Simple, sweet, likable are not usually words used to describe Ghost Stories in particular. But when these stories are the ones penned by Ruskin Bond then they do become simple, sweet and adorable especially written for the kids, giving them their first shocking glimpses of the unusual.
As a writer Ruskin Bond needs no introduction in the world of English literature famous all over the world and there are generations who have grown up reading his stories since last many decades. But in all possibilities many of the millennials (not used to reading) might not have even heard of him too or not read his books of similar short stories.
So where at one end many (who are already familiar or fan of Bond) might feel excited to see his spooky stories being filmed as a web-series, it might not be that exciting or intriguing for others since this isn’t the usual creepy, horror stuff full of scary figures and enjoyable scares to be straight. This is in fact a different kind of subtle genre of ‘not so happening’ horror stories, where the ghosts are neither ugly nor harmful but friendly in nature who also help the kids or a kid in focus.
Mostly set in hilly areas, where Bond has lived most of his life, these can also be called children supernatural or ghost stories largely inspired by Indian folktales and local myths of the hilly areas. To give you the exact idea Bond himself defines his kind of horror when he says,
“I have always felt that ghosts are not here to scare or harm us but only here to revisit old places they are deeply connected with. However people get frightened by them as they are not like us (with some scary, unusual powers)”
On the point of his ghosts being friendly and not so scary he says,
“I have a frightening ghost only occasionally in my stories, because the readers demand them at times to get scared. And people like to get scared as they enjoy the 'safe fear', since at the back of their mind - they very well know that this is not real.”
The above expressions should clearly define Ruskin Bond kind of horror or ghost stories adapted for a web series for the very first time titled PARCHAYEE having different episodes as The Ghost In The Garden, The Wind On Haunted Hill, The Overcoat and more releasing soon.
Directed by V.K. Prakash and Aniruddha Roy Chowdhury, the stories have been shot well and executed aesthetically with an interesting cast featuring Farida Jalal, Swanand Kirkire, Raima Sen, Sarah Jane Dias, Kabir Sajid, Kurush Deboo, Bachchan Pacheria and more. The narrative is simple and slow but does have the elements of mystery and supernatural more targeting a specific section of age group (upto 15), which might also appeal to many parents, fondly watching it together with their young kids.
At times the storytelling has a touch of fantasy too with a calm, likable retro feel progressing at its own speed without any rush or urgency bringing in a breezy freshness. And it’s good to see such series being supported by Zee5 keeping the kids and family audience in mind, since a lot needs to be done in children programming in particular which mostly gets ignored at such streaming platforms.
In all, this is nothing like the typical horror stuff we are more familiar with, but is more of a light family series with many fine performances by the cast, that surely deserves a watch, especially if you are already well-familiar with the world of Ruskin Bond.
Having said that, I personally felt reading all these stories in a book gives you a much more intriguing experience in comparison to watching them enacted on the screen.
Rating : 3 / 5
