Overview
Breathe is an Indian Hindi-language psychological thriller streaming television series created by Mayank Sharma. The series premiered on Amazon Prime Video on 26 January 2018 and was among the early original productions commissioned by the streaming platform in India. Produced by Abundantia Entertainment, it explores the moral disintegration of ordinary individuals pushed to extreme circumstances, primarily centred on the themes of organ donation, parental love, and crime investigation.
Key Facts
| Title | Breathe |
|---|---|
| Genre | Psychological thriller, crime drama |
| Created by | Mayank Sharma |
| Original language | Hindi |
| Production company | Abundantia Entertainment |
| Original network | Amazon Prime Video |
| First season premiere | 26 January 2018 |
| Country of origin | India |
| Franchise | Breathe (followed by Breathe: Into the Shadows) |
Background
The series was conceived and directed by Mayank Sharma, who also co-wrote the screenplay. It marked the Hindi web debut of South Indian actor R. Madhavan, who took on the lead role. The project was developed as part of Amazon Prime Video's strategy to invest in original Indian content following its launch in the Indian market in late 2016, alongside other early titles such as Inside Edge.
Plot
The first season follows Danny Mascarenhas (R. Madhavan), a former rugby player and devoted single father living in Mumbai, whose young son Josh suffers from a chronic respiratory illness and requires an urgent lung transplant. Placed third on the donor waiting list, Danny resorts to drastic and morally questionable measures to ensure his son survives. Investigating a string of suspicious deaths is Kabir Sawant (Amit Sadh), a flawed senior inspector with the Crime Branch attempting to redeem his career and personal life.
Cast
- R. Madhavan as Danny Mascarenhas
- Amit Sadh as Inspector Kabir Sawant
- Sapna Pabbi as Sub-Inspector Shabana Khan
- Neena Kulkarni as Maria Mascarenhas
- Atharva Vishwakarma as Josh Mascarenhas
- Hrishikesh Joshi as Prakash Kamble
Production
Filming was carried out primarily in Mumbai. The first season comprises eight episodes. The series was shot in Hindi but was made available with dubbing and subtitles in multiple Indian and international languages on the Prime Video platform.
Reception
Breathe received generally positive reviews from Indian critics, with particular praise directed at R. Madhavan's restrained performance and the show's morally ambiguous narrative. It was noted as one of the more ambitious early forays into long-form streaming drama in India and contributed to the rapid expansion of the Hindi web series industry in the late 2010s.
Sequel and franchise
The brand was extended through Breathe: Into the Shadows, which premiered on 10 July 2020. While Amit Sadh reprised his role as Kabir Sawant, the second instalment featured an entirely new central storyline with Abhishek Bachchan and Nithya Menen in lead roles, establishing the title as an anthology-style franchise rather than a direct continuation. A subsequent season of Into the Shadows was released in 2022.
Significance
The series is regarded as a notable entry in the early wave of Indian streaming originals, demonstrating that domestically produced thrillers could attract mainstream film actors and high production values. It helped position Amazon Prime Video as a serious competitor to other streaming services in the Indian market and influenced the subsequent commissioning of psychologically driven crime thrillers on Indian OTT platforms.