Web series, Indian stock market, financial literacy, edutainment, SEBI, Dalal Street, narrative analysis. 1. Introduction The rise of Over-the-Top (OTT) platforms in India has diversified content beyond mythology and romance into niche professional worlds. The Bull of Dalal Street (hereafter TBDS ) is a significant entry in the “workplace drama” genre, set against the volatile backdrop of the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and the National Stock Exchange (NSE). Released during the COVID-19 pandemic—a period that saw a massive influx of retail investors into the Indian markets—the series tapped into a growing public appetite for financial knowledge.
Abstract: The Bull of Dalal Street (2020), directed by Vijay Shekhar Gupta and streaming on ZEE5, is a Hindi-language web series that attempts to demystify the Indian stock market for a mass audience. This paper argues that the series functions simultaneously as financial edutainment and a socio-economic commentary on post-liberalization India. By analyzing its narrative structure, character archetypes, and pedagogical techniques, the paper evaluates the series' effectiveness in explaining complex financial instruments (e.g., futures and options, short selling, IPOs) against its dramatization of insider trading and market manipulation. The paper concludes that while the series succeeds in generating financial curiosity, it often prioritizes melodrama over regulatory accuracy, reflecting a persistent tension in Indian digital content between education and entertainment.
