"it isn't as if my nudity is gratuitous."
Indian actresses have found success featuring in bold and sexual web series, showcasing their talents across alternative platforms to film and television.
The 2010 decade has seen the rise of providers such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and others. This is a stark contrast to the 90s and early 2000s when Bollywood was dominating, along with increased popularity of serials on television.
Moreover, bold themes and stories with a sexual nature that had more strict censorship on other mediums have been explored more openly via popular web series.
Experienced and contemporary Indian actresses have essayed bold and sensual characters, creating a stir along the way. Actresses that have starred in such web series, include the likes of Radhika Apte and Sayani Gupta.
He is a detailed list of ten Indian actresses who have featured in web series, that explore erotic and sexual themes:
Shama Sikander – Maaya (2017)
The ever beautiful Shama Sikander plays the lead role of  Sonia Arora in Maaya. She looks sexy and sultry as Sonia in the web series.
Touted as the desi remake of Fifty Shades of Grey (2015), this series revolves around the desire for Bondage, Discipline, Dominance and Submission, Sadomasochism (BDSM). Although, there are more sex scenes than reflecting on BDSM
Maaya is the directorial debut of Vikram Bhatt in the web series genres. Shama manages to portray the sexual fantasies of Maaya, the titular character of the series, on-screen quite boldly.
Maaya was the official nomination under ‘Best Web Series’ for the 17th ITA Awards 2017.
Kiara Advani – Lust Stories (2018)
Lust Stories is an anthology of four separate short stories directed by different directors.
Kiara Advani features in Karan Johar’s segment where she portrays the role of an unsatisfied housewife, Megha. She tries to use a vibrator to quench her sexual desires.
There is one particular scene where she has an orgasm with a vibrator, with a song from Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham… (2001) playing in the background.
This attracted a lot of attention, with some finding the scene erotic and hilarious, while others disapproved of it. This series was distributed by Netflix on June 15, 2018.
Radhika Apte – Lust Stories (2018)
In Lust Stories, Radhika Apte stars within the segment directed by Anurag Kashyap. She plays the role of Kalindi, a college professor with conflicting sexual desires.
Kalindi engages in an affair with a student, Tejas, (Akash Thosar) and intends to explore her sexuality. This is after she learns about her husband’s pre-marital affairs.
She enacts the awkwardness and intensity of casual relationships with ease and perfection.
Radhika received an Emmy nomination medal for playing this sexually bold character in 2019.
Anveshi Jain – Gandii Baat (2018)
The web series Gandii Baat has had two seasons, with stories of sex, lust and desire based in rural areas of India. Each episode is as raunchy and steamy as it can get.
In the second season of the series, there is an episode on a lesbian love story. Anveshi Jain (Neeta) and Flora Saini (Sajeeli) play lesbian lovers in this episode.
Their sensual lovemaking scenes got leaked before the show was launched and went viral immediately.
Gandii Baat is a Hindi web series for video on demand platform, Alt Balaji. It is also available on ZEE5.
Naina Ganguly – Charitraheen (2018)
Charitaheen is a gripping Indian Bengali language web series that is an adaptation of a novel by writer Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyay.
The show had two seasons released by 2019. The portrayal of Kiranmayi by Naina Ganguly was appreciated by everyone.
With her character, she showcases seduction, desire, sex and love in this web series.
A Hoichoi original presentation, this series made its way on the Bengali entertainment platform on September 29, 2018.
Rajshri Deshpande – Sacred Games (2018)
Rajshri Deshpande who plays Subhadra, wife of Ganesh Gaitonde (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) is a popular character from the web series Sacred Games. Subhadra’s role shows her acting prowess and the bold lovemaking scenes of the couple.
The boldness of Rajshri is commendable, particularly the level of nudity she shows in the web-series. Rajshri tells India Today that her role and situation dictated the topless sequence with Siddiqui:
“When I did the scenes, I wasn’t aiming at a particular impact. It was what the character Subhadra and the situation demanded. And since I had full faith in my director Anurag Kashyap, I didn’t hesitate for a minute in saying yes.”
Rajshri adds that she was thankful to Siddiqiui for making her comfortable when shooting the nude scene:
“Nawazuddin Siddiqui was a very big support. He made sure I was comfortable. In fact, the whole team was a big help.”
“And it isn’t as if my nudity is gratuitous. It comes with a great deal of back story.”
This was the first original Indian series available on Netflix.
Asmita Jaggi – Â I Love Us (2019)
I Love Us is a web series based on a same-sex love story of two women played by Asmita Jaggi (Shreya Rajput) and Harsha Chopra (Ananya Mitra).
The series includes plenty of intimate scenes between the two actors. Asmita plays one of the lesbian lovers and has shot a series of passionate scenes for the show.
The series initially had a premiere on YouTube on January 12, 2018.
The Dreamz Images presentation is available to view on Footlooze, with a subscription.
Sayani Gupta – Four More Shots Please! (2019)
The web series, Four More Shots Please! is a sex comedy based on the friendship of four women living in Mumbai.
Sayani Gupta plays Damini, one of the four friends who is a journalist by profession.
Damini is too busy in her profession to have time for a serious relationship and emerges in and out of flings.
There is a scene where she fantasises of steamy sex with her gynaecologist, Dr Aamir Warsi (Milind Soman).
The scene is an absolute treat to watch for people of all sexual orientations. This series became available on Amazon Prime from January 25, 2019.
Manjari Phadnis – Fuh Se Fantasy (2010)
Fuh Se Fantasy is an anthology of stories based on a variety of bedroom fantasies of people.
The fantasies range from foot fetishes to fetish for making out in weird public places.
Manjari Phadnis features in an episode named ‘Blindfolded,’ which is based on the fetish of strangers as lovers and from a blind dating perspective.
A viewer posted a comment on Reddit about her bold performance, which sets the screen on fire: “She is irresistibly hot,not only here but in general too ;”
This web series is a Voot original, a video-on-demand subscription service.
Priya Banerjee – Bekaboo (2019)
Priya Banerjee is an actress who appears in bold scenes in the erotic web series Bekaboo. She looks stunning and sexy in the web series.
Bekaboo is a thriller based on a novel written by Navoneel Chakraborty.
Priya plays the lead character Kashti who stalks Kiyan Roy (Rajeev Siddhartha), a best selling author. The series has a fair share of steamy scenes showcasing BDSM as a way of lovemaking.
This web series is an Alt Balaji original. Season One was launched on May 1, 2019.
These ten Indian actresses have managed to capture the imagination of audiences, with their bold and sensual performances.
As well as these star Indian actresses, there are many others who have dared to bring out the stories that happen behind closed doors in bold and sexual web series.
The popularity of sexually bold Indian web series is set to increase further, as storylines diversify and content bites at the edge of censorship.  Hence, it is likely we shall see these actresses and more joining the casts of appealing scripts.
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