The Family Man, Tanaav, Kaafir: Top OTT series set against the backdrop of Kashmir

The political turmoil apart, Kashmir remains one of the most beautiful places in the world, let alone India. As the valley is invariably caught in the throes of violent insurgency every now and then, many OTT makers have tried to capture the life and struggle of everyday Kashmiris through their shows. As Tanaav, another show based in Kashmir is set to start streaming today, we bring you other shows that centre in and around the valley.

A story of love, humanity and sacrifice, this series, streaming on ZEE5 follows the journey of a quiet, unassuming woman, Kainaz Akhtar (Dia Mirza) from POK (Pakistan occupied Kashmir) who inadvertently lands up at the Indian border only to be treated as a "kaafir" (infidel) and languishes in jail for 8 years, even giving birth to a child along the way. Help finally arrives in the form of lawyer-turned journalist Vedant Rathod (Mohit Raina) when he decides to unravel her story and get her justice.

An edgy action series on Prime Video, this one was not based in Kashmir per se, but had a considerable portion shot in the valley. The Raj and DK directed series follows the life of Mumbai based Srikant Tiwari who works as an intelligence officer for the Threat Analysis and Surveillance Cell (TASC), a fictitious branch of the National Investigation Agency. He is also a middle-class husband and father and often struggles with balancing these two contrasting duties of his life. The series co-starred Gul Panag for the Kashmir portion where she played Srikant's colleague and senior as they go on a hunt in the valley nabbing terrorists. The second season of the same was released last year.

Avrodh: The Siege Within, streaming on SonyLIV is a retelling of the 2016 Uri attack and the surgical strikes that followed, which is said to be one of the most successful undercover military operations of any country. It is based on a chapter from the book India’s Most Fearless by Shiv Aroor and Rahul Singh. The series starred Amit Sadh, Vikram Gokhale, Neeraj Kabi, Darshan Kumar and Madhurima Tuli amongst others. A standalone sequel of the same was released in June this year.

Tanaav is the Hindi adaptation of the Israeli hit Fauda, that became popular in India during the lockdown. Directed by Sudhir Mishra, the series is set in Kashmir and deals with the violent insurgency and counter attacks in the valley. It stars Arbaaz Khan, Manav Vij, Shashank Arora, Rajat Kapoor, Waluscha De Sousa, Ekta Kaul, Sumit Kaul, Zarina Wahab and MK Raina, amongst others. It starts streaming on SonyLiv today.