In its attempt to produce a show on par with Netflix's Sacred Games, Amazon Prime might have unwittingly outdone itself. Paatal Lok is a stunning achievement on virtually every level, and despite all its similarities to the path-breaking Netflix series — it is also a cop show with mythological overtones — it is perhaps the most confident step in the evolution of Indian streaming since Amazon's own Made in Heaven.

While it offers an uncommonly assured portrayal of New Delhi in its opening couple of episodes, Paatal Lok truly comes into its own when it veers off the beaten track, takes NH-24 and enters the badlands of Uttar Pradesh. As a hinterland crime story, the show is breathtakingly realised — revealing layer underneath rotting layer, like an eight-day-old 'pyaaz' at a roadside dhaba.