The 16 best Hindi TV shows to watch on Disney Plus Hotstar

Disney Plus Hotstar has a massive library of Hindi TV shows from all the Star TV channels you usually watch through cable TV. However, some of the best Hindi TV series on Hotstar are Hotstar Specials. Most of these TV shows are excellent, barring a few. We’ve listed the 17 best Hotstar Hindi shows in this article for your viewing pleasure.

Meanwhile, if you’re still not a member of Disney Plus Hotstar, we would definitely recommend you become one.

A yearly subscription for Disney Plus Hotstar starts at Rs 899/year for an ad-supported plan. A premium plan costs Rs 1,499 per year. You can also pay Rs 299/month for the premium plan. There’s also a mobile plan (ad-supported) for Rs 499/year and Rs 149/ 3 months. And it’s not just TV shows — there are dozens of movies in Hindi to watch on Disney Plus Hotstar, too. Click on the button below to subscribe.

The best Hindi TV series on Hotstar:

Editor’s note: We will keep adding to this list of the best Hindi TV shows on Hotstar as and when new ones launch.

1. Criminal Justice

Criminal Justice is a Hindi TV series on Hotstar with an ensemble cast made of of big Bollywood names like Jackie Shroff, Pankaj Tripathi, and Vikrant Massey. The thriller TV series follows almost the same plot as HBO’s The Night Of. It also shares its story with the first season of a 2008 BBC series named Criminal Justice. So in a sense, this is a Hindi remake of both of those shows. The Hotstar version of the TV series tells the story of Aditya (Vikrant Massey), a cab driver who has a one-night stand with his passenger Sanaya (Madhurima Roy). He spends the night at her place, but when he wakes up, he finds himself in a pool of her blood. Soon the cops pin Sanya’s murder on him, and it’s up to his lawyer Madhav Mishra (Pankaj Tripathi) to get him acquitted of the charges.

2. Special Ops

This is a Hindi espionage thriller on Hotstar that tells the story of a RAW agent (Kay Kay Menon) who believes that a single terrorist has perpetrated a series of terror attacks. However, he is under an official inquiry for his excessive use of government funds. The series unfolds as Menon describes how he selected and trained a number of special operatives to bring down the anarchist behind some of the biggest terrorist attacks in India and around the world. The eight-part show is a bit stretched, but Menon keeps the mood going and makes this an overall satisfactory watch.

3. Out Of Love

Out of Love is a two-season series on Hotstar based on BBC One’s Doctor Foster. It stars Purab Kohli and Rasika Dugal in the lead roles of husband and wife duo Meera and Akarsh. The two are happily married until Meera finds a woman’s hair on Akarsh’s scarf. She starts sleuthing around to figure out if Akarsh is having an affair with someone. When she finds out that he is indeed involved with another woman, she falls into chaos and makes several bad decisions, only to come to a point where she must decide between forgiving, forgetting, or fighting with her better half. The TV series is extremely engaging and will pull you in with its fantastic performances. You have two seasons of the show to go through, so get watching by hitting the button below.

4. Hostages

This is a crime thriller Hindi TV series on Hotstar wherein a doctor’s family is taken hostage by four masked men a night before she’s scheduled to operate on a highly influential and powerful politician. She can either save her patient or her family, but instead, she chooses to take on her tormentors and turn the tables on them. Hostages stars some pretty well-known TV celebs like Tisca Chopra, Ronit Roy, Parvin Dabas, Aashim Gulati, and Mohan Kapoor. The plot of this TV series is not something to write home about, but it’s fast-paced and keeps you at the edge of your seat right up till the end.

5. City of Dreams

This Hindi political drama on Hotstar was created by Nagesh Kukunoor and is one of the best shows on this list. The plot of the TV series is centered around a fictional political dynasty in Mumbai. An assassination attempt is carried out on the patriarch, one of the most influential leaders of this family, following which a power struggle begins between his daughter and son, blurring the lines between what’s moral and immoral. The show has some brilliant performances by lesser-known actors like Priya Bapat and Siddharth Chandekar. Meanwhile, it also casts well-known TV actors like Atul Kulkarni, Sachin Pilgaonkar, and Eijaz Khan in key roles. City of Dreams will remind you of existing political dynasties in India, and we don’t even have to name them — you’ll get it when you watch the show.

6. Aarya

This is the story of a happy, well-to-do family in Rajasthan. They are rocked by the unexpected murder of the family patriarch (Chandrachur Singh). It’s now time for the matriarch (Sushmita Sen) to take matters into her own hands and ensure her family survives the drug war it’s been forced into. She can’t trust anyone, not even her closest friends. Will she and her kids make it out alive? The nine-part thriller series is one of Hotstar’s best original productions. Yes, it can get a bit over the top at times, but watch it just for Sushmita Sen’s big acting comeback.

7. PariWar

Want to lighten the mood? Then you should definitely check out PariWar on Disney Plus Hotstar. The comedy series follows a group of quarrelsome family members who gather in their hometown in hopes of inheriting a lucrative piece of land. Little do they know that the inheritance is but a ruse created by the family patriarch to reunite them and solve their petty differences.

8. Criminal Justice: Behind Closed Doors

Hotstar’s ultra-popular courtroom drama Criminal Justice returned with a fresh installment in 2020. It’s an entirely new story and not season two of the previous show with the same name. The plot of Behind Closed Doors revolves around a young woman named Anuradha Chopra, who goes on trial for stabbing her seemingly perfect lawyer husband. Her case seems open-and-shut to many, but years of marital abuse are behind her desperate act of self-preservation. Starring Pankaj Tripathi and Kirti Kulhari in the lead roles, this is a must-watch for fans of the legal genre.

9. Grahan

10. Human

Shefali Shah plays the main character of Human, a super-successful Neurosurgeon. Owner of one of Bhopal’s most prestigious hospitals, she also has a side hustle of conducting illegal drug trials on innocent and needy people. In a race to make the next money-spinning drug, something she personally looks forward to using, saving lives takes a backseat. Apart from Shah, the show also features Kirti Kulhari, Indraneil Sengupta, Aditya Srivastav, and other prominent actors.

11. Home Shanti

If you’re looking for a light-hearted family drama, Home Shanti on Disney Plus Hotstar could be right up your alley. It follows the Joshis, a middle-class family from Dehradun, as they embark on the journey of building their dream home. The feel-good show is streaming with six half-hour-long episodes that are quick to get through. If you enjoyed Gullak on Sony Liv, you might like the flavors Home Shanti has to offer. It’s not as great and the humor doesn’t always land, but it’s a decent one-time watch for sure. It doesn’t hurt that the series features veteran actors like Supriya Pathak and Manoj Pahwa.

12. Masoom

Masoom is a Hindi show on Hotstar based on an Irish thriller named Blood. It marks Boman Irani’s web series debut as a widower who runs a nursing home in a village. When his youngest daughter returns home after years to pursue justice for her deceased mother, she uncovers secrets that threaten to impair her relationship with her whole family. This six-part series is interesting and quick to get through, even if it’s not the most remarkable one on this list.

13. Criminal Justice: Adhura Sach

The third series under the Criminal Justice banner revolves around a missing teen celebrity. Pankaj Tripathi returns as the charging, man-of-the-people lawyer Madhav Mishra to fight one of the most challenging cases of his career. The show is currently a few episodes down on Disney Plus Hotstar, with new ones releasing every week. The premise is set for a dramatic murder mystery. Will the show deliver a great watch once again? We’ll have to wait and see.

14. The Night Manager

Based on the British TV series of the same name, The Night Manager’s Hindi remake features a star-studded cast, including Anil Kapoor and Aditya Roy Kapur in lead roles. The story follows a night manager (Kapur) who lands himself in the company of some very dangerous people while trying to help a hotel guest, an underage girl being exploited by a gangster. While the girl doesn’t survive, the manager takes it upon himself to exact revenge for her death. He gets the perfect opportunity to climb the ladder by infiltrating the criminal organization he’s trying to take down and getting super close with the top boss, aka Anil Kapoor.

15. Saas, Bahu Aur Flamingo

This riveting crime drama on Disney Plus Hotstar boasts of powerful performances headlined by Dimple Kapadia who plays the central character of Savitri, a strong matriarch running a Robin Hood drug cartel. The plot of the show revolves around a battle of succession between Savitri’s family members as she looks for a successor to run the highly profitable (and charitable) cocaine business in the rustic fringes of Rajasthan. The series presents multiple twists as turns traversing the murky world of drugs and violence. Watch it for the sheer entertainment value, a romantic portrayal of Rajasthan, and the polished performance of the cast members.

16. Shaitan

Shaitan tells the story of Baali, viewed from his own eyes and narrated by himself. Baali is on the run for killing a police officer who used to abuse his mother and sister. This pushes him to enter a life of crime and violence. Now, his purpose is to also murder the home minister, which will be no easy feat. As you can assume, the situation gets messy. He will encounter plenty of other conflicts along the way. The series is dramatic, suspenseful, and is sure to keep you entertained for hours to come. This is definitely one of the best Hindi TV series on Hotstar.

So, those are the best Hindi TV series you can watch on Hotstar right now. The options here are limited, but Hotstar also has a wealth of English TV shows to watch so you can get to them once you’re done going through this list.

Looking for more good Indian originals across other streaming platforms? Check out our list of the best Indian TV shows on Netflix and Amazon Prime.