Dark-themed characters shine bright at news18.com ireel 2019 awards

Having carved out a niche of their own, shows set with a mafia background and dark-themed characters ruled the News18.com iReel Awards 2019.
The highly acclaimed web series Mirzapur (Amazon Prime) and Sacred Games (Netflix) came to the fore by winning a host of accolades at the gala event. Being a show that explored the rustic underworld like never before, it was a double delight for the stars of Mirzapur. Pankaj Tripathi won the much-coveted Best Actor (Drama) in addition to Divyendu Sharma bagging the Best Supporting Actor award.
Netflix’s Sacred Games 2, another show with gangster tones, came to the fore as Amruta Subhash bagged the Best Supporting Actress Award as well as Alokananda Dasgupta winning the Best Music award. The best was saved for the last as Radhika Apte, who continues to set new benchmarks in the Indian web space was awarded the Breakthrough Artist award.
A character with extremely grey shades and filled with intrigue was Amruta’s. Playing the role of a Kenya-based RAW agent sure added to the existing thrills that Sacred Games 2 was all about. And with a theme song that has earned a cult-like status, the show, directed by Anurag Kashyap and Neeraj Ghaywan went on to claim the Best Music award.
Speaking about winning the award, Amruta Subhash said, “I’d like to thank News18.com, Netflix, the jury and all those who voted for me. I’d like to point out that my character in the book is a guy, but the writers of the web series decided to make it female. I thank Anurag Kashyap and Varun Grover for making this change. We’re seeing so many strong women characters in the Indian OTT space these days. I hope more male characters get converted into female. Long may this continue.”
These set of awardees, each producing a stellar performance, is a testament to the array of series in the Indian web series space. Pankaj Tripathi delivered an impeccable performance as a don named Kaleen Bhaiyya and proved that versatility is indeed his best suit. Supporting him as his son in this highly acclaimed show was Divyendu Sharma as Munna.
A beaming Divyendu on bagging the accolade commented, “Thank you News18.com, Amazon, directors, co-actors. Munna is a special character for me.”
News18.com iReel Awards 2019 is the 2nd edition of the prestigious awards by the leading media platform that celebrates, honours and recognizes the brightest talent in the Indian web series space.