Asur (TV series)

Asur is an Indian Hindi-language psychological crime thriller streaming television series. The first season was produced by Tanveer Bookwala and aired on Voot while the second season, produced by Bombay Fables, Sejal Shah, Bhavesh Mandalia, and Gaurav Shukla aired on JioCinema. The first season premiered on 2 March 2020 and the second season on 1 June 2023.

The series is about a team of forensic experts who must catch a serial killer who considers himself the incarnation of the asura Kali. Arshad Warsi and Barun Sobti star, alongside Anupriya Goenka, Riddhi Dogra, and Amey Wagh. Sharib Hashmi had a starring role in the first season, while Meiyang Chang and Abhishek Chauhan joined the main cast in the second season.

Premise
Set against the backdrop of the mystical city of Varanasi, Asur follows Nikhil Nair, a forensic-expert-turned-teacher, who returns to his roots at the Central Bureau of Investigation, and along with his former mentor Dhananjay Rajpoot, finds himself caught in a cat and mouse game with a brutal serial killer.

Season 1
Pratishruti Ganguly of Firstpost gave the series 3.5 out of 5, writing, "With each passing episode, the concept of heroism corrodes to reveal the frailty and malleability of our protagonists. In an age of ultra-heroism of the police (the Rohit Shetty extended cop universe), where heroes are positioned as serial do-gooders, it is refreshing to see a narrative that questions the very basis of morality." Ruchi Kaushal of Hindustan Times reviewed the first two episodes and called the series a "mix of CID, Crime Patrol, and Sacred Games, she further wrote that "the web show doesn’t disappoint and performs well in the first two episodes."

Conversely, Tanisha Bagchi of The Quint gave the film 2 out of 5, writing, "From mythology, revenge, redemption, karma, to mystery, murder and human psychology, Asur tries to combine different aspects but gets entangled in its own web. Long monologues about tales of demons and gods, destiny and other philosophies take away the sense of urgency from the show."

Season 2
Prateek Sur of Outlook India gave the series 4 out of 5, writing, "‘Asur 2’ very beautifully amalgamates the myths into a current-day geo-political scenario in India. Not for a moment in the show would you feel what they’re showing is so fictional that it can’t happen in today’s times. Its believability is what makes the mythological aspects come alive. The performances are decent. And it’s thrilling till the very last shot of the show. If you’re into thrillers or even just fans of mythology or historical fiction, you’ll definitely love this to the core. It’s a definite Must Watch. I am going with 4 stars." Shweta Keshri of India Today gave the second season 3 out of 5 and opined that "Season 2 has less of an impact. Season 1 was much more gripping, as the new installment seemed dragged in parts."