Candy is a 2021 Hindi crime-mystery thriller set in the misty hill town of Rudrakund. The story begins with the brutal death of a school student and gradually opens into a larger mystery involving drugs, local power, hidden crimes and the frightening legend of a creature known as Masaan. Rather than treating the murder as a single police case, the series connects it with the school, influential families and secrets that have been buried in the town for years.
Ronit Roy and Richa Chadha lead the series as teacher Jayant Parekh and DSP Ratna Sankhwar. Manu Rishi Chadha, Gopal Datt, Nakul Roshan Sahdev and Riddhi Kumar have other major roles. Directed by Ashish R. Shukla and created by Agrim Joshi and Debojit Das Purkayastha, Candy has one season of eight episodes. The complete season originally premiered on Voot Select on September 8, 2021.
Candy Web Series Cast
Ronit Roy as Jayant Parekh
Ronit Roy plays Jayant Parekh, a teacher in Rudrakund who is already dealing with a painful personal loss when one of his students, Mehul Awasthi, is found murdered. Jayant had a close connection with his students and refuses to accept easy explanations for what happened. His involvement deepens when another student, Kalki, returns after being feared dead and tells him that she witnessed something terrifying in the woods. Jayant gradually becomes an unofficial investigator, following clues inside the school and questioning the drug activity connected with the students.
Richa Chadha as DSP Ratna Sankhwar
Richa Chadha appears as DSP Ratna Sankhwar, the senior police officer handling the case in Rudrakund. Ratna is not introduced as a conventional upright investigator. Her professional choices are tied to the town’s powerful political network, while her difficult personal life adds another layer to the character. Jayant repeatedly challenges her handling of the murder investigation. As the evidence becomes harder to ignore, Ratna begins reconsidering her position and becomes increasingly involved in uncovering what is really happening in the town.
Manu Rishi Chadha as Money Ranaut
Manu Rishi Chadha plays Money Ranaut, an influential local politician and one of the most powerful men in Rudrakund. His position gives him political authority as well as influence over the local system. The hallucinogenic substance known as Candy becomes linked with a factory associated with him, making Money an important figure in the investigation. His family also becomes directly connected with the events that Jayant and Ratna are trying to understand.
Gopal Datt as Headmaster Thomas
Gopal Datt plays Headmaster Thomas, who runs the school at the centre of several important developments in the story. The murder of Mehul, the behaviour of senior students and the circulation of Candy all bring the school under scrutiny. Thomas is caught between protecting the institution and dealing with increasingly disturbing incidents involving students. His character helps connect the adult world of Rudrakund with the secrets hidden inside the school campus.
Nakul Roshan Sahdev as Vayu Ranaut
Nakul Roshan Sahdev appears as Vayu Ranaut, Money Ranaut’s son. Vayu becomes important as the investigation moves closer to the young people connected with the Candy drug network. His behaviour, his relationships and the suspicions surrounding him make him a recurring figure in Jayant and Ratna’s inquiry. The later episodes examine whether his connection to the case is as straightforward as it initially appears.
Riddhi Kumar as Kalki Rawat
Riddhi Kumar plays Kalki Rawat, a student whose disappearance and sudden return become major turning points in the mystery. Kalki tells Jayant that she witnessed Mehul’s killing and believes a frightening figure from the local Masaan legend was responsible. Jayant hides and protects her while trying to decide how much of her account can be explained by fear, trauma or the influence of drugs. As the investigation progresses, attempts to harm Kalki make her safety central to Jayant’s decisions.
Mihir Ahuja as Mehul Awasthi
Mihir Ahuja appears as Mehul Awasthi, the school student whose murder sets the entire story in motion. Although Mehul is dead when the main investigation begins, information connected with him continues to guide Jayant towards the school’s hidden drug problem. A video involving Mehul becomes one of the early clues suggesting that Candy is being distributed among students and that his death may be linked to a much larger chain of events.
Other notable cast members include:
- Anju Alva Naik as Sonalika Parekh
- Vijayant Kohli as Father Markus
- Prasanna Bisht as Ritika Sahay
- Durgesh Kumar as Lambodhar Bisht
- Ayesha Kaduskar as Sahiba Joshi
- Bodhisattva Sharma as Imran Ahmed
- Mikhael Kantroo as Luka
- Pawan Kumar Singh as Naresh Rawat
- Abbas Ali Ghaznavi as John Dhakar
- Aditya Nanda as Sanjay Sonowal
- Akash Mahamana as SI Shyam Pandey
- Raj Kumar Sharma as Atmanath
- Shivangi Singh as Lina Nagalia
- Sonal Panvar as Binny Parekh
Candy Web Series Crew
Ashish R. Shukla directed all eight episodes of Candy. Agrim Joshi and Debojit Das Purkayastha are credited as the creators and writers. The production team includes Farheen Amber, Rajesh Bahl, Vipul D. Shah, Shashi Shekhar and Ashwin Varde as producers. Faraz Alam handled the principal cinematography, Bodhaditya Banerjee edited the series and Neel Adhikari composed the music.
- Director: Ashish R. Shukla
- Creators and Writers: Agrim Joshi and Debojit Das Purkayastha
- Producers: Farheen Amber, Rajesh Bahl, Vipul D. Shah, Shashi Shekhar and Ashwin Varde
- Production Companies: Optimystix Entertainment India and Wakaoo Films
- Director of Photography: Faraz Alam
- Second Director of Photography: Dheeraj Chetia
- Editor: Bodhaditya Banerjee
- Music Composer: Neel Adhikari
- Casting Director: Gautam Kishanchandani
- Production Designers: Vijay Dulguch and Vinay Vishwakarma
- Costume Designer: Shilpi Agarwal
Candy Web Series Story
Candy begins in Rudrakund, a cold and isolated hill town where local stories about a dangerous presence in the forest already create an atmosphere of fear. That fear becomes real when school student Mehul Awasthi is found brutally murdered. Around the same time, another student, Kalki Rawat, is missing, leading many people to believe that the two incidents may be connected.
Jayant Parekh, a teacher at the school, refuses to treat Mehul’s death as an incident that can simply be forgotten. Jayant is carrying his own grief after a tragedy in his family, so the loss of a student affects him deeply. The case becomes even more disturbing when Kalki unexpectedly appears at his home. Traumatised and frightened, she claims that she saw Mehul being killed by a demon-like figure associated with the local Masaan legend.
Jayant is doubtful about the supernatural explanation, but he believes Kalki is in genuine danger. He begins searching for a rational connection between the murder, the school and the behaviour of several students. One of the strongest clues comes from information left by Mehul, which points towards a drug being circulated among students. The substance is called Candy because of the way it is presented, but it is actually a hallucinogen with potentially serious effects.
The trail brings Jayant into repeated conflict with DSP Ratna Sankhwar. Ratna has authority over the official investigation, but she is also entangled in the power structure of Rudrakund. Money Ranaut, the town’s powerful political figure, has considerable influence, and the factory connected with him becomes relevant once Jayant starts tracing the origin of Candy. At first, Ratna is unwilling to follow Jayant’s accusations as far as he wants her to.
As new attacks, confessions and old secrets emerge, the case becomes harder to dismiss. Vayu Ranaut comes under suspicion, Kalki remains a target, and the investigators encounter clues connected with the Masaan symbol. What seemed like a simple murder mystery gradually reveals links between student drug use, political protection, past crimes and people who have spent years keeping information hidden.
The second half of the season changes the relationship between Jayant and Ratna. Instead of working against each other, they begin comparing evidence and looking more seriously at the connection between Candy and the Masaan legend. Their investigation leads towards older events in Rudrakund and forces them to question several people who appear respectable on the surface. By the final episode, the mystery is no longer only about who killed Mehul; it is also about why so many people allowed the truth to remain hidden.
How Many Episodes Are There in Candy?
Candy Season 1 has eight episodes. All eight episodes were released together on September 8, 2021. The episodes run for roughly 35 to 44 minutes and follow one continuous mystery from Mehul’s murder to the final revelations in Rudrakund.
- Episode 1: Hope in the Darkness
- Episode 2: The Outsider
- Episode 3: The Rage of Rudrakund
- Episode 4: Old Sins
- Episode 5: Predators, Prayers, Sacrifices
- Episode 6: End of the Line
- Episode 7: The Heir of Misfortunes
- Episode 8: The Masaan
As of September 2026, Candy has one released season with these eight episodes. No additional released season is currently listed on the major streaming catalogue carrying the series in India.
Candy OTT Platform and Release Date
Candy originally premiered on Voot Select on September 8, 2021, with all eight episodes released together. The series was launched as a Hindi-language streaming thriller and was part of Voot Select’s original programming at the time.
Following later changes in the Viacom18 streaming ecosystem, Candy is currently available on JioHotstar in India. As of September 2026, the full first season is listed for streaming there, including an ad-supported viewing option. Streaming rights and catalogue availability can change, so viewers should check the current platform listing before subscribing specifically for the show.
What Kind of Series Is Candy?
Candy is a crime, mystery and psychological thriller that uses a small hill-town setting to combine a murder investigation with school drama, drug trafficking, political influence and local folklore. The supernatural idea of Masaan remains part of the atmosphere, but much of the suspense comes from trying to separate fear and rumour from the human crimes taking place in Rudrakund.
Ronit Roy’s Jayant provides the emotional centre through his determination to protect his students and find the truth, while Richa Chadha’s Ratna brings the official police investigation and its moral complications into the story. The eight-episode structure allows the series to move from a student murder to a wider network of secrets without turning into a case-of-the-week drama. Viewers looking for a Hindi mystery thriller with a dark setting, interconnected suspects and one continuing investigation will find that structure at the core of Candy.
