A well-written character can be relatable or repulsive, but it is important that it hooks your attention and continues to surprise, shock, and intrigue you throughout the series.
And with these characters from our desi web series, we were hooked on to their story from the opening dialogue itself:
1. Sacred Games: Ganesh Gaitonde
Bhagwan ko mante ho? Bhagwan ko lund farak nahi padta.
2. Hathi Ram Chaudhary: Paatal Lok
Yeh jo duniya hai na, duniya? Yeh ek nahi teen duniya hai. Sabse upar Swarg Lok, jismein devta rehte hain. Beech mein Dharti Lok jismein aadmi rehte hain Aur sabse neeche Paatal Lok, jismein keede rehte hain. Vaise toh yeh shastron mein likha hua hai, par maine WhatsApp pe padha tha.
3. Aspirants: SK Sir
Desh do jagah se badla ja sakta hai. Ek bilkul neeche, mazdoor, kisaan, krantiyan. Aur ek upar se, IAS, IPS, IRS. Abhi aap log Aspirants hain. Lekin aap hi log IAS banenge. Par aap hi kyun banenge? Aapke bagal mein jo baitha hua woh kyun nahi banega? Aisa kya khaas hai aap mein?
4. Sandeep Bhaiya: Aspirants
Mobile mein news kam, distractions zyada hai.
5. DCP Vartika Chaturvedi: Delhi Crime
This is part of a conversation, the part in brackets are the dialogues of the co-actors:
You’re sure he is inside? (Pakki khabar hai ma’am). Okay, go…. (Still working?) We just caught a terrorist.
6. Mirzapur: Munna Bhaiya
Kaleen bhaiya, King of Mirzapur! Toh bhosdike, hum hue, Prince.
7. Mirzapur: Kaleen Bhaiya
Maqbool, Lala zabaan ka pakka hai. Barfi badhia hai, acha nasha degi. Ek kaam karo, kaleen ka production badha do.
8. Mirzapur: Guddu Bhaiya
Has kahe rahe ho be? Guruji humein lund keh rahe hain, hum muh tod denge inka bahar.
9. The Family Man: Atharv
I’m not bigadofied. I love idli, Suchi.
10. Kota Factory: Jeetu Bhaiya
This is in response to a question:
Arey isiliye toh nahi gaya. Bada vahiyad dhokla banati hai tumhari didi. Aur phir kehne mein bhi awkward lagta hai… Ab yeh toh satya hai Deepak!
11. Asur: Nikhil Nair
There’s a difference between a dead body and the dead. The dead can talk. I know what you guys are thinking, but this is no word play. The dead are a collection of stories waiting to be heard. The more you listen, the more they will talk. And soon they themselves will tell you how they came to be dead.
12. Asur: Dhananjay “DJ” Rajpoot
It’s not evening, and there is nothing good about it. Body ki pehchaan hui?
13. Bombay Begums: Shai
Some women are born to rule. We call them queens. They bleed for their dreams and expect others to bleed for them. I’m not sure I want to be that kind of queen. I think I’d rather lead the rebellion. Not sure what I want to rebel against though!
14. Panchayat: The opening conversation between Vikas and Prahlad Pandey.
15. Scam 1992: Harshad Mehta
Bhabhi ne banaya hai, iski! Ab mere kaha aise naseeb ki bol sakun yeh.
16. Scam 1992: Sucheta Dalal
Early 1990s, the era of change for India. The old heroes were gone, and the new ones were yet to rise. Mobile, internet, aur social media se pehle ki iss dunia mein har cheez apni hi speed par dheere cheere chal rahi thi. Chahe woh desh ki economy ho, ya sarkari dunia mein paperwork ya phir koi breaking news. Agar kahi raftaar thi, toh woh thi Bombay Stock Exchange mein. Yaha aam aadmi pehli baar apni kismat ko share market ke zariye badalne mein laga tha. Aur share market ki chaka chaund mein sabne kala chashma laga lia tha. Lekin iss kaale chashme ke peechae hota hua safed jhooth saamne hote hue bhi kisi ko dikha nahi. Aur phir aaya woh din jisne Bharat ki ardh vyavastha ki neev ko hilake rakh dia. Lekin uss din ki kahani ki shuruwaat hoti hai ek din pehle.
A special mention to Aarya and Made in Heaven, for giving us these iconic opening shots, that surpassed the characters’ first dialogues:
Aarya:
Made in Heaven:
In some cases, they set the scene, while in others, they indicated the path the character would embark upon. Whatever be the case, these opening dialogues sure were memorable.