The Best Regional-Language Web Series in India: Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and Bengali Shows Worth Your Time

Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay's detective Byomkesh Bakshi, investigating crimes in 1930s Calcutta, has been filmed many times; Hoichoi's version stars Anirban Bhattacharya and has run to several seasons. It is the easiest way into Bengali streaming.

Anirban Bhattacharya's debut as a director is a loose adaptation of Macbeth set in Geilpur, a fishing village on the Bengal coast. Debasish Mondal plays Mandaar, the Macbeth figure, Sohini Sarkar plays his wife Laili, and Bhattacharya himself plays a corrupt policeman. Five episodes, and the first title in Hoichoi's adaptations of world literature.

Created by Pushkar and Gayathri, who made Vikram Vedha, this thriller follows the investigation into a missing teenage girl in a small Tamil Nadu town during a local festival, with Kathir as a sub-inspector and Aishwarya Rajesh as the girl's sister. It has since returned for further seasons.

Andrew Louis directed this murder mystery, produced by Pushkar and Gayathri, in which S. J. Suryah, in his streaming debut, plays a police officer investigating the killing of a young woman named Velonie, while rumours about her life threaten to bury the truth. Eight episodes.

Muthu Kumar's series follows Tamizhselvi, played by Abi Nakshathra, a girl in the village of Veerappannai who wants to become a doctor in a place whose old customs hold women back. It is a coming-of-age story with a social argument.

Created by Mahi V. Raghav and Pradeep Advaitham, this comedy follows three frustrated husbands, played by Priyadarshi, Abhinav Gomatam and Chaitanya Krishna, whose complaints about their marriages set off a chain of mishaps. It has run to three seasons, and it is the pick here for something light.

Disney+ Hotstar's first Malayalam web series. Directed by Ahammed Khabeer and written by Ashiq Aimar, it follows the police investigation into a sex worker's murder at a lodge, where the only lead is a fake address. Aju Varghese and Lal lead. Its procedural detail is in the tradition of Malayalam police films, and it has returned for a second season.

Sreejith N's five-episode comedy stars Nithya Menen and Sharafudheen as a married couple whose quarrel becomes a full family crisis once both sets of parents arrive to help. Short, sharp and the easiest watch on this list.

Vikram K. Kumar, who made 13B, directed Naga Chaitanya's first streaming series. He plays a journalist who finds newspaper clippings that predict deaths before they happen, and becomes a murder suspect himself. Parvathy Thiruvothu, Priya Bhavani Shankar and Prachi Desai co-star in eight episodes of supernatural suspense.

J. S. Nandhini's series casts Naveen Chandra as a sceptical crime-branch inspector investigating killings that look supernatural. It sits between police procedural and horror, and it suits viewers who liked Dhootha.

Directed by Rahul Riji Nair, who produced Kerala Crime Files, this satire stars Saiju Kurup as a manipulative deputy tahsildar whose scheme to protect his job backfires on the whole office. Suhasini Maniratnam co-stars. Six episodes about how a government office actually works.

A period mystery set in the 1970s in Amaragiri, a village struck by a plague that wipes people's memories. Naresh Agastya plays the detective, Rama Krishna, sent to find the cause. Six episodes.

Two young children take their strict father's motorbike for a joyride and get lost, and the five episodes follow both the children and the parents searching for them. Kishore plays the father. A small family drama, and the one on this list to watch with children.