Faith V/s Reason, this perpetual conflict forms the bedrock of the new Star Bharat show Kaal Bhairav -Rahasya. The concept which is the remake of a very popular Tamil show, Marmadesam is certainly high and unique in content, very different from what is on offer in Hindi TV today.
The setting is an ancient shiv mandir in the fictitious village of Siddhpur where tradition says that no one must remain inside the temple post sunset as Shiv Gans do pooja. Iqbal Khan who plays a journalist Indra Prakash gets locked in the mandir as he attempts to record what happens at night. History has it that in the past six months, two people who had dared to stay in had got killed. Sadly Iqbal’s body is also found the next morning. The result of all this is that no one dares to enter the village precinct at night. The conflict between the Village Choudhary and the investigating cop who later gets killed was needed to show the complexity of the situation.
Indra Prakash’s younger brother Rahul Prakash (Rahul Sharma) masquerades as a young man Nandu in search of a job to find the truth. He is supported in this task by the village choudhary’s modern daughter Namrata (Chhavi Pandey). Interestingly her western attire in a village surrounding is a bit jarring.
There has to be a love triangle to create an element of confusion!! Thus enter the Pujari’s daughter Gauri (Sargun Kaur). Nandu had suspected her dad’s involvement in the murder, hence she hates him. The village bad boy is smitten by her, so viewers can surely expect fireworks here. Gauri is a very feisty girl and Kaur will have fun essaying her.
The opening montage and sound track is gripping and tells the power of Shiv. The interesting part is that there is no clear link of human involvement in the deaths so far, reason being that faint pictures of an animal dragging Indra Prakash’s body were shown. So we need to wait and watch what the future portends.
As a smart anti-climax, the camera that Iqbal’s character had secretively installed did not give a clear view of what happened to him.
Rahul Sharma who has done a fair bit of work is doing a decent job of Nandu. The romantic angle of walking Namrata back home with a song, though done to death was cute. Hope this show changes the ball game for Rahul and he enters the A league. It is sad that only young looking faces get to play the lead role. Ideally Iqbal could have done justice to the role, but then he does not look 25 on screen presumably!! Having said this, kudos to Iqbal for doing this special cameo for the show. This shows his belief and trust in the concept..
We like the narrative, for it does not go down the tried and tested saas-bahu route, but attempts to explore the myth surrounding temples. Let’s accept it, there are several such all over our great land. The challenge would be to maintain the sanctity of tradition, while reinforcing reason. The youth in hinterland India is deeply religious, hence any attempt belittling values might backfire. No wonder they have shown Namrata honouring tradition yet being modern. Chhavi is also doing a fine job so far.
The supporting cast is full of talented actors. But our eye fell on the senior actor Rajesh Puri who plays a mad man character. We hope that this character will have lots of meat as the narrative unfolds.
The acid test would be to maintain the single thread over a long time. The fear is that other elements might take a front seat in an attempt to rake in ratings. It is a creative challenge to keep the thrill alive over a longer span of time.
Star Bharat is certainly on a high with shows Kya Haal Mr. Panchal and Nimki Mukhiya doing well. Kaal Bhairav – Rahasya if handled well, has the potential to quickly take the top slot on the channel.
South Producer Ravi Gharani has oodles of experience with some top-notch shows under his belt. Must say, he’s made a successful switch to the Hindi circuit as Producer Dharmesh Shah who has helmed the show and shoulders the onus of coming up with an entertaining show (as Show Runner and Director) has put all his experience into play to come up with this socio-thriller.
IndianWikiMedia.com rates the show with 4 out of 5 stars.