Adhura Review: A Product Stuck In Time, Confused Between Taking A Stand & Scaring People

Cast: Ishwak Singh, Rasika Dugal, Shrenik Arora, Poojan Chhabra, Arjun Deswal, and ensemble.

Creator: Ananya Banerjee and Gauravv K. Chawla.

Director: Ananya Banerjee and Gauravv K. Chawla.

Streaming On: Amazon Prime Video.

Language: Hindi (with subtitles).

Runtime: 7 Episodes, Around 45 Minutes Each.

Adhura Review: What’s It About:

A famous school in Ooty is planning a reunion for its 2007 batch. Students are about to revisit their school after 15 years. Eerie things begin to happen as the reunion date approaches only to unravel that a ghost is out there seeking revenge. What all of this leads to is the show.

Adhura Review: What Works:

Horror in India is probably the most weakly explored genre so far. While some ace filmmakers managed to bring in good content, thanks to a trope that introduced the audience to Horrex (horror + s*x), that we now feel that’s normal, and not many attempt to tell those stories without really introducing. While Tumbbad stands tall as the best in the genre in this generation, there are certainly attempts to ace it. Adhura is the newest addition that tries to tell a tale in an extended format, but does it succeed in doing so?

Concept by Anand Jain, shaped with Ananya Banerjee and Gauravv K. Chawla, Adhura tries to balance a dual world. One where a ghost exists and is avenging his death and the injustice that happened towards him, and the other is where students suffer bullying that scars them for their entire life. The good part about this show is the intent and the fact that it replicates in the visual translation till a point.

The best part about Adhura is the flashback that holds all the meat where it is a thriller, a whodunit, where a parallel investigation is being done. It is really interesting to see because the way the twists and turns arrive, some do land well. But the blueprint that they follow is so exploited that you cannot really do much.

Adhura Review: Star Performance:

Rasika Dugal can hardly go wrong, and this is a character where she has all the room to show her emotions. Though not rightly explored, there is a whole lot of pain that she is walking around, and you can see that in her performance. While her storyline deserved much deeper dive than the above-surface treatment she gets, she still manages to see beyond what’s on the screen, and that is an achievement for an actor.

Ishwak Singh knows how to play calm and composed characters, and this is not something that must have been a task for him. I would want to see him experiment now and venture into varied parts that show us his range. As an actor, he has got a whole lot of it in him, but we need to see that.

Poojan Chhabra is a good actor and manages to bring out the emotions well. Shrenik Arora, too, pulls off his part with honesty. Rest, everyone gets a one-tone part to play.

Adhura Review: What Doesn’t Work:

Adhura, when it reaches to the point that it intents to, starts taking the path that is already taken infinite times. You know there is a ghost, you know the door will open automatically, you know it is not a good idea to go at certain places, but the character will still do it. And it all becomes pretty much obvious because you have seen it numerous times.

Add to it that the spooky vibe that it wants to create, the horror that it wants to induce is never felt because the characters are not feeling it completely. No one is scared enough even visually. Also, the inconsistent balance between the messaging and the scaring goes completely off. Because we have seen enough of culprits coming under one roof and ghosts getting activated for revenge. What’s beyond?

Ishwak’s Adiraj had a childhood trauma, but why not explore that through an entire episode maybe? One scene, and you are supposed to sympathise with him. There is also convenience and lethargy present. A forensic team is unearthing a skeleton without any gloves on. The show technically has two climaxes. The second is so stretched and forced that you want to consider the first and end it there.

Adhura Review: Last Words:

Adhura is a show that could have made sense years ago when we had no exposure to the genre. Now it seems like a naive show that doesn’t even try.

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