Title: Andhera
Director: Raaghav Dar
Cast: Priya Bapat, Karanvir Malhotra, Prajakta Koli, Surveen Chawla
Where to watch: Amazon Prime
Rating: ***1/2
Raaghav Dar’s Andhera is a moody psychological drama dressed up as a police procedural but secretly angling for a séance. The premise is promising: Bani Baruah, a high-end escort with a troubled past, narrowly survives a suicide attempt only to be flung to her death by a sinister, unseen force. Her father refuses to accept the official “suicide” stamp, dragging us into a case Inspector Kalpana Kadam (Priya Bapat) would have preferred to solve with a sharp cross-examination, not a ghost-hunting kit.
From there, the series tiptoes across genres like a cat in someone else’s kitchen. There’s Jay Seth (Karanvir Malhotra), an MBBS student whose life has been derailed by depression, a car crash, and an unfortunate proximity to things that go bump in the night. His unlikely alliance with Rumi (Prajakta Koli), a chirpy supernatural podcaster, nudges the investigation into more spectral territory. Meanwhile, the police procedural steadily peels back layers to reveal comic-book nerds, spiritual wellness gurus, and even a possibly cursed orphan, all of whom are tethered to the central mystery. Soon, what starts as a whodunnit becomes a who-summoned-it.
The creators give Mumbai, the city a starring role, though not the tourism-board version. This is a city where the neon skyline conceals ancient malice, and the sea breeze smells faintly of dread. It’s an ambitious setting for a story about fear itself, personified in eerie monologues about how “Andhera knows everything” and “no one will be spared.”
Andhera: Actors’ Performance
Priya Bapat plays Kadam with a tenacity that makes you believe she really might chase a demon down a bylane in Byculla. Karanvir Malhotra’s Jay is broody without being unbearable, a small miracle in the world of tortured-past protagonists. Prajakta Koli lightens the tone with an earnest curiosity that offsets the gloom. Surveen Chawla, Vatsal Sheth, Parvin Dabas, and Pranay Pachauri round out a cast that, for the most part, resists the urge to wink at the absurdity of their circumstances.
Andhera: Music and Aesthetics
The background score is the series’ secret weapon. It swells and recedes with precision, pulling you into its dream-logic universe. Visually, the show alternates between crisp, well-lit urban tableaux and dimly lit interiors that suggest either menace or a production budget saving on electricity. Editing is sharp but sometimes self-consciously so, cutting away just as the tension begins to marinate.
Mumbai is captured as both glittering and hostile, its alleys and high-rises part of an urban mythos where every shadow might conceal something breathing. The production design is textured enough to convince you the darkness here has an address.
Andhera: Final Verdict
Andhera is not flawless, while its astutely staged, at times it appears to be perfunctorily perfect. Its pacing sometimes stumbles, but when it works, it delivers an uneasy blend of dread and curiosity that makes you lean closer to the screen. It’s equal parts noir, supernatural thriller, and urban fable, with enough atmosphere to keep the binge going past midnight.
