Inspector Avinash — A Gritty, Flawed, and Surprisingly Addictive Cop Drama That Wears Its '90s Heart on Its Sleeve
★★★½ (3.5/5) — Watch it for Randeep Hooda’s eyes, stay for the nostalgic case-of-the-week rush.
With chai and a willingness to forgive the over-the-top background music.
Let's be honest: The supporting cast (except Urvashi Rautela as a surprisingly effective officer) is wooden. The background score is overbearing — expect loud dhak-dhak during every chase. And the show romanticizes police brutality in ways that might make you uncomfortable (episode 3's interrogation scene is brutal).
Most Indian police web series aim for either glossy, larger-than-life heroism or dark, brooding nihilism. Inspector Avinash (streaming on JioCinema) tries something rarer: a pulpy, episodic throwback to 1990s Hindi crime shows like CID and Suraag , but with modern production values and a shocking dose of real-life history. The result is uneven, over-the-top at times, yet strangely irresistible — especially if you watch it in binge-friendly episode chunks.