The small screen is haunted with daayans and witches with new spooky tales that will keep you on the edge of the seat. MUSBA HASHMI speaks to actors about what’s new in this genre
Naag, naagins, daayans, vishkanyas, vampires, and now a sorceress. Indian TV has seen it all with shows like Naagin, Brahamrakshas, Kavaach, Nazar, Qayamat Ki Raat and many others which entertained the audiences and garnered TRPs, bringing the channel to the top.
Bringing a new twist in the supernatural fantasies and horror genre is Zee TV’s new show Manmohini that talks about a unique concept of Bhura Jaadu. A practice which can only be performed on sand was quite prominent in and around Rajasthan. The makers have an extra mile in researching for the show through rare scriptures and folklore from Rajasthan that has references of the traditional Ghagra Paltan cult who used to travel with the queen during those times and practice this form of witchcraft.
The show, which premiered from November 27 and air every Monday to Friday at 7:30 pm, narrates the story of a 500-year-old sorceress, Mohini whose spirit waits for ages for her late Rana Sa to reborn as Ram. Playing an antagonist, Mohini turns out to be not an evil as we have seen in other shows.
Talking about how the idea came up, producer Prateek Sharma, says: “ZEE TV was looking for a love story with a unique concept in the supernatural genre, something that has not been seen on TV before. So, I thought of doing something on Bhura Jaadu and started researching on it. Viewers have always seen a witch as fearsome and evil, but have not seen her in love. The canvas of the show gives us a lot of creative liberty to explore and experiment with riveting visuals of magic conjured from sand. It will give the viewers a different perspective of a witch altogether.”
Reyhna Pandit, who is playing Mohini, says: “Mohini is a passionate lover who is longing to reunite with her Rana Sa. She is not a stereotypical witch and she should not be mistaken with an evil spirit. Unlike other witches, she is a beautiful woman who is selflessly in love and is ready to even take the help of Bhura Jaadu to get her man. I have never played such a powerful character and the biggest challenge for me was to get the right Rajasthani dialect and perform in heavy costume.”
However, Mohini is not the only one who loves Rana Sa aka Ram. His wife Siya too loves him to a great extent and goes all out to protect him from everything.
Garima Singh Rathore, who is making her debut with this show as Siya, feels that she can’t ask for a better foray on TV than this. “I couldn’t have asked for a better debut on TV than Manmohini. Siya is a simple girl and her devotion and love will set up a war between her and Mohini. I am able to relate to a lot of elements in the show since I hail from Jaipur and the show is also based on Rajasthan,” Rathore says.
There is a plethora of new supernatural shows that is in the pipeline, which brings to you larger-than-life experience through advance VFX animation and graphics.
Basking in the glory of the success of Naagin series, Ekta Kapoor brings back yet another supernatural show — Daayan on &TV. There will be creepy crawling lizards and scary looking daayan, played by Aada Khan, at loggerheads with Uttaran fame Tina Datta as Jhanvi Morya.
Swastik Productions, which has given us great mythological and historical shows like Chandragupt Maurya, Porus, Karmaphal Daata Shani and many others, is now foraying in the supernatural genre with Tantra on Colors, that also explore the evil practise of black magic. All set to go on air from December 3, every Monday to Friday at 11pm, the show will take you on a journey of Khanna family who move into their dream home but become victims of tantra practises.
Sargun Kaur essays the female protagonist Niyati Khanna, while actor Gautam Vig plays her love interest, Akshat. The show marks a comeback of Manish Goel and Juhi Parmar as a loving couple, who get caught in the shackles of black magic.
Founder of Swastik Productions and creator of Tantra, Siddharth Kumar Tewary, says: “Supernatural and horror genre are very interesting to tell some spooky stories that will keep you on the edge. With the power of VFX and hi-tech sets and props clubs with a good story, we can easily catch the imagination of the audience and transform them to never-seen-before world. Tantra is a progressive show that sends across a message that black magic do any good to anyone. Instead, it leads to dire consequences.”
Be it love, hatred, revenge, family drama, thriller or suspense, you will find all these elements beautifully weaved in these supernatural shows that promises to give you a daily dose of entertainment with some nail-biting moments and visuals that will leave you in awe.