[4] The series is about a team of forensic experts who must catch a serial killer who considers himself the incarnation of the asura Kali.
Arshad Warsi and Barun Sobti star, alongside Anupriya Goenka, Riddhi Dogra, and Amey Wagh.
[5] Set against the backdrop of the mystical city of Varanasi, Asur follows Nikhil Nair, a forensic-expert-turned-teacher, who returns to his roots at the Central Bureau of Investigation, and along with his former mentor Dhananjay Rajpoot, finds himself caught in a cat and mouse game with a brutal serial killer.
[6] A flashback 16 years ago shows Shubh preaching to three followers and killing one of them as he was "no longer needed in this journey".
Nikhil Nair is haunted by his decision, while being hailed a hero by the media for sacrificing his daughter to save three social workers.
He receives new GPS coordinates that lead the CBI to an ice factory and another masked dead body.
Amid media frenzy over the triple murders, Nikhil & Nusrat look into the dead bodies for clues.
DJ and Naina pay a cold blooded visit to an unrepentant Swati who is hiding out in Shimla.
DJ travels to Varanasi to trace Shubh's steps after he escaped a jail fire with three other inmates, eventually learning that two of them are now dead; one of them was the kidnapper who had taken Nikhil hostage.
Paul (Meiyang Chang) arrives at the CBI office to take over the Asur case, much to the dismay of the team.
DJ and Naina watch Kesar's portal and find a code probably being used by Asur cult members to communicate.
DJ continues retracing Shubh's journey after the jail fire escape, from Prayagraj to Haridwar to Delhi where he meets a sculptor, Vrinda (Barkha Bisht Sengupta).
DJ says he is unlike Asur but will go to any length ("burn down the forest") to kill the monster he created (when he falsified evidence to put teenaged Shubh in jail for murdering his father).
He also says that a predictive model can only be built when the past and the present are taken into consideration - just Lord Brahma viewed time in its stationary state.
Impressed by his unconventional views, the scientist invites Shubh to join their research program on artificial intelligence.
DJ & Naina use the captured Kesar's face to gain access to the portal, but are flooded with hundreds of hits.
Flashback: 10 years ago in Prayagraj, a young Kesar Bharadwaj, whose real name is Mukund Agnihotri, is heartbroken after his wife dies due to the drunk driving of a minister's son.
Rasool's credit card statement leads them to an underground control center in an abandoned dumpyard in Delhi.
The Asur calls Rasool, telling him to fix this fiasco he created and that "the ritual requires a great sacrifice".
Combined with a lead Nikhil found from the soil in Nusrat's car, they manage to pinpoint the location she is being held.
Pratishruti Ganguly of Firstpost gave the series 3.5 out of 5, writing, "With each passing episode, the concept of heroism corrodes to reveal the frailty and malleability of our protagonists.
In an age of ultra-heroism of the police (the Rohit Shetty extended cop universe), where heroes are positioned as serial do-gooders, it is refreshing to see a narrative that questions the very basis of morality.
"[1] Conversely, Tanisha Bagchi of The Quint gave the film 2 out of 5, writing, "From mythology, revenge, redemption, karma, to mystery, murder and human psychology, Asur tries to combine different aspects but gets entangled in its own web.
Long monologues about tales of demons and gods, destiny and other philosophies take away the sense of urgency from the show.