Title: Ali Baba Aur 40 Bhoot
Directors: Kenny Basumatary, Rohan Goshe, Konarak Mukherjee and Rishav Agarwal
Cast: Asha Negi, Vishal Vashishtha, Mridul Das, Ramandeep Singh, Mansi Srghal
Where: Streaming on JioHotStar
Rating: 2.5 stars
Created by Bhuvanesh Shrivastava, Ali Baba Aur 40 Bhoot rummages through the familiar cupboard of Indian horror and comes away with almost every ingredient on the shelf. The show occasionally finds a nice balance between the macabre and the comic, particularly when its characters react to the supernatural with the casual disbelief and bewilderment familiar to Indian audiences. Unfortunately, the humour rarely cuts deeply enough, and the horror often settles for atmosphere over genuine dread. The result is watchable, but hardly addictive.
Alisha returns to Jhuliya when her archaeologist father, Tapish Nigam, mysteriously vanishes. Her investigation leads her to forty cursed statues unearthed during his archaeological exploration and, inevitably, into a hidden world of ancient demons and paranormal forces. Helping her is Babarao Upadhay, a small-town police officer who has a crush on her since his childhood.
Directed by Kenny Basumatary, Rohan Goshe, Konarak Mukherjee and Rishav Agarwal, the series does little to reinvent the horror-comedy wheel. It embraces familiar tropes: conspiracy, romance, supernatural rituals, grotesque creatures, deaths and a rather lame entity that is hardly the stuff of nightmares. The first four episodes, at around 30 minutes each, are decidedly lukewarm. The premise has potential, particularly with archaeology and folklore providing a richer canvas, but the writing seldom digs deep enough into either. That is a missed opportunity. A tighter narrative could have sharpened both the comedy and the horror.
Actors' Performances
Asha Negi as Alisha is adequate as the emotional and investigative centre. Vishal Vashishtha brings an affable, slightly eccentric energy to Babarao Upadhay. Joy Sengupta, as Mr Talwar, and Ujwal Chopra as Tapish, provide dependable support. The performances fit the show's light horror-comedy register, though none leaves a particularly lasting impression.
Music and Aesthetics
This is where Ali Baba Aur 40 Bhoot fares considerably better. The sound design is dynamic and effectively builds suspense. The camera work is another plus. The drone shots are used well, while the haveli like house, corridors, shadows and rural setting create an appropriately ominous visual world.
FPJ Verdict
This series has the ingredients for a spirited horror-comedy, but assembling them is easier than cooking up something memorable. The atmosphere works, the sound design impresses and there are flashes of humour and horror, but the narrative takes too long to get its act together.
