Kawach Mahashivratri the new Colors show is slated to be the second edition of the big Kawach franchise which had Viviek Dahiya and Mona Singh in the lead roles.
However, we are still wondering where the link to the first edition is in the newly presented Kawach Mahashivratri. Maybe it is too early for us to jump the gun!!
Hopes and expectations are mighty big for Kawach Mahashivratri, as it comes from Ekta Kapoor who has given the TV viewing audience super success stories with three editions of Naagin and is all set to start work on Naagin 4.
Without further ado, let’s cut to the chase – the story premise.
Sadly the makers have borrowed a leaf from Star Bharat show, Kaal Bhairav Rahasya, about a Shiv mandir which is off limits at night.
Here, it is said that on Maha Shivratri, Lord Shiva becomes so pre-occupied in romance that he loses control over ghosts who run havoc. And anyone who tries to enter the mandir at night faces certain death.
Yet some young unmarried girl dares it, for it is said that if you go there you can see the face of your future husband (does this apply to divorcees as well?).
Lead girl Sandhya’s (Deepika Singh Goel) aunt too had faced a similar fate, which led to her father leaving the village to move to Mumbai.
Ironically, years later, the family is duped to go back, again on Maha Shivratri night, by Sandhya’s granny. Sandhya is accompanied by friend Ranjana, who does not believe in traditions. She dares to enter the temple after dark and Sandhya is forced to follow her friend to save her, where she sees the face of her future husband (interestingly, she does not need to recite the mandatory shloks).
Both are chased by spirits. Sandhya then finds Ranjana hanging upside down on a tree. One female ghost’s mangalsutra falls into Sandhya’s hands, allowing the ghost to possess her. The scene where she sees the ghost’s reflection in the mirror has been done to death in prior spooky tales. Another standard supernatural ploy is that if you don’t stop at a temple, God save you.
To be fair, along with the horror, the makers have also crafted a love story where you have Sandhya’s boss, Angad (Namik Paul), who has fallen head over heels in love with his employee. He proposes to her but she turns him down. She eventually agrees, for her family also backs him. The Marathi-Punjabi angle is cute. The scene where she gets J seeing Angad flirt with other gals was a big emotional relief to this high drama.
But lo and behold, on the night of the roka (engagement), a fire breaks out and the same mysterious guy she had seen as her hubby saves her and later, disappears into thin air. She later finds out that he is none other than Angad’s best buddy, Kapil Mittal (Vin Raina).
On the other side, Ranjana, who had taken away the mangalsutra from Sandhya, drops it in the bin, which annoys the female ghost no end. She kills Ranjana and takes over her body.
Some of the thrills when Sandhya was attacked by the ghost on the way to mandir were chilling. We admit that for a split second we did get scared. The ghost keeps scaring Sandhya during the wedding rituals. Sandhya also sees the dead Ranjana (she does not know yet that she is dead).
Ranjana’s dad turns up to look for her, but Angad’s and Sandhya’s families do not let him meet Sandhya.
Cute Deepika acts well as the sweet girl next door. The real challenge would be to play the possessed woman. Her work is cut out, given Mona’s great portrayal of the same in Kawach 1. This role is totally different from what Deepika has excelled in before.
NamikPaul is spot on as a man in love. The best thing for him is that unlike his last show’s ghost character, here he is a human who will help his woman fight off evil.
The love triangle between Sandhyay, Angad and Kapil (Vin Rana) becomes a quadrangle with the entry of Angad’s ex-flame, reporter Nisha (Hritu Dudani), who is tasked with the job of finding Ranjana.
Unlike other naysayers, we find fault with the genre. When you can love western fantasies like Game of Thrones, complete with dragons, why should we fight shy of showing our folk lore.
Having said that, like mentioned at the start, there is an overdose of fantasy on TV, such as Manmohini, Divya Dristhi and Nazar. So Kawach will really have to score to remain in contention. And the jury is still out for that.
The work is cut out for Colors, for their previous two week-day fantasy shows, Tantra and Sitara had not clicked, with the former gone off air and the latter on its last legs.
Rest assured, Kawach Mahashirvratri is Ekta Kapoor’s baby and we will certainly get the best. Only time will tell whether it is enough to ring in ratings!!
We credit Kawach Mahashivratri with 2.5 stars out of 5 stars.
