With the growth of the OTT market in India, new voices are finding their space in the stereotyped television TV concept. This reformation has especially tapped the boldness in female characters in the world of entertainment.

In India, for instance, female characters have consistently been shown as homemakers, submissive, dependent, distressed, helpless, and most importantly, a mere love interest of the male lead character.

The dawn of OTT platforms in India has exposed many female viewers to the ballsy female characters who are strong, ambitious, independent, and, most importantly, unapologetic.

In this Selectra article, we reflect on some badass female characters that glorified the OTT space and bring about real change in the viewing habits of the 1.3 billion Indian population.

They are extraordinary written characters layered with the complexes of an ordinary person.

So cancel all your weekend plans and embark upon a feminist marathon by watching these most popular female-led web series on top OTT platforms in India that bring out the true boldness of female characters.

Best Female-Led Stories on Netflix India

Netflix is our favorite go-to OTT platform to view some of the incredible female-led stories. Out of the ten (10) choices, five (5) of them have been identified from Netflix India.

Let us get started.

Unorthodox

Honest. Serious. Nailbiting. Liberating

This German-American four-part series is inspired by an autobiography, ‘Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots’ written by Deborah Feldman in 2012. This show will take you on a rollercoaster ride with the rebellion and freedom journey of a young woman caged in the cultural intricacies of the Hasidic Jew Community. Esty (lead character) refuses to live the life dictated by her religious community, flees from her arranged marriage in New York, and goes to Berlin to walk her own path.

The Bold Type

Millenials’ Favorite. Women at Work. Entertainment. Dazzling Costumes.

• Release Year: 2017
• IMDb Rating: 7.9/10
• Creator: Sarah Watson
• Cast: Katie Stevens, Aisha Dee, Meghann Fahy

The Bold Type was released in the US in 2017; however, it was recently available to the Indian audience of Netflix. Within the blink of an eye, this show reached the ‘top trending’ navigation bar. The story is about three best friends in their mid-twenties working at a fashion magazine, ‘Scarlet.’ The series revolves around everyday work situations that working females can definitely relate with. Not only this, topics like BRCA cancer gene, sexual inclinations, pornography, yeast infections, loopholes in women’s health insurances, racial/class/gender privileges, and its effects on the print media and body positivity are also captured in a way that educates the viewers systematically.

Delhi Crime

Dark. Disturbing. Recipient of International Emmy Awards (Drama Series).

• Release Year: 2019
• IMDb Rating: 8.5/10
• Creator: Richie Mehta
• Cast: Shefali Shah, Rajesh Tailang, Rasika Dugal.

Delhi Crime is a fictional portrayal of a horrific (true) story. In 2012, a Delhi gang rape and murder case (known as Nirbhaya Case) caught the world’s media attention when a woman was beaten, gang-raped, and tortured in a running bus by six men. The story follows a DCP, Vartika Chaturvedi, the lead investigator, who does not rest even for a minute. Vartika (played by Shefali Shah) works day and night with her and finally makes the culprits pay for their horrendous deeds lawfully. This show uncovers the terrible societal issues that take a toll on law and order of the nation.

Emily in Paris

Light. Fun Getaway. Ethnicity. Love Drama.

• Release Year: 2020
• IMDb Rating: 7.0/10
• Creator: Darren Star
• Cast: Lilly Collins, Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu, Ashley Park

Last fall, Emily in Paris was amidst one of the most-watched series on Netflix. The story kicks off with Emily Cooper’s boss (at a Chicago marketing firm) abandoning her plan to move to the Paris office because of her pregnancy discovery. So, as predicted, Emily takes up the challenge of her lifetime and moves to France to help in bringing an American perspective to the Paris staff. In Paris, Emily’s life changes from all possible angles, and viewers cannot stop laughing and adoring the hot cast.

The Queen’s Gambit

Wonderful Aesthetics. Gripping Plot.

• Release Year: 2020
• IMDb Rating: 8.6/10
• Creator: Scott Frank, Allan Scott
• Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Chloe Pirrie, Bill Camp

The Queen’s Gambit is based on the novel by Walter Tevis. In the 1950s, a young orphaned girl unleashes an astounding talent for chess. She soon embarked upon this unlikely journey to stardom while wrestling with addiction issues. The show incredibly realizes period details and wins the viewers’ hearts with Anya’s captivating performance.

Best Female-Led Stories on Disney+Hotstar India

Aarya

Crime Thriller. Cliff Hangers. Powerful Performance.

• Release Year: 2020
• IMDb Rating: 7.9/10
• Creator: Ram Madhvani, Sandeep Modi
• Cast: Sushmita Sen, Vikas Kumar, Namit Das

This 9-episode series leaves its viewers with cliffhangers at the end of each episode. The story revolves around Aarya’s (Sushmita Sen) journey towards revealing the murderer of her pharma baron spouse Tej (Chandrachur Singh). In her revenge-powered expedition, she ends up discovering some hidden, dirty truths of her husband’s pharma family business. In order to balance being a good loving mother of three and the ferocious avenging wife of the dead, Aarya gets herself involved in the same dirty business in a series of dramatic events.

Best Female-Led Stories on Amazon Prime India

Made in Heaven

Hooked. Unveiling Truths.

• Release Year: 2019
• IMDb Rating: 8.3/10
• Creator: Zoya Akhtar, Reema Kagti
• Cast: Arjun Mathur, Sobhita Dhulipala, Jim Sarbh

One of the finest desi originals by Amazon Prime Video, Made in Heaven debunks the shiny secrets and lies behind big fat Indian weddings. The show follows the story of two Delhi-based wedding planners who get to look beneath the glitter of rich Delhi weddings and see the daunting darkness with sexual assaults at weddings, parents wanting pure brides for their son, brides building marriages on lies, and men wanting to marry men. Made in Heaven has received love from the millennials who appreciate the candidness in the show’s storyline.

Best Female-Led Story on MX Player

Queen

Biography. Political Drama. History

• Release Year: 2019
• IMDb Rating: 8.8/10
• Creator: Gautham Menon, Prasath Murugesan
• Cast: Vanitha Krishnachandran, Sonia Agarwal, Viji Chandrashekhar

The ‘Queen’ springs from the life of late Tamil Nadu politician Jayalalithaa. It is a story of a young and bright student who finds herself pushed into unknown territories her whole life. She eventually turns into a confident woman living by her own terms in the male-driven worlds of cinema and Tamil Nadu politics.

Best Female-Led Story on Apple TV

The Morning Show

• Release Year: 2019
• IMDb Rating: 8.4/10
• Creator: Jay CarsonKerry Ehrin
• Cast: Jennifer Aniston, Reese Witherspoon, Billy Crudup

The Morning Show premiered on Apple TV+ (another OTT service provider in India) on November 1^st, 2019. Inspired by Brian Stetler’sbook Top of the Morning: Inside the Cutthroat World of Morning TV, the show gives an inside look at the lives of the people who help America wake up in the morning, exploring the unique challenges faced by the men and women who carry out this daily televised ritual.

Conclusion

We hope this list of best female-led stories on OTT platforms in India is exactly what you are looking for. If you like our picks, keep following our website for related content.