November Story
November Story is an Indian Tamil-language crime thriller web series for Hotstar Specials, directed by Indhra Subramanian. Produced by Vikatan Televistas the series stars Tamannaah in the lead role along with Pasupathy M., G. M. Kumar and Namita Krishnamurthy. The series is a classic murder mystery where the quest to find the truth behind the crime unveils a series of hidden truths. It was released on Disney+ Hotstar on 20 May 2021. Synopsis. Anuradha Ganesan is an Ethical Hacker who works in an contract with the Crime Records Bureau with her best friend Malarmannan. Plot. Anu, an  ethical hacker lives with her old father who is suffering from Alzheimer's and her maid. Anu works for police force in updating the FIRs to computer on a contract basis with help of her friend Malar. One fine day they find that someone has tried to hack system and one by one their systems are frozen. On the other hand Anu is planning to sell out their old house but failing because his father refuses to sign papers and is adamant. His father has a wish to complete one story before he dies and is often seen talking to  someone whenever he does not take medicine. Anu's father (Appa) tries to kill his caretaker in rage that she would tell Anu he speaks to someone looking at empty chair. Production. Development. On November 2019, Vikatan Televistas, the television arm of the Tamil magazine Ananda Vikatan announced a web series for the streaming platform Disney+ Hotstar. Tentatively titled "The November Story", the makers announced Indhra Subramanian as the director, while Tamannaah, Pasupathy M. and G. M. Kumar in prominent roles. Tamannaah stated about her digital debut stating that "the streaming platforms are also the new playground for accomplished actors  looking to break grounds with more challenging roles outside the two-hour cinematic time-frame." She further added that about the character in the series "I love to get under the skin of characters I essay, and hence the longer web series format is the perfect medium to showcase my skills as it is almost like doing five films at one go. There are lots of detailing and one can explore the character in depth." On October 2020, Disney+ Hotstar announced the title of the series as "November Story". Filming. The shooting of the series began in early November 2019  and the first schedule of the series were completed within the end of the month. The team was able to film most of the series by March 2020 before the nationwide COVID-19 lockdown took place, although production and post-production of the series were affected by COVID-19 restrictions. The remaining portions were shot after lockdown and completed in January 2021. Release. Disney+ Hotstar released the teaser of the series on 24 October 2020, during the announcement of their original contents in Tamil language for the platform. The trailer of the series was released on 6 May 2021, through the YouTube  channel of Cinema Vikatan, along with its dubbed Hindi and Telugu versions. The entire show comprising seven episodes, was broadcast exclusively on the streaming service on in Tamil and also dubbed in Telugu and Hindi languages. Reception. M. Suganth, editor-in-chief of "The Times of India" reviewed "The solid performances and production values of the series makes "November Story" engaging, despite its predictable arc." Ranjani Krishnakumar of "Firstpost" reviewed ""November Story" is an excellent entry into the pure-play murder mystery genre, but fails to deliver a satisfying pay-off." Haricharan Pudipeddi of "Hindustan Times" wrote "November Story unravels  slowly, and its pace is an issue at times. But what keeps one engaged is the gripping screenplay that beautifully weaves together a web of incidents to produce something worthwhile. For the most part of the show, the writing is highly competent and one can’t find fault with until the climax which is needlessly long drawn." Avinash Ramachandran of "The New Indian Express" wrote "November Story does score high on the engagement factor. Barring the final pay-off that is not exactly an organic culmination, the series largely works. There is a lot of activity, even if they do n’t necessarily add up. The forced humour, in particular, fails to add any flavour." Nandini Ramanath of "Scroll.in" stated "Always slick but equally slippery, the severely overstretched and needlessly complicated series benefits from rich atmospherics and sharp performances." Manoj Kumar R. in his review for "The Indian Express" praised the series as a "significant improvement compared to the current Tamil daily soaps on television", but labelled it as a "colossal disappointment" by the analysing the standards of web series. "India Today"'s chief critic Janani K. reviewed it as "If not for its length and some logical loopholes, "November Story  could have been a great murder mystery. Film critic Srinivasa Ramanujam also gave a mixed verdict, in the review for "The Hindu" stating that the series "needed to pack in more punch in its core narrative."