# Aspirants (2021)

> Three friends chase the UPSC civil services exam in Delhi's coaching district, and their friendship is shaped by the struggle and its aftermath.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/103303

## Facts

- Seasons: 3
- Episodes: 15
- Episode runtime: 46 min
- Status: Returning Series
- Genres: drama, comedy
- Created by: Arunabh Kumar, Shreyansh Pandey, Deepesh Sumitra Jagdish
- Network: YouTube, Prime Video, TVFPlay 
- Cast: Naveen Kasturia, Shivankit Singh Parihar, Abhilash Thapliyal, Sunny Hinduja, Namita Dubey, Jatin Goswami, Kuljeet Singh, Neeta Jhanjhi
- TMDB rating: 9.2/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14392248/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: mild
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: none
- Tone: wry, aspirational, melancholic, warm, humorous

## What critics say

Audiences broadly acclaim Aspirants for its grounded, relatable portrayal of UPSC exam preparation and the friendship at its core.

## Synopsis

Aspirants (2021-present) is an Indian Hindi-language web drama created by Arunabh Kumar, Shreyansh Pandey and Deepesh Sumitra Jagdish, produced by The Viral Fever and released on YouTube and Prime Video. Following three friends, Abhilash Sharma (Naveen Kasturia), the restless Guri (Shivankit Singh Parihar) and SK (Abhilash Thapliyal), the series follows their daily grind as UPSC civil services aspirants crammed into cramped rented rooms in Old Rajinder Nagar, Delhi. The engine is simple and relatable: the three want a government career badly, but money runs thin, study hours stretch endlessly, and each attempt at the exam puts their friendship under strain. Other principal figures include the coaching-circle regulars played by Sunny Hinduja as Sandeep and Namita Dubey as Dhairya. The show unfolds across alternating past and present timelines, with the past capturing the making of aspirants and the present examining the aftermath. Across three seasons of five episodes each, it has built a loyal following. Its tone is wry and aspirational, with gentle humor that gives way to quiet melancholy about ambition and uncertainty. Fans of Kota Factory, Little Things and Gully Boy will find resonance in its portrait of young strivers in urban India.

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- [TVF Pitchers (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/56115)
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- [The Bastards of Bollywood (2025)](https://ember.film/tv/162646)
- [Kota Factory (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/75628)
- [Humorously Yours (2016)](https://ember.film/tv/61043)
- [Hostel Daze (2019)](https://ember.film/tv/81373)

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