OTT releases to watch this week: From Shaque and Hunkkaar to Toxic and Unabomber 

The final weekend of September arrives with an unusually crowded OTT slate. Around 40 films, new series and returning seasons are scheduled to land across Netflix, Prime Video, JioHotstar, ZEE5, SonyLIV and Apple TV+ between September 21 and 27. The choices range from Indian crime thrillers and courtroom dramas to supernatural mysteries, romantic comedies and international true-crime stories. 

For viewers looking beyond the sheer volume of releases, however, a handful of titles stand out. 

Shaque: Trust No One | Netflix

Parineeti Chopra makes her streaming-series debut in Shaque: Trust No One, a mystery thriller about a mother who has spent nine years searching for her abducted daughter. Just when she begins to get new clues about what happened, she is forced to question the people closest to her. 

The eight-episode series also features Jennifer Winget, Tahir Raj Bhasin, Soni Razdan, Anup Soni and Sumeet Vyas. Created by Rensil D’Silva and Siddharth P. Malhotra, the series began streaming on September 24. 

For anyone looking for a conventional, twist-driven weekend binge, this is one of the week’s most obvious choices. 

Hunkkaar: The Roar | JioHotstar

Aneet Padda follows her breakout success in Saiyaara with Hunkkaar: The Roar, a courtroom thriller that puts a teenager’s accusation against a powerful spiritual leader at the centre of an investigation. 

Padda plays 17-year-old Meenu Rawat, while Fatima Sana Shaikh plays the police officer investigating the case. Mohammed Zeeshan Ayyub, Arjun Mathur, Raghubir Yadav and Ram Kapoor are also part of the ensemble. 

The eight-part series moves between the police investigation, courtroom proceedings and the media circus surrounding the case, exploring questions of faith, power and justice. It premieres on JioHotstar on September 25. 

Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups | ZEE5

Yash’s gangster drama Toxic: A Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups is among the week’s biggest Indian OTT arrivals. Directed by Geetu Mohandas, the film is set in post-Independence Goa and follows a criminal navigating a world of violence, loyalty, morality and redemption. 

Kiara Advani, Nayanthara, Huma Qureshi and Tara Sutaria join Yash in the cast. The film, which had its theatrical release in August, is scheduled for its digital premiere on ZEE5 on September 25. 

Brothers | Apple TV+

Matthew McConaughey and Woody Harrelson reunite in Brothers, playing fictionalised versions of themselves. A family crisis brings Harrelson and his family to McConaughey’s Texas ranch, where a revelation threatens to change their decades-old friendship. 

The comedy series premiered on Apple TV+ on September 23 and offers a lighter alternative to the week’s collection of thrillers and crime dramas. 

Unabomber | Netflix

For something darker, Unabomber takes a dual-timeline approach to the story of Ted Kaczynski. Jacob Tremblay plays the young Kaczynski, while Russell Crowe portrays Harvard psychologist Henry Murray. Shailene Woodley plays the FBI agent leading the later investigation. 

The film examines Kaczynski’s time at Harvard alongside the decades-long FBI investigation into the bombing campaign that eventually led authorities to him. It streams on Netflix from September 25. 

The Final Problem | Netflix

Fans of classic murder mysteries have The Final Problem, a four-part period thriller set in 1959. Thirteen people become stranded at a remote hotel during a violent storm, and when one guest dies, a retired actor who was once famous for playing Sherlock Holmes finds himself drawn into the investigation. 

The Spanish series, based on Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s novel, arrives on Netflix on September 25. 

And there’s more

Netflix also brings back The Great Indian Kapil Show on September 26, with Kapil Sharma, Sunil Grover, Krushna Abhishek and Kiku Sharda returning for another season. Prime Video, meanwhile, launches the second season of Rise & Fall, with Virender Sehwag taking over as host and new episodes scheduled daily over its 42-day run. 

The week also brings Kannada crime drama Mango Pachcha to JioHotstar and the second season of family comedy Bakaiti to ZEE5. International options include Italian teen drama Minerva Academy, Brazilian mystery series Habeas Corpus and Netflix’s My Sad Dead, a supernatural drama from filmmaker Pablo Larraín. 

With crime, mystery and courtroom dramas dominating the Indian slate, this week’s OTT offerings should have something for almost every kind of weekend viewer. The challenge, as usual, is finding the time to watch it all.