''Asur'' ( ) is an Indian

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

-language psychological crime thriller

streaming television Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as films and television series, streamed over the Internet. Standing in contrast to dedicated terrestrial television delivered by over-the-air aerial systems, cable t ...

series. The first season was produced by Tanveer Bookwala and aired on

Voot Voot was an Indian subscription video-on-demand and over-the-top streaming service owned by Viacom18, a joint venture between Reliance Industries, Network18. The service was initially launched on 4 May 2016. It initially launched as an adver ...

while the second season, produced by Bombay Fables, Sejal Shah, Bhavesh Mandalia, and Gaurav Shukla aired on

JioCinema JioCinema was an Indian subscription video-on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Viacom18. The service was merged with Disney+ Hotstar on 14 February 2025, to form JioHotstar. In April 2022, the service was brought under Relianc ...

. 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 Asuras () are a class of beings in Indian religions, and later Persian and Turkic mythology. They are described as power-seeking beings related to the more benevolent Devas (also known as Suras) in Hinduism. In its Buddhist context, the wor ...

Kali Kali (; , ), also called Kalika, is a major goddess in Hinduism, primarily associated with time, death and destruction. Kali is also connected with transcendental knowledge and is the first of the ten Mahavidyas, a group of goddesses who p ...

Arshad Warsi Arshad Khan (born 19 April 1968) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films. He is the recipient of List of roles and awards of Arshad Warsi, several awards including a Filmfare Award from five nominations and is noted for acting in varied f ...

and

Barun Sobti Barun Sobti is an Indian actor. He is best known as Nikhil Nair in '' Asur'', Amarpal Garundi in '' Kohrra'' and Arnav Singh Raizada in the television series ''Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon''. He has also acted in various limited web series like ...

star, alongside

Anupriya Goenka Anupriya Goenka (born 29 May 1987) is an Indian actress and model who appears in Hindi and Telugu films. She first shot to fame in 2013 as the face of UPA government's '' Bharat Nirman''. Goenka made her on-screen debut with the 2013 Telugu fi ...

, Riddhi Dogra, and Amey Wagh.

Sharib Hashmi Sharib Hashmi (born 25 January 1976) is an Indian actor, writer, producer and director who works in the Hindi cinema. He is best known for portraying J. K. Talpade in the Amazon Prime Video series ''The Family Man'' (2019-2021) for which he won ...

had a starring role in the first season, while

Meiyang Chang Meiyang Chang (born 6 October 1982) is an Indian actor, television host, singer and a dentist. He came to prominence as a contestant on the third season of the singing reality show '' Indian Idol'' in which he was among the five finalists. He ...

and Abhishek Chauhan joined the main cast in the second season.

Premise

Set against the backdrop of the mystical city of

Varanasi Varanasi (, also Benares, Banaras ) or Kashi, is a city on the Ganges river in northern India that has a central place in the traditions of pilgrimage, death, and mourning in the Hindu world.* * * * The city has a syncretic tradition of I ...

, Asur follows Nikhil Nair, a

forensic Forensic science combines principles of law and science to investigate criminal activity. Through crime scene investigations and laboratory analysis, forensic scientists are able to link suspects to evidence. An example is determining the time and ...

-expert-turned-teacher, who returns to his roots at the

Central Bureau of Investigation The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is the domestic crime investigating agency of India. It operates under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions. Originally set up to investigate bribery and gover ...

, and along with his former mentor Dhananjay Rajpoot, finds himself caught in a

cat and mouse Cat and mouse, often expressed as cat-and-mouse game, is an English-language idiom that means "a contrived action involving constant pursuit, near captures, and repeated escapes." The "cat" is unable to secure a definitive victory over the "mous ...

game with a brutal

serial killer A serial killer (also called a serial murderer) is a person who murders three or more people,An offender can be anyone: * * * * * (This source only requires two people) with the killings taking place over a significant period of time in separat ...

Cast and characters

Episodes

Season 1 (2020)

Season 2 (2023)

Reception

Season 1

Pratishruti Ganguly of

Firstpost Firstpost is an Indian news website owned by Network18 Group, which also runs CNN-News18 and CNBC TV18. It has posted misinformation on multiple occasions. The Network 18 group was originally owned by Raghav Bahl. In January 2012, the gro ...

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 ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

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 ''The Quint'' is an English and Hindi language Indian general news and opinion website founded by Raghav Bahl and Ritu Kapur after their exit from Network18. The publication's journalists have won three Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism ...

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 ''Outlook'' is a weekly general interest English and Hindi news magazine published in India. History and profile ''Outlook'' was first issued in October 1995 with Vinod Mehta as the editor in chief. It is owned by the Rajan Raheja Group. Th ...

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 ''India Today'' is a weekly Indian English-language news magazine published by Living Media, Living Media India Limited. It is the most widely circulated magazine in India, with a readership of close to 8 million. In 2014, ''India Today'' laun ...

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."

References

External links

* * {{IMDb title, 11912196 2020 web series debuts Hindi-language web series Indian drama web series Central Bureau of Investigation in fiction Television shows set in Uttar Pradesh Indian thriller television series