Jazz City is a 2026 Bengali historical spy thriller set against the political upheaval that led to the Bangladesh Liberation War. The story moves through Calcutta’s jazz scene, where music, espionage, refugee politics and questions of Bengali identity begin to overlap as the crisis in East Pakistan grows more violent.
Arifin Shuvoo leads the series as Jimmy Roy, a sharp-tongued jazz club owner who would rather protect his business than become involved in politics. Sauraseni Maitra, Santanu Ghatak, Shataf Figar, Alexandra Taylor and Sayandeep Sengupta play other major characters. Created and directed by Soumik Sen, Jazz City has one season with 10 episodes and premiered on SonyLIV on March 19, 2026.
Jazz City Web Series Cast
1. Arifin Shuvoo as Jimmy Roy
Arifin Shuvoo plays Jimmy Roy, the owner of a fashionable jazz club in Calcutta. Jimmy is a refugee who has reinvented himself and learned to survive by keeping politics at a distance. That position becomes impossible as his club turns into a meeting point for people connected with intelligence networks, activists and the growing resistance across the border.
2. Sauraseni Maitra as Sheela
Sauraseni Maitra plays Sheela, one of the central figures in Jimmy’s changing world. She becomes closely connected with the political and human crisis surrounding the liberation movement. Her journey gives the series an emotional link between personal relationships and the larger historical conflict.
3. Santanu Ghatak as IB Officer Sinha
Santanu Ghatak appears as Sinha, an Intelligence Bureau officer. His presence brings espionage directly into Jimmy’s life. Sinha operates in a world of coded messages, surveillance and uncertain loyalties, where the jazz club becomes useful for far more than music and entertainment.
4. Shataf Figar as General Hanif
Shataf Figar plays General Hanif, a military figure connected with the Pakistani establishment. The character represents the state power and security machinery operating against the Bengali resistance as the political crisis moves towards open war.
5. Alexandra Taylor as Pamela
Alexandra Taylor plays Pamela, one of the recurring characters in Jimmy’s social world. Her presence helps establish the cosmopolitan atmosphere around Calcutta’s club culture while the city outside becomes increasingly tense and politically charged.
6. Sayandeep Sengupta as Rambahadur
Sayandeep Sengupta plays Rambahadur, another recurring character who remains part of Jimmy’s circle through the season. His role connects the club’s everyday life with the changing political atmosphere around it.
Other notable cast members include:
- Tanika Basu as Kaberi
- Soumen Chakraborty as Manash
- Shahir Raj as Ramiz
- Richard Bhakti Klein as Reverend
- Rituparna Dutta as Lily
- Vinay Sharma as Alvarez
- Aniruddha Gupta
- Shreya Bhattacharya
- Amit Saha
Jazz City Web Series Crew
Jazz City is created, written and directed by Soumik Sen. Arpita Chatterjee is credited as producer, while Samar Roy and Shayon Chakraborty are among the executive producers. The technical team combines period production work with an extensive music department, which is especially important because jazz is built into the identity of the series.
- Creator, Writer and Director: Soumik Sen
- Producer: Arpita Chatterjee
- Executive Producers: Samar Roy and Shayon Chakraborty
- Co-Producers: Patralika Mukherjee and Soumya Mukhopadhyay
- Cinematography: Ron Mukherjee and Vishal Verma
- Editor: Amit Ray
- Music: Diptarka Bose, Arka Mukherjee and Soumik Sen
- Costume Design: Sabarni Das
- Makeup Design: Aniruddha Chakladar
- Sound Design and Mixing: Shreejit Gupta
Jazz City Web Series Story
Jazz City opens in Calcutta before the 1971 war, when political unrest in East Pakistan is already affecting life across the border. Jimmy Roy runs a jazz club and tries to keep his world centred on music, business and survival rather than ideology.
That separation does not last. Refugees arrive, student movements intensify and intelligence agencies begin watching people moving between Calcutta and East Pakistan. Jimmy’s club gradually becomes a place where musicians, officials, activists and informants cross paths. A venue created for entertainment starts functioning as an unofficial meeting ground for people with very different agendas.
Sheela becomes part of the political awakening around Jimmy, while Sinha’s intelligence work pulls the club owner closer to covert operations. On the other side, General Hanif and the Pakistani security establishment represent the growing repression that eventually turns the political dispute into a violent national crisis.
The season follows the characters through language protests, refugee movements, disease, elections, surveillance and the military crackdown in East Pakistan. Jimmy is repeatedly forced to choose between self-preservation and helping people whose lives are being destroyed by events around him.
By the closing episodes, the conflict has moved far beyond secret meetings inside a jazz club. Jimmy and his allies are trying to survive military violence, rescue people in danger and get evidence of atrocities before the outside world. The finale turns the act of documenting the truth into a direct confrontation, bringing the themes of music, identity and resistance together.
Jazz City uses real historical events as its background, but its central characters and many of their personal stories are dramatised. It is therefore best understood as historical fiction rather than a documentary account of the Bangladesh Liberation War.
How Many Episodes Are There in Jazz City?
Jazz City Season 1 has 10 episodes. The complete season was released in March 2026.
- Episode 1: The Dispensable
- Episode 2: 21st February
- Episode 3: A Night In Park Street
- Episode 4: The Post Mortem
- Episode 5: The Homecoming
- Episode 6: Storm Of The Century
- Episode 7: The Election
- Episode 8: Searchlight
- Episode 9: Escape To Calcutta
- Episode 10: Morning Show
Jazz City OTT Platform and Release Date
Jazz City premiered on SonyLIV on March 19, 2026. The series is a SonyLIV original and its complete 10-episode first season is currently available on the platform in India.
The original audio is Bengali. The platform also lists Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and Malayalam audio options, making the series available to viewers outside its original language. Streaming catalogues can change, so viewers should check the current listing before subscribing specifically for the show.
What Kind of Series Is Jazz City?
Jazz City combines historical drama, espionage, political thriller and music. The jazz-club setting gives the show a distinctive identity, but the larger story is about the way ordinary people are drawn into a historic conflict even when they initially want no part in it.
The series is also closely tied to the cultural and political history of Bengal. Jimmy’s personal transformation runs alongside the struggle over language, identity and nationhood, allowing the 10-episode story to move between intimate relationships and major historical events.
