 "Prajakta Koli and Surveen Chawla's 'Andhera' web-series review: It's more than just a horror show")
Cast: Priya Bapat, Karanvir Malhotra, Prajakta Koli, Surveen Chawla, Vatsal Sheth, Parvin Dabas, Pranay Pachauri
Director: Raaghav Dar
Language: Hindi
Prime Video’s Andhera begins with a couple’s homily conversation on a CGI-coded beach that soon morphs into the show’s first jump scare. We get another one before the opening credits begin to roll, and by the time we reach the third episode, the total goes up to 786 with little exaggeration. It’s hard to describe what the show is aiming for since the makers bite more than they can chew. It has multiple pieces of a jigsaw puzzle that creator Gaurav Desai and director Raaghav Dar try to intertwine with hit and miss results. But they do try to legitimize the moniker by keeping things in the dark, both for the characters and the viewers. And there are endless conversations about how they feel darkness around them.
A bruised Priya Bapat who’s investigating the case of a missing girl has visions about her traumatic past that leads her to the omnipresent Surveen Chawla. An encounter supposedly for healing exposes her sexual identity. The social subtext is handled with care and restrain. The other piece of this puzzle is Karanvir Malhotra, who’s battling depression and PTSD. He’s terrorized by an evil spirit whose screeches bring back memories of Vikram Bhatt’s endless 1920 franchises. There’s Prajakta Koli, (almost) playing herself, called Rumi. Given the noir splashed on us, this name suggests she could be the only character to lighten up the scene.
The idea to keep the frames gloomy is unquestionably intentional. They are mostly bathed in blue, and all the spots are soulless set-pieces, be it a children’s healthcare or a police station or a content creator’s workplace. People in Andhera don’t use electricity purely to make sure they are able to justify the name of the series. Unlike Prime Video’s Khauff, which was more brutal and visceral in its telling, this one aims for a Bollywoodized treatment that adds jump scares more for effect than impact. And given the changing and evolving landscape of horror, especially with Together and Weapons recently, Andhera, despite the heightened ambitions, gets dwarfed in the crowd only because of its inability to decide what tone to adapt to.
That’s not to say it’s a sore thumb. The idea to create a concoction and cocktail of mental health, sexual identities, supernatural, and horror is as ambitious on paper as it’s on screen. The creepy yet crackling visuals accompanied by a daunting background music, especially towards the end of episode three, give the show the mood it needed and deserved. What takes away the essence of the narrative is the ill-timed humour. A scene where Rumi and Jay invite the evil spirit is so Jaani Dushman-esque that you yearn for Raj Babbar’s hysterical expressions while calling Manisha Koirala’s Divya with all his eroticism. The long-lost Kavin Dave makes an appearance that feels straight out of I Hate Luv Storys.
There are some glaring cliches too. Two male police officers deride a female cop for what else but her gender. She has a cringe cohort that cracks lunatic jokes. But the real issue here is the big reveal! Why he did what he did! It could be acquired taste. It’s not your usual revenge saga. It has to do something with human consciousness and immortality. After ticking the boxes of horror, comedy, whodunnit, Andhera makes an endeavour to veer into the space of sci-fi.
Credit must be given to the makers to put together all their ideas and mix it into one show. Even when it overstays its welcome and is marred by inconsistent vein, Andhera ultimately feels like a tolerable attempt. But do you know how it feels when you feel a film or a show that could have been so much more ends up being middling? DARK!
Rating: 3 (out of 5 stars)
Andhera is now streaming on Prime Video
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