CAST: Arshad Warsi, Barun Sobti, Sharib Hashmi, Riddhi Dogra, Anupriya Goenka, Amey Wagh.

DIRECTOR: Oni Sen.

Thousands of scriptures, philosophies and a variation of interpretations. This is what makes Indian content so enigmatic.

Asur is an attempt to interweave Hindu mythology into a psychological crime thriller where the sleuths follow the clues that would lead them to a serial killer who operates behind a mask of an Asur ( the devil). The story may have some lose ends. While portraying a significantly smart team of Central Bureau of Investigation team, strangely the expertise to conduct certain investigations may be the domain of just one team or one individual does sound incredulous for a country of 1.4 billion people but let’s just let that go for the sake of the story.

The episodes are well narrated, appropriately gory for the murders being depicted with suitable blood and gore. The characters are complex enough to be believable and some of the handpicked ones are developed well before the events take over.

If there was a narrative that could characterize the comeback of the very underrated actor Arshad Warsi, @arshad_warsi this is it. He is precise in his delivery while never wading into the theatrics zone. A very consistent performance throughout.

Barun Sobti, @barunsobtisays surprises with an improvement in his diction and delivers a convincing performance as an intelligence officer.

The other characters are plausible , yet do not stick out in terms of the narrative.

The plot becomes more apparent as the episodes progress and we kept wishing it would surprise us even when it holds on the obvious. The end of the first season does however signify that there may be another season in the offing.

The series is available to stream on Voot, which is not available in the US App Stores. So you may need to use an India VPN to download and watch.