Which Ullu Web Series Are Based On True Stories?

Just to clarify (for those who are interested in strict documentaries): Ullu produces content that is ‘inspired by’ true events. Of all the titles that Ullu has produced to promote as being based on a true story, ‘Tandoor’ is the most direct example. There are also several episodes throughout the ‘Charmsukh’, ‘Palang Tod’ and ‘Riti Riwaj’ anthologies that also make similar claims. However, what they mean by ‘based on a true story’ is that they take a real incident or take from the many current social headlines and then dramatically alter the majority of the details (including names and the characters’ motivations) and then make up the majority of the plot to create a ‘sensationalized’ version of the real life events.

So they’re not true crime documentaries, but rather dramatized adaptations of real events. If you’re going to watch these shows, you need to be okay with them being sensationalized in order to drive home a point about some social issue. Then again, they can be pretty good at driving home a point about some social issue. I generally follow up a Ullu episode about a particular crime by reading up on the crime in the news. Often, the real story is far more disturbing than the dramatized version.

Late-night Ullu binges have taught me to always read the tagline of a show – surprise, surprise, a number of Ullu show titles carry the phrase ‘inspired by real incidents’ or ‘based on true events’. While I have tried to track all of Ullu’s ‘true story inspired’ work, it seems that the clearest examples are the standalone film ‘Tandoor’ and various episodes within the show’s anthology series Charmsukh, Palang Tod and Riti Riwaj.

When an episode or short film states that it is ‘based on a true story’ or ‘inspired by a real life incident’ I wouldn’t classify the show as documentary, as Ullu uses a lot of real life news, urban myths and current events to create short, snappy dramas and the main scenario can be a core incident such as a betrayal or scandal with entirely made-up characters to exaggerate scenes and highlight social points and current sensationalized events that have been reported in the media before.

I personally try to track down the “inspired by” incidents because they’re really interesting stories, and their dramatized versions are fun to watch. They can even act as good starting points for further research into the true stories behind current events and urban legends. The line between real-life and Ullu-made content is clear in the press releases, announcements and descriptions for each episode on the platform, which can name the real incident and state that the story is ‘inspired by’ it.

This label can be fun to trace through Ullu’s individual titles. Tandoor is one of the most prominently-marked “based on a true story”, receiving widespread media coverage when the platform launched the one-off drama as a premiere. Within Ullu’s episodic anthology series – primarily its long-running ones Charmsukh, Palang Tod and Riti Riwaj – individual episodes often are flagged as being inspired by ‘a true story’. These are often framed as compact mini-dramas centered around a single, events-driven incident (heavily scandalous or ‘forbidden’ in nature), taken from the vortex of social anecdotes and news stories that make their way into the films, often enlarging upon details within.

In terms of the level of accuracy, Ullu episodes are typically very short and sensationalized, which makes sense as a marketing pitch for the ‘based on true stories’ tag, to anchor each episode in reality. For example, a single line from a police report, a viral story from social media or even a well-known practice/ incident of a particular culture, can be dramatized up to the last episode. If you are still curious to verify the episode that has been dramatized, it’s generally easy to look up the original news reports and articles for the same time frame for which the episode was released.

While I don’t claim to be a sound critic of fiction either, I am generally entertained and often enabled to comment on real issues like the sensationalist representation of certain taboos in media and how one could watch a series of stories.