Andhera

A young woman, Bani’s disappearance into a supernatural darkness leads a cop, Kalpana and a medical student, Jay, on a dangerous quest. They uncover a conspiracy by a pharma CEO, Madhu Uberai, who exploits human suffering. As they try to unravel the secrets behind the darkness, named Tama, they confront their traumas and an unstoppable evil in a final, epic battle to save reality. The show boasts of decent performances all around, though it’s designed to exhibit the vision of the creators more than anything else. Karanvir Malhotra delivers a neat performance as the troubled sibling, trying to make sense of his brother’s trauma. Prajakta Koli’s vibrant, easy-going presence helps her portrayal, and Priya Bapat lends a silent dignity to her sincere cop-act.

The hardest thing about this show is also the easiest. Once you accept the fact that heightened hokeyness is key to both the characters and the construct, you begin admiring the straight-faced seriousness with which everyone gets with the plan, with nary an eye roll or giggle in sight. Without giving too much away, and I suppose I couldn’t even if I wanted to, so outlandish is everything, the ‘andhera’ in the title turns out to be a malevolent entity which threatens to enslave human-kind. It has wriggly tentacles which probe and fasten, whisking victims away into a never-never land where they lie in suspension, neither dead nor alive, mere husks.

Cold on the heels of Mandala Murders, Andhera (“darkness”) is yet another supernatural thriller that ends up becoming a cautionary tale on narrative ambition. This genre of horror is so shapeless that, if the theme isn’t as culturally focused as a Khauf or even an Asur, it tends to spiral into several directions without doing justice to any. It’s like a batsman who keeps swinging big — regardless of the match situation — under the pretext of “intent”. It doesn’t help that Andhera is one of the longest Hindi shows of the year. Or perhaps its 8 episodes feel longer because the world-building just never stops building; it’s not a good sign when a central character says “we were wrong all along” in the penultimate episode. It’s obvious that I’ve run out of patience because I usually don’t hit the ground running with criticism in the opening paragraph. I like some suspense and world-building too. But life is short and, if the title is anything to go by, I’m one typo away from reviewing the suburb I live in (Andheri).