Would you watch a movie or a series called Shaitaan Haveli? No, right? Well that was my thought too but then for some reason I decided to watch one episode. Actually the reason was because I just clicked on it out of curiosity. Now what if I told you that the series turned out to be a good one. Surprised? Well, welcome to the club. So was I.
What I thought to be a B-Grade horror flick actually turned out to be a parody of those. Remember those horror movies of 80s and 90s by Ramsay brothers? That is what Shaitaan Haveli actually is but a much funnier version. The series itself actually announces itself to be a tribute to those cheesy horror movies. For its entire length of 9 episodes of 22 minutes each, it is a fun ride from begin to start; one that I did not regret watching even for a moment.
Shaitaan Haveli
Story line is quite simple really. There is a B-grade horror film director Hariman who is in debt with a gangster called Ponty Khurana. The only way that he can manage to repay the money would be to shoot another one of his legendary; low-budget horror movies; and hope that it becomes a hit. For the movie, Hariman puts together a cast of the gangster’s son Monty; his love interest Prarthana; a white girl called Julia and a side-hero Rahul Thakur.
Together they rent and arrive at an old Haveli to shoot the movie. As shooting commences, stranges things start to happen and the crew realizes that the Haveli is in fact haunted; and has a long and terrifying past. Together they deal with Ghosts, witches, zombies; and an evil overlord Chandaal, who lives on a “Kali Pahadi” behind “Purana Mandir”.
The show is an out and out comedy. It is a typical masala entertainer of a web series. Even the name of the episodes are “Chudail ki maa ki Shoot”, “Dilwale ka Dekh ke Dulhaniya ko Kuch Kuch Hota Hai” and “Tu jaanta hai mera Purvaj kaun hai?” etc . The show does a good job of bringing back the atmosphere of a B-grade low-budget horror movie. Right from the color grading to the old vintage fonts in the opening credits, the background score, to the comic expressions of the “supposed to be scary” characters, it is everything that a parody could be or should be. It is cliched yet entertaining.
Conclusion
On a weekend when you don’t have much to do and want to watch a light comedy, then give Shaitaan Haveli a try. I can promise that you will not be disappointed and will have some hearty laughs. It is a prime original so you can only watch it on Prime Video though. If you have the membership then definitely give it a try.
