Typewriter

The series started off too well but it seems the team was in too hurry to finish the shooting. A very good marination but a half cooked chicken. Initially It seemed like we had some series to compare to the likes of American series stranger things. But then towards the end it turned out to be a B grade Hindi horror movie. Seems that the director and cinematographer changed half way.

The story is simplistic and lies more in the genre of supernatural thriller than horror. This Netflix series suffers from the same malaise as so many others i.e. stretching a shallow script over too many hours. This would have been a very fine feature film but as a five - episode series with each episode of 50 mts (approx.) it is undeniably stretched. Main reason for this is failure to develop the characters presented. Nevertheless, the story even though simplistic is engaging, the actors are quite competent, direction is appreciable and the production values are good. I like it and endorse it as a recommendation. Nice!

This Indian ghost story opens in 1983; writer Madhav Matthews is working on the book 'The Ghost of Sultanpur' in Bardez Villa, a large house in Goa, when his granddaughter Jenny tells him she can't sleep because of sound of crying in her room... while investigating for her he suffers a fatal 'heart attack'. After this prologue we move to the present and three children Sam, Bunty and Gablu are bunking off school to talk about ghosts. They decide to go and investigate the long abandoned villa; this plan is thwarted as Jenny, her husband and their two children have chosen that very day to move back into the house. One of the removal men goes to take an old typewriter from the attic but Jenny's daughter says she wants it. It turns out that a man named Amit Roy had offered to pay for the typewriter and he is not happy that he didn't get it. Strange things start happening at the villa and around Jenny. The trio of young ghost hunters determine to discover what is happening while Sam's father, a local police inspector, investigates a series of strange deaths.

I really enjoyed this five part series. It opens really well with a good creepy prologue and later deaths were somewhat disturbing, with bleeding from eyes, without being excessive. The young ghost hunters could easily have been irritating but I found them hilarious; especially Sam, who is their de facto leader and rather naughty for a policeman's daughter! While it is clear from the series' title that the typewriter will be key to the story but the exact reason why only becomes apparent later on. The story develops nicely mixing chills, laughs and occasional scares in a fine way. This involves several flashback scenes to key events that took place decades ago. The setting is great; the Bardez Villa is impressive with a good 'haunted house' feel and other locations are nicely scenic. The cast is impressive; most notably young Aarnaa Sharma, as Sam; Palomi Ghosh as Jenny and Purab Kohli, as Sam's father. Overall I'd certainly recommend this to fans of ghost stories who also want an occasional laugh.

These comments are based on watching the series in Hindi with English subtitles.

You cannot give central role to a kid in show which is rated 16 +.

Makers couldn't decide the audience.

The way some projects are performing (badly) which are made in India, Typewriter is a fresh attempt to prove that we are creative and good makers too. Obviously we can't compare every Indian Series with International Content, there's Vast difference. From what some Indian producers have been making for amazon/netflix etc. this is a pretty good attempt, worth a watch for every Indian.

Good-story telling, shot taking, locations, performances, screen play and dialogues. The characterisation and layering could have been better, it could have been a bit crispier but may be, since it is made for mostly the Indian market the makers have tried to spoon feed, which is otherwise not required. The editing could have been a little smarter and in the climax, the VFX team has not done a good job. But, a brilliant attempt, the location used and the look of the show is quite international. I hope many more attempts are made and we all get to enjoy good content along with some crisp making.

Well done Team Typewriter. Kudos - Sujoy Ghosh you have done an amazing job.

Do watch it. Cheers