Chandan Shetty set to turn cop: Watch these 5 gripping films if you like police procedurals

Kannada rapper and composer Chandan Shetty’s first film as a leading man, Suthradaari, will be in theatres on May 9, 2025. Chandan plays a police officer in the film, investigating a spate of kidnappings, which, inevitably end with the victims taking their own lives. What makes them take that step, and who is behind this? That’s what he has to find out.

If investigative thrillers are right up your alley, here’s a collection of police procedurals that might interest you on OTTplay Premium.

Police procedurals to watch on OTTplay Premium

Rekhachithram 

When a man makes a dying confession that he and his pals had buried a young girl many decades ago, it is up to CI Vivek Gopinathan (Asif Ali of Thalavan fame) to verify the claim and then piece together all other details, including the identity of the deceased. Siddique, Manoj K Jayan, Anaswara Rajan, Saikumar, Indrans, Harishree Ashokan, TG Ravi and Bhama Arun are a part of the hit Malayalam thriller.

Rahasya 

Loosely based on the Arushi Talwar murder case, the Hindi mystery thriller by Manish Gupta had Ashish Vidyarthi and Tisca Chopra as a doctor couple, whose 18-year-old daughter is found dead in their house. While the needle of suspicion points towards the father, the CBI sleuth (Kay Kay Menon) in charge of the case doesn’t think so and decides to seek answers.

Vikrant Rona 

Rangitaranga maker Anup Bhandari’s maiden collaboration with Kiccha Sudeep had him take the actor to an earlier era, with a story set yet again in Kamarottu. Unlike Rangitaranga, where pregnant women were at peril, this time, young children are being targeted and Inspector Vikrant Rona has a personal stake in finding out who’s kidnapping and killing the young ones. Nirup Bhandari, Neetha Ashok, Madhusudan Rao, and Vajradheer Jain, etc., were part of the Kannada thriller’s ensemble cast.

Bhoothadam Bhaskar Narayana 

Shiva Kandukuri headlines this Telugu mystery thriller, which follows a rookie detective investigating a series of murders that could just be instances of human sacrifice. Written and directed by Purushotham Raaj, the film also stars Rashi Singh, Devi Prasad, Arun Kumar, Shiva Kumar, among many others. The film had opened to largely positive reviews when it came to theatres.

Kaalidas 

The Tamil psychological thriller directed by Sri Senthil stars Bharath as a police officer investigating the death of a woman, that is initially deemed to be suicide. When more women begin to die in a similar fashion, he has to get to the bottom of the mystery quickly and apprehend the perpetrator. The film paired Bharath with Ann Sheetal, while Suresh Menon, RT Jayavel, Priyadarshini, among others, had pivotal roles. The film was a box office success, prompting the makers to announce a sequel.