In the dusty, lawless heart of late 1980s Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh, a young man named Shiv Prakash Shukla watched his father get crushed by the system. The police didn't kill him—poverty and humiliation did. That day, young Shiv made a silent promise: he would never be weak again. He would become the one people feared, not the one who feared.
This is the story Rangbaaz tells—not with a heroic filter, but with the raw, bloody honesty of a small-town boy who becomes a monster.
Shiv starts small. A stolen scooter here, a bribe there. But his mind is sharp, sharper than the local goons who drink and brawl. He befriends constables, charms politicians, and discovers a simple truth: in Uttar Pradesh, power doesn't come from a badge. It comes from the gun. And the netaa (leader) who owns the gun wins.
By the mid-90s, Shiv Prakash Shukla is no more. He has reinvented himself as "Dadda" —a name that makes the underworld of eastern UP tremble. He controls sand mining, real estate, and illegal liquor. His eyes are cold, his suits are expensive, and his smile is a promise of death. But Dadda isn't just a thug. He understands perception. He builds temples, funds local schools, and gets photographed with smiling children. The media calls him a "social worker." The police call him "Case No. 247/96." The people whisper: "Dadda se takrao mat." (Don't clash with Dadda.)
The series masterfully shows his two lives: by day, a patron of the poor; by night, a man who signs death warrants over a plate of kebabs.
But empires built on blood attract vultures. Enter S.P. Singh, a young, upright police officer transferred to Gorakhpur to clean the filth. S.P. Singh doesn't want a bribe. He doesn't want a promotion. He wants Dadda's head on a platter. Their cat-and-mouse game is the soul of Rangbaaz—each episode tightening the noose, each scene dripping with tension. The wiretaps, the ambushes, the courtroom theatrics—it's a brutal ballet of ego and survival. - Rangbaaz -2018- Hindi - Complete WEB SERIES -...
And then there is the betrayal. Dadda's closest friend, his right-hand man, turns. Not for money, but for fear. The series doesn't romanticize loyalty; it shows how power isolates a man until he stands alone in a room full of enemies.
The climax is not a glorious shootout. It's a rainy evening in 1998. Dadda is driving back from a political meeting, a .32 revolver in his glovebox. At a petrol pump, three men on motorcycles block his path. They don't speak. They don't negotiate. In seconds, 23 bullets tear into Dadda's white Ambassador. The man who once ruled the rangbaaz (the local musclemen) lies crumpled on the wet asphalt, his empire dissolving like a lie.
The final shot of the series is haunting: a child picks up a fallen bullet casing, stares at it, and runs away. The cycle, Rangbaaz implies, never ends. Another Shiv Prakash is already dreaming somewhere.
Why Rangbaaz (2018) stands out:
Available on ZEE5, Rangbaaz is not just a web series. It's a mirror held up to the heartland of India—where power is the only god, and death is the only justice. If you haven't watched it, prepare for a binge that will leave you haunted long after the credits roll. The Rise and Fall of a Gangster: The
In 2018, the Hindi web space was dominated by Sacred Games (Netflix). While Sacred Games focused on the Mumbai underworld, Rangbaaz carved its niche by focusing on UP’s mafia raj. Here is a quick comparison:
| Feature | Rangbaaz (ZEE5) | Sacred Games (Netflix) | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | Setting | Rural UP / Gorakhpur | Urban Mumbai | | Pacing | Linear, grounded narrative | Non-linear, philosophical | | Tone | Raw, brutal, realistic | Stylized, mystical | | Language | Regional Hindi / Bhojpuri | Bombay Hindi / English |
If you prefer street-level realism over stylized storytelling, Rangbaaz is the superior choice.
The series follows the life of Shiv Prakash Shukla, played with intense conviction by Saqib Saleem. A bright university topper with a promising future, Shiv’s life takes a violent turn due to a college rivalry and systemic caste politics. When the system fails to protect his honor, Shiv takes matters into his own hands.
What follows is a spiral into the criminal underworld. As Shiv’s reputation grows, he catches the attention of powerful politicians who see him not as a criminal, but as a weapon to settle scores. The series masterfully depicts the symbiotic, toxic relationship between politics and crime in the heartland of India. Why Rangbaaz (2018) stands out:
Where Rangbaaz stumbles is in its pacing during the middle episodes. The romantic subplot, though necessary to humanize Shiv, occasionally drags and feels a bit cinematic in a show that otherwise strives for raw realism.
Furthermore, while Ravi Kishan is supremely effective as the menacing rival don, his character lacks the nuance given to Dhulia’s Tripathi. He leans a bit too heavily into the "Bhojpuri villain" trope at times, though his screen presence is undeniably magnetic.
Due to the success of the Rangbaaz -2018- Hindi - Complete WEB SERIES, ZEE5 expanded it into an anthology franchise:
However, for purists, the Original 2018 Season remains the definitive masterpiece.