"Jai Nirala," the crowd chants, prostrating themselves as he walks over expensive marble floors to his throne. The production design is intentional: this is not a place of renunciation, but of power. Gold-plated deities sit next to modern surveillance cameras. The episode masterfully introduces two contrasting characters who will become the show’s moral compass and its victim.
When Prakash Jha’s Aashram premiered on MX Player in 2020, it didn’t just arrive—it erupted. Set against the dust-choked, color-drenched landscapes of a fictional town called Kashipur, the very first episode, serves a potent cocktail of blind faith, political muscle, and raw exploitation. aashram season 1 episode 1
Within the first ten minutes, the show establishes its central question: Is this a story about God, or about the business of God? The episode opens with a montage that feels almost tranquil. Sunlight filters through the windows of a sprawling, ashram complex. Thousands of devotees, mostly poor and desperate, sleep shoulder-to-shoulder. The serenity is shattered by the sound of a helicopter. "Jai Nirala," the crowd chants, prostrating themselves as
Spoiler Alert: This article contains detailed plot points from Episode 1. Within the first ten minutes, the show establishes
Out steps (played with chilling charisma by Bobby Deol). He is not a monk in rags; he is a celebrity in white linen. His hair flows. His sunglasses are polished. His smile is calibrated.
Meanwhile, we meet Satti, a simple young man whose mother is dying of a kidney ailment. Doctors have given up. But Satti believes Baba Nirala can perform a miracle. He sells his only buffalo—his family’s livelihood—to buy a silver throne for the Baba as an offering. The tragedy is immediate: he gives everything for a man who doesn’t even know his name. The Supernatural Business Baba Nirala’s first on-screen "miracle" is a masterclass in manipulation. A blind woman is brought before him. The crowd watches in tears. Baba places his hand on her eyes, mutters a mantra, and— poof —she claims she can see light.