The OTT is full of toxic shows basking in the glory of woke propaganda. An overdose of sex, drugs, crimes, infidelity, extramarital affairs, toxic relationships, etc is the perfect recipe for these woke web series’ on OTT. Paatal Lok, Mirzapur, Made in Heaven, Tandav, Leila, Ghouli, etc, these are the typical woke OTT shows that have killed family entertainment just for the heck of showing scandalous and subversive stuff.

But fortunately, every cloud has a silver lining. In the dark and dingy world of Bharatiya OTT web series’, one can still find gems that do not have any a priori agenda to attack or degrade Bharatiya culture and offer thought-provoking, great content with clean family entertainment.

You just have to make an effort to go beyond the usual OTT fare and look hard to find these gems.

Here is a list of the top 5 woke free family entertainment shows on OTT that you must watch:

1. Panchayat (Amazon Prime)

I am a die-hard fan of Panchayat.

I must have watched both seasons at least 3 to 4 times and still find myself hooked on this wonderful show, whenever I am bored.

The show not just captures the Bharatiya village life and culture beautifully and succinctly but also captures the essence of the core values of Bharatiya parivaar and samaj. The intimate bonding between the Sarpanchjee and the Deputy Sarpanch, and the sheer love and affection they bestow on an outsider Sachiv jee who has just come to do his job, tells us a lot about the values of Bharatiya society.

The village folks, as showcased in Panchayat, do have their little bickering and quarrels but when it comes to things that really matter, all these personal trifles take a back seat.

The village Phulera showcases both the strengths and weaknesses of Bharatiya village culture and the modus operandi of local governance in Bharatiya villages. There is no preaching on judgment, just a depiction of things and circumstances as they are. The women of Phulera are not judged or shamed by the scriptwriter. The fact that they cook and do household chores or that the real village Pradhan Manju Devi keeps her head covered with a pallu most of the time is not questioned or mocked in the show. And yet, there are subtle winds of change embracing as the real Pradhan Manju Devi takes it upon herself to learn the National Anthem and gathers the courage to come out and hoist the flag on Independence Day, instead of her husband, Pradhan Pati.

The second season of Panchayat is equally refreshing with the character of Maju Devi being further developed as she starts taking more of an active interest in the affairs of the village. Equally captivating is the story of the slow-brewing friendship between Pradhanjee’s daughter Rinki and the village Sachivjee.

Overall, Panchayat is a must-watch show on Amazon Prime; it showcases the real Bharat and its slow and awkward but definite foray into modernity far from the toxic world of woke propaganda.

• Chacha Vidhayak Hain Humare (Amazon Prime)

This one is another brilliant gem on Amazon Prime.

A hilarious show, Chacha Vidhayak Hain Humare is the story of a typical “good for nothing” but charming guy Ronny who is good at the Bharatiya system of Jugaad and is great at spinning stories out of nothing. Ronny is a jobless and aimless guy from Bhopal who spends most of his time chatting with his friends at roadside tea stalls and all. His parents send him to Delhi to prepare for competitive exams but he catches a train back to Bhopal saying he couldn’t live without his friends and family.

Incidentally, Ronny shares his surname with a prominent MLA and that’s where the fun begins. He starts telling everyone that the MLA is his chachajee.

This leads to hilarious situations one after the other as he gets into multiple troubles because of his boasting prowess. His personal life too is in shambles because of the incessant bragging and lying. Ronny’s troubles know no end as the MLA finally comes to know there guy is pretending to be his bhateeja .I won’t reveal the plot as such. That would be a spoiler.

Chacha Vidhayak Hain Humare has two seasons, and the role of lead protagonist Ronny Pathak is played brilliantly by the famous stand-up comedian and actor Zakir Khan.

Ronny’s loving relationship with his family is the highlight of the show. Every Bharatiya middle-class person would be able to relate to this show; Ronny is unemployed but his mother showers enormous love on him and his father though outwardly stricter with him, has a heart like coconut, and constantly worries about his son’s future.

Chacha Vidhayak Hain Humare is a clean show with no foul language, and no scenes depicting sexual content, nudity or violence, etc. Ronny Pathak’s family is like a microcosm of the Bharatiya middle-class family where ambitions are making their presence felt, and modernity is making its presence felt, but human values and ethics matter the most. Ronnie might be a bit of a careless and a brag but his values are in the right place. When he has to make a tough choice, it is in the defence of truth.

• Home Shanti (Hotstar)

Home Shanti is a sweet show that is bound to bring a smile to your face each time you watch it.

Only one season of this show has been released so far on Hotstar. It’s a short web series with 5-6 episodes so you can easily watch Home Shanti in one sitting.

Home Shanti tells us the story of a Bharatiya middle-class family in Dehradun, Uttarakhand who are trying to build a new home. The mother Sarla Joshi (played by actress Supriya Pathak) is a government school Principal with only three months left for her retirement. The father is a poet who doesn’t earn much.

They have two college-going kids. The family is using all their savings to build the house of their dreams. Each episode features a dramatic situation, an obstacle the family faces in the building of the home that’s overcome at the end of the episode.

Overall, Home Shanti is a beautiful roller coaster emotional ride into the hearts of a Bharatiya family. The show manages to capture the essence of middle-class Bharatiyas who want to make that big leap into a successful future but fear of failure and love for security holds them back. As the Joshi family makes its ambitious leap into the home of their dreams, they also seem to be telling us middle-class Bharatiyas that we must dare to dream big and move out of our comfort zone every once in a while.

• Sweet Karam Coffee (Amazon Prime)

It’s a Tamil language comedy drama series streaming on Amazon Prime.

I watched it with subtitles; the acting of the characters I think is so good that you are hooked on the show even if you don’t understand Tamil like me and watch with subtitles.

It’s the unconventional tale of women belonging to 3 generations from the same family – grandmother, mother, and daughter who go on a solo all-women’s trip. The grandmother and mother feel stifled by the monotony of their lives and the daughter just wants to travel somewhere away from her boyfriend with whom she is having certain issues.

So the three of them take this leap of faith by planning this secret trip and disappearing from the home clandestine, without informing the men in the house.

What follows is a beautiful journey where the three women experience myriad emotions, uncover layers of their original selves they had forgotten down the line, and gather new experiences. But what also happens simultaneously is that they realize the value of their families and can’t wait to get back home after the end of their adventure. They realize what they need is a little detour to make the people in their family realize their true worth, but they don’t want to be in this escape mode forever. They want to go back to their family with a newfound understanding.

For the men of the family as well, it’s a lesson not to take women for granted and not to stifle them in the name of taking care. The men also begin to understand that the women do so much for the household but they also have their own lives, and personal dreams and ambitions.

By the end of the series, the men of the house have also changed a bit for good.

 Sweet Karam Coffee is a beautiful show that dexterously throws light on the eternal conflicts and dilemmas of a Bharatiya middle-class family. It’s a feminist show without having to resort to throwing toxic women characters in your face. The three women of Sweet Karam Coffee are from 3 different generations so obviously their upbringing and values are different. But they all are rooted, sensitive, and value the institution of family. Had this been a woke show, the three women would have gone on with their adventures doing scandalous stuff and leaving their families. The show would have turned toxic then. But that’s the beauty of the plot. The storyline successfully manages to portray the women’s desire for and their right to freedom and independence without being wokeish or toxic.

5   Yeh Meri Family (Amazon Prime)

I’ve just started watching the first season of Yeh Meri Family and can’t wait to finish this one and move on to the second season.

Set in the late 1990s, Yeh Meri Family showcases the daily life struggles, sweet-sour ups and downs of a Bharatiya middle-class family from the point of view of a 12-year-old child.

The protagonist Harshu Gupta is a sensitive, lovable, and funny character who sees the world like a typical 12-year-old. We get a peep into Harshu’s world and also get to know about his family, and the way he sees them.

The show is commendable in that it recreates the nostalgia of the 90s in each frame. Kudos to the team who have paid enormous attention to the minutest of details regarding the popular culture icons of the 90s, the kind of music Bharatiya kids listened to back then, the kind of TV shows they watched, etc. The show totally gets the 90s feels right so if you are a late 80s or 90s kid, you would enjoy watching this series even more.

Ultimately, It is the Bharatiya middle -class family that is the Hero of Yeh Meri Family. There are many points where Harshu starts questioning his family, dismisses his father as uncool, his parents are not giving him enough freedom, etc. But then he discovers the most endearing of things about his parents that make him feel proud of them. Ultimately, it is the love for his family that keeps Harshu happy and sane.