It is no secret that 2019 has been a great year for OTTs and the parent platforms that stepped forward to deliver some awe-inspiring content to the world. High praises, however, have been given to several Indian originals that dominated streaming platforms, garnering millions in views and appreciation.
Earlier last month, Amazon CEO, Jeff Bezos, revealed that the billion-dollar company’s streaming service, Amazon Prime has been doing incredibly well in India, compared to any other country. In addition, investments will pour in to elevate Prime’s economic standing and in turn bring more original content to its avid subscribers.
Similarly, Netflix India’s The Sky is Pink, Sacred Games, Bard of Blood have received critical acclaim. Zee5 and ALTBalaji, for that matter, are also prospering immaculately having phenomenal entertainers under their production belt. Amazon Prime Video India’s fan favourites like Inside Edge, Mirzapur and Hotstar’s Criminal Justice and more have also been deemed as excellent Indian web content.
With the aim to honour prodigious Indian web series’ that have evidently left a mark amongst viewers, Radio City and mid-day have come together to launch the Hitlist Web Awards. On its official website, Hitlist has stated that it will give kudos to the ‘sharpest scripts, inventive idea in the digital space’:
With the advent of key producers, big budgets of the notable global platforms and Bollywood’s leading men hopping on the bandwagon, the series game is getting bigger and better. Streaming apps have qualitatively broken new ground and become home for some of India’s most liberate works of art, uninhibited in their imagination and not bound by the shackles of censors.
Hitlist Web Awards
Basically, it will award the OTTS that killed it (metaphorically of course). The Hitlist Web Awards boast a total of 14 categories:
- Best Series
- Best New Seasons
- Best Adaptation (Book/Series)
- Best Non-Hindi Film on Web
- Best Creator/Show-runner
- Best Web Film
- Best Actor (Male)
- Best Actor (Female)
- Best Supporting Actor (Male)
- Best Supporting Actor (Female)
- Best Comedy (Series/Specials)
- Best Writing
- Best International Season
- Best International Show
The nominations under each of these categories have been curated based on public opinion and a judging panel comprising industry experts and content buffs. Among the nominations are widely well-received shows as Delhi Crime (Netflix India), Made in Heaven (Amazon India Prime Video), Kaafir (Zee5), Mom (ALTBalaji), etc.
Films produced in regional languages have been nominated under the ‘Best Non-Hindi Film on Web’ category. Furthermore, Manoj Bajpayee (The Family Man), Arjun Mathur (Made in Heaven), Nawazuddin Siddiqui (Sacred Games), Vikrant Massey (Criminal Justice), Vinay Pathak (Made in Heaven), Pankaj Tripathi (Criminal Justice) and more notable talents are up for Best Actor Male and Best Supporting Actor Male categories.
The Best Actor Female and Best Supporting Actor Female include names like Shobhita Dhulipala (Made in Heaven), Shwetha Tripathi Sharma (Laakhon Mein Ek), Shefali Shah (Delhi Crime), Dia Mirza (Kaafir), Rasika Duggal (Delhi Crime) and so on.
Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti (Made in Heaven); Vikramaditya Motwane (Sacred Games); Biswa Kalyan Rath (Laakhon Mein Ek) are among those nominated for Best Creator/Show-runner.
The results that emerge from the compiled public votes and the final decision of the jury will be crowned as winners. Voters may follow the link to the Hitlist Web Awards’ official website to cast their votes on the nominees that they deem worthy.
The Hitlist Web Awards ceremony will take place on March 19 in Mumbai.
Watch this space for more updates.
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