Just finished binging Ek Thi Begum (2020) and if you haven't seen it yet, you’re missing out on one of the grittiest crime sagas to come out of India in recent years.

(Season 1) is a 14-episode Indian crime thriller that premiered on April 8, 2020 , on MX Player . Directed by Sachin Darekar, the series is inspired by the true story of Ashraf Bhatkar (known as Sapna Didi), a woman who challenged the Mumbai underworld in the 1980s. Plot Summary

While the series is noted for its authentic 80s setting and detailed world-building, some reviewers from Scroll.in and Binged found the execution to be slow-paced and reliant on clichés.

24 min Chaos in Cheetah Camp. Manya’s remaining men swear revenge, but the police step in. Inspector Shinde now realizes Saida is more useful alive than dead. He declares Manya’s death a “gang rivalry” and offers Saida a deal: She controls the western suburbs, but every month, 15% goes to the police pension fund. Saida agrees. The final shot of the episode: Saida sitting on a plastic chair, looking at the sea, smoking her first cigarette.

The story follows Ashraf (played by Anuja Sathe), the wife of Zaheer Bhatkar, a once-loyal lieutenant to the underworld don Maqsood who eventually becomes his rival. After Maqsood orchestrates Zaheer's brutal murder in a fake police encounter, Ashraf loses her husband and her unborn child. Devastated but determined, she transforms from a docile homemaker into a calculating informer named . Using her intelligence and sensuality, she infiltrates the criminal empire to destroy Maqsood and his nexus of corrupt politicians and police officers. Season 1 Episodes