# Paatal Lok (2020)

> A down-and-out Delhi cop chases a journalist's assassination plot into a criminal underworld that exposes the rot beneath the city.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/86299

## Facts

- Seasons: 2
- Episodes: 17
- Episode runtime: 45 min
- Status: Returning Series
- Genres: crime, drama, thriller
- Created by: Sudip Sharma
- Network: Prime Video
- Cast: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Tillotama Shome, Neeraj Kabi, Gul Panag, Nagesh Kukunoor, Jahnu Barua, Swastika Mukherjee
- TMDB rating: 8.1/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9680440/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: strong
- Complexity: dense
- Violence: brutal
- Tone: gritty, tense, bleak, morally grey

## What critics say

Audience reception is positive, with the first season rated lower than the second, and the series is valued for its gritty crime thriller craft and dark social commentary.

## Synopsis

Paatal Lok (2020-2025) is an Indian crime drama series created by Sudip Sharma for Prime Video. Jaideep Ahlawat plays Hathi Ram Chaudhary, a down-and-out police officer whose life is rebuilt when he is handed the case of a lifetime: four suspects arrested in the assassination attempt on a prime time television journalist. Ishwak Singh plays Imran Ansari, one of the suspects, and Neeraj Kabi and Tillotama Shome appear among the principal players whose lives tangle with the investigation. Each episode pushes deeper into a case that refuses to stay simple, as Hathi Ram follows leads through street-level crime, political pressure and the hidden criminal netherworld the title names. The show moves through a two-season arc, with backstory chapters that reveal how each suspect became who they are. Its tone is gritty, tense and morally unsettled, with a bleak urban palette and an atmosphere of dread around corrupt institutions. Fans of Sacred Games, True Detective and Gomorrah will find resonance in its layered conspiracy, its unvarnished look at India's criminal underworld and its unflinching portrait of a flawed detective.

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