screen comeback ‘Bombay Begums’ surprising. Moreover, some other popular Netflix original series weren’t able to find a spot on this Rotten Tomatoes list. These include sports drama ‘Selection Day’, crime show ‘Jamtara – Sabka Number Ayega’, and Satyajit Ray’s adaptation anthology ‘Ray’.