Betaal Review: The Zombie Horror With Its Gore Would Have Been Better As A Film!

This week’s big Netflix release from India, Betaal, took a new turn. Instead of the regular Friday release, this web series, produced by SRK’s Red Chilies Entertainment, premiered on a Sunday afternoon. This also broke the norm with the fact that the series has just 4 episodes, each somewhere between 40-45 minutes. But could this one live upto the hype that it had created in our hearts?

If you ask me that question, it would be a straightaway no. The plot, premise and story had immense potential. Keeping a spirit and zombies as the tool, the story also explored the relation between money and power, of orders and whether one should take them blindly, of redemption and showed how a dystopian society would look like! But, it had been stretched way beyond necessity; in fact so much that it ruins both its horror and the thriller and stands as merely a watchable series!

The plot revolves around a village where the native believes that a tunnel leading to a mountain is haunted by the spirit of Betaal. The British army, under the command of Lynedoch had entered the tunnel and this man bartered his soul to gain power. Cut to the modern times, where the forces are called to control the villagers so that a construction can be made through the mountain. But as the gates of the tunnel is reopened, hell breaks loose. Like every horror story, this too is about survival and since there are zombies involves, can the force contain the infection without getting infected and save the nation?

The series opens beautifully. There is gore and nausea inducing images (like crawling worms, maggots in a decaying body etc) to prepare us and psychologically plant the horror in our hearts. But it is the screenplay that plays a spoilsport. What could have been wrapped up in 1.5-2 hours stretches for over 3 hours and goes to such a point where you would lose interest in what is going to happen. The plot is predictable too, and you know it would turn out to be a story of redemption by the end. had the story been cut short, I believe it could have retained the interest in us.

The performances are good. Viineet Kumar Singh plays Vikram Sirohi (yeah, Vikram-Betaal, you get it?) who idolizes his senior, Tyagi (played by Suchitra Pillai). But he seems to be a torn man, with something eating him from inside. Her seems to be a man who can follow orders, but isn’t the best when it comes to making a decision! He is vulnerable and is in such a situation where he has to make a choice. Viineet portrays this dilemma beautifully. Suchitra Pillai is brilliant to as the commanding officer. Aahana Kumra has little variation in her role here but she uses all the scope she gets to Ahluwalia the strength she deserved.

The series is directed by Patrick Graham and well, after Ghoul, we had been wondering if he could learn from the flaws of the series and rise beyond it. Honestly, this doesn’t even match Ghoul!  Watch the series if you have 3 hours to spare. Or you can let it go. it's a 2.5/5 stars.