Betaal Web Series Review: Shah Rukh Khan's Netflix Show Digs A Shallow Grave For Horror Genre

Zombies In Betaal Are Also Vampires And Have Ghost Abilities

On the other hand, Betaal, with its OTT release, gets a chance to explore more in the genre. However, it only pays attention to the visuals and repeats the formula script, which has repeatedly failed the genre. We meet an emotionally weak leading cast, from a greedy contractor to Vikram Sihori, who is haunted by his murderous past. It is evident that these characters are easily bound to be swayed by the evil in the tunnel. The creatures in Betaal are more of a mix of ghosts, vampires, mothership based aliens as well as zombies. We don't find out any details about the actual curse that has been bestowed on the land, except a few bits of detail that are needed for the plot.

Even With Four Episode The Story Drags Through Run Time

The show starts with a contractor trying to open up a sealed tunnel deep in a forest, dated back to the British Raj. Locals on the mountain oppose the construction, which in turn, leads the contractor to call in a military squad named CIPD, to help evacuate the villagers. When the tunnel is opened, the CIPD team loses half of its members after being attacked by the unknown creatures. For the next two episodes, we see them locked up in an armoury, trying to fend off the creatures with salt, turmeric and ashes.

The story, which takes place only overnight, halfway through the series, still has more than six hours to go before the sunrise. In the first episode, Betaal managed to hook the audience with some good performances by Vineet Kumar Singh and Aahana Kumar, but quickly loses its plot with a mediocre screenplay.

Betaal Uses All Horror Cliches

From negotiating with ghosts for power to killing off all the characters in an effort to surprise the audience, the makers have tried every horror cliché and twist in the series. Instead of bringing the audience to the edge of their seat, it just adds unnecessary screen time, which could have been used to develop the plot.

What makes it worse is, members of the team refuse to listen when the evidence is right in front of them. We see them fight with each other over and over again, only to pass on the commanding post. There is also an undertone of patriotism in the show, like mentioning the revolt of 1857, the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, and the ongoing tension with Pakistan, which does not mix well with the story.

Cast Gives Their Best Effort

Apart from Vineet Kumar, Aahana Kumra, Jitendra Joshi, Syna Anand, Manjiri Pupala and Suchitra Pillai, all have done justice to their roles, making the four episodes worth a one-time-watch. Betaal ends on a cliff-hanger when the remaining alive members think they are out of the nightmare, they realise they have actually unleashed the curse upon the world.

Overall Betaal is still watchable as compared to some of the other Netflix Indian content but, its high time the streaming giant invested in some good content creators.