MX Original Series Aashram unfolds the blind faith that millions bestow upon self-proclaimed leaders

MX Player, the platform that brought Indian audiences’ premium content like Queen and Times of Music has now joined hands with acclaimed film maker Prakash Jha to bring you MX Original Series Aashram, which has released now. Having created ripples with its teaser poster and unusual disclaimer, this satirical drama marks National Award-winning director Prakash Jha’s foray into the world of web-series’ and is starring Bobby Deol as Kashipur Waale Baba Nirala in the lead. 

Based in the Fictional city of Kashipur, is an empire created by a self-proclaimed Godman - KASHIPUR WALE BABA NIRALA. The sudden resurfacing of a skeleton in the adjacent forest land, disrupts the peace of the city in the crucial times of the upcoming state elections and all the links of the investigation mysteriously point towards one place- THE AASHRAM.

We’d like to introduce you to each character that plays an important role in the link to this case. 

KASHIPUR WALE BABA NIRALA (Bobby Deol) 

Kashipur wale Baba Nirala is a self-proclaimed Godman who has created an empire in the fictional city of Kashipur. He derives his power from the influence he has over the lower strata of the society. His child like innocence masks his lethal intentions and his charismatic personality makes millions follow him but yet they can’t detect the underlying darkness that is just brimming at the surface. He has often stood for them and they consider him to be their Messiah! 

But eventually, fingers are pointed at this larger than life image of a Messiah – making you doubt whether this self-proclaimed Godman is indeed nothing other than a conman. 

Pammi (Aaditi Pohankar)

Pammi is a head strong, goal oriented young girl who isn’t afraid to dream big despite the limitations imposed by society. She is undaunted by the system and constantly challenges stereotypes with the belief that honesty and sincerity will always win. 

Pammi's first step towards her bigger goal to win a gold medal for the country in wrestling was stopped by the upper caste wrestler whose father is the organizer of the event. Pammi has repeatedly been a victim to this discrimination and hals always pushed back to the best of her ability. Just when she is about to lose all her faith, Kashipur wale Baba Nirala enters her life like a ‘Maseeha’. First time in her life Pammi meets a person who is so fearless, honest, brave and has such an infectious aura. Pammi is immediately drawn into his devotion. Inspite of facing objection from her family she decides to become a Sadhvi and eventually succeeds in getting Baba’s permission to stay in Ashram. Here she not only performs her duties of a Sadhvi but also concentrates on her studies and wrestling training

Ujagar Singh (Darshan Kumaar)

Ujagar Singh is the only force that stands in the way of the Aashram and Baba’s lesser known truth. He is a bitter and cynical inspector at the Kashipur police station who has lost his faith in the justice system. A big change-over comes in his life when he meets Natasha - a righteous post mortem specialist while investigating a skeleton case. Supported by her strong sense of morality, it is his sheer determination and courage that spurs him to bring the criminals involved in skeleton case to justice. 

Bhopa Swami (Chandan Roy Sanyal)

Bhopa is the Administrative Head of the Kashipur Aashram. He is the right hand man of the self-proclaimed Godman Kashipur wale Baba Nirala. In order to safeguard Baba’s interests, Bhopa often takes due advantage of Baba’s power and wrongfully uses the system for their advantage. He is a sharp strategist, methodical, composed, quick-thinker who literally eats, sleeps, and breathes the management of Ashram. 

Dr. Natasha (Anupriya Goenka) 

Dr. Natasha is a righteous post mortem specialist who since her childhood has been fascinated by crime/detective-novels & stories of solving murder-mysteries. She meets Ujagar inside the post-mortem room during the skeleton case investigation. Despite being the only woman who is embroiled in this case, she firmly stands her ground and continues to fight for the truth.  She is the one who motivates Ujagar to pursue the case and bring the culprit to justice when he was just about to give up the case considering the life-threatening consequences on everybody involved. 

Tinka Singh (Adhyayan Suman)

Tinka Singh is a celebrity singer who is a cocaine addict megalomaniac who speaks in a fake Canadian accent. Baba comes up with the idea of roping in Tinka Singh to increase more youth following of the Aashram. While Tinka doesn’t believe in Godmen and is indeed sceptical of the on goings in this institution, he finds himself forced to join the Aashram and align himself with Kashirpur Waale Baba Nirala at the behest of Bhopa Swami. 

Babita (Tridha Choudhury) 

Babita, with a background of being a sex-worker is married to Satti in a community marriage organised by the Ashram. Immediately after, she quickly picks up the charm of being newly married and starts to fall in love with her husband. But despite this, she finds that society looks down on her and refuses to accept or respect for who is she, given the background she came from. 

Sadhu (Vikram Kochhar)

Sadhu Kumar is a constable at Kashipur police station. He is a strong support for Ujagar. He always calms down Ujagar when he goes all out on his cynical mode. He joins Ujagar in his mission to unmask the criminals involved in the skeleton case. He is fearless of any political pressure and decides to accompany Ujagar. 

Satti (Tushar Pandey) 

Born and raised in a household with a lower income and a community that has always been suppressed by society, Satti leaves his studies to work and support his wrestler sister Pammi. He is the ideal son, brother and husband – always happy to be the peacemaker and and very non-confrontational by nature. When Pammi is determined to join the Aashram, like a supportive brother he helps her in convincing the family. After seeing the world of the Kashipur Aashram he is also eventually drawn into the blind faith. 

Hukum Singh (Sachin Shroff) 

Ex Chief minister, Harvard educated and a blue blood native in the city - Hukum Singh is still among the big industrialists and major politicians in the state even after being stuck in the opposition party for two consecutive tenures. In the desperation of regaining his ground in mainstream politics he goes on to join hands with Baba to cash his popularity in upcoming elections after a major setback when his long-time aide. He is a typical opportunity seeker who will always play the game; he believes the end justifies the means. 

Kavita (Anuritta K Jha)

Widowed at a young age and now a ‘Sadhvi’ at Ashram, Kavita finds herself locked up within the walls of the Aashram and is desperate to escape.  

Akki or Akhwinder Rathi (Rajeev Siddhartha) 

Akki is a local news reporter who runs a local channel ‘Khabar aap tak’. Akki is always on the run for some breaking news – but unlike others, his quest is to find the right news – the stories that matter and to be a strong voice against injustice of any kind. When the skeleton is discovered, he does not lose any time to fetch more news. Ujagar tries to drive him away at first but later when he is determined to crack the case, he takes the help of Akki. 

The series questions how some self-proclaimed leaders distort the truth to exploit simple and innocent believers. This fictional story on the undying loyalty for Kashipur Waale Baba Nirala and his Aashram is an attempt on the same subject and hints at whether it is indeed a place of faith. 

Produced and directed by Prakash Jha, this sensational 9-part series stars Bobby Deol, Aaditi Pohankar, Chandan Roy Sanyal, Darshan Kumaar, Anupriya Goenka, Adhyayan Suman, Tridha Choudhury, Vikram Kochhar, Tushar Pandey, Sachin Shroff, Anuritta K Jha and Rajeev Siddhartha in pivotal roles.  

Stream all episodes for Free, NOW – exclusively on MX Player