Some suspense thrillers arrive with huge buzz, while others quietly surprise you once you start watching. Kartavya, Kohrra Season 2 and Jaane Jaan are among the Indian crime stories that caught us off guard with murders, hidden motives, dangerous investigations and secrets that kept us watching.
15 Recent Underrated Indian Suspense Thrillers (Movies & Shows)
1. Kartavya (Netflix)
A journalist is murdered despite being under police protection, leaving officer Pawan struggling with the failure. Looking for answers takes him towards corruption, political influence and people powerful enough to hide the truth. The case becomes even more dangerous when the threat starts moving towards his own family.
2. Babita Singh Reporting (Prime Video)
Babita Singh gets herself suspended so she can return home for a family celebration, but her plans collapse when childhood friend Bansi is murdered. The rookie cop secretly starts investigating the killing herself and discovers that the answers may lie uncomfortably close to home. Her search gradually exposes old betrayals and secrets she never expected to find.
3. Shaque: Trust No One (Netflix)
A mother has spent nine years without answers after her newborn daughter disappeared from a hospital. When photographs suddenly suggest that the girl may still be alive, her search begins again and suspicion falls on people she once trusted. Every new clue makes the mystery more unsettling.
4. Kohrra Season 2 (Netflix)
The murder of a woman in Dalerpura brings Amarpal Garundi and Dhanwant Kaur together for an investigation where family tensions complicate almost every clue. Different versions of the truth emerge as they question those around the victim, while both officers carry emotional struggles of their own. The suspense grows slowly through buried secrets, damaged relationships and a difficult search for what really happened.
5. Waiting Hai (Prime Video)
RPF officer Sugam uncovers a Tatkal ticket racket that uses manipulated booking software to make money. The investigation leads him towards Hamza and Mama, whose operation starts falling apart because of rivalry, betrayal and mounting police pressure. Sugam eventually arrests the agents and reaches Hamza before he can escape to Dubai.
6. Jaane Jaan (Netflix)
A single mother becomes linked to a murder when someone from her troubled past unexpectedly returns. Her withdrawn but brilliant neighbour helps cover what happened, while an investigator begins noticing gaps in the story they have created. The mystery becomes a clever contest where everyone is trying to think one move ahead.
7. Taskaree: The Smuggler’s Web (Netflix)
A Mumbai Customs officer leads a special unit trying to destroy an international smuggling network operating through airports and secret routes. Their missions become more complicated when signs appear that the syndicate may be getting help from within the system. Fighting the criminals is only part of the problem when the team can no longer be certain whom to trust.
8. Sikandar Ka Muqaddar (Netflix)
A valuable diamond robbery leaves officer Jaswinder Singh convinced that Sikandar Sharma was involved, turning one investigation into an obsession that lasts for years. His determination affects both their lives as suspicion and resentment continue long after the crime. When the two men meet again, fresh details raise new questions about what actually happened during the heist.
9. Isakapatnam (Prime Video)
Three people in a fictional port town separately find themselves moving towards a confrontation with powerful leader Naidu. Their reasons are different, with justice, divided loyalties and revenge pushing them forward. Their paths eventually meet in a violent struggle shaped by old betrayals and the fight for control.
10. Deva (Netflix)
A Mumbai police officer is investigating the murder of a colleague when an accident wipes out important parts of his memory. Deva must rebuild his own investigation from the clues he left behind, slowly uncovering connections involving friendship and betrayal. Finding the killer also means discovering what he himself had learned before the accident.
11. System (Prime Video)
A public prosecutor enters a difficult legal case expecting another professional challenge, only to find deeper questions involving privilege, influence and hidden ambition. Working closely with an intelligent stenographer brings class differences and personal motives into the conflict. The courtroom case gradually becomes a much bigger struggle over truth, success and doing what is right.
12. Drishyam 3 (Netflix)
Georgekutty’s family faces fresh danger when Varun’s father joins a rogue former police officer who wants to destroy them. With revenge threatening his daughter once again, Georgekutty has to rely on careful planning and intelligence to protect his family. Secrets from the past become the centre of another tense battle for survival.
13. Maharaja (Netflix)
A quiet barber walks into a police station claiming that something called Lakshmi has disappeared from his home, leaving the officers unsure what he is actually asking them to find. His strange complaint slowly begins connecting events from different timelines that first seem unrelated. When the pieces finally move closer together, the real reason behind his search reveals something far more painful.
14. Paatal Lok Season 2 (Prime Video)
Inspector Hathi Ram Chaudhary takes on another case that places him inside a world where crime, politics and powerful interests are closely connected. Violence and hidden agendas make the investigation harder, while the consequences begin affecting his personal life as well. Season 2 pushes him further into dangerous territory where uncovering the truth comes at an emotional cost.
15. Baby Do Die Do (Netflix | September 23)
Baby Karmakar is a deaf and mute woman living in Mumbai who secretly works as a contract killer for her mentor and boss, P.M. Jain, known as Papa. Still carrying the trauma of losing her twin sister as a child, Baby moves through violent real-estate mafia conflicts while hiding her dangerous profession from neighbour Amandeep “Siddhu” Singh, with whom she begins falling in love. Her carefully divided life starts closing in when DCP Anjum Khan targets her, leaving Baby searching for a way to escape the criminal world.
If you enjoy suspense stories that slowly reveal their secrets, these Indian thrillers show why going in with low expectations can sometimes lead to the best surprises.