The dilapidated Basu Bati mansion in Bagbazar was the perfect place to have a trailer launch for Hoichoi’s upcoming supernatural thriller series, Nikosh Chhaya. As dusk fell, the mood was right for watching the trailer of the upcoming Parambrata Chattopadhyay directorial that’s set to release on Hoichoi on October 31. The trailer of the Hoichoi original series promises to pack in horror, suspense and thrills. It’s the much-awaited second part of the Bhaduri Moshai series, a supernatural thriller starring Chiranjeet Chakraborty, Surangana Bandyopadhyay, Arna Mukhopadhyay, Gaurav Chakrabarty and Anindita Bose in pivotal roles. It follows Parnashavarir Shaap, Parambrata Chattopadhyay’s Bengali horror mystery series that came out in 2023.
The upcoming season based on Souvik Chakraborty’s story promises to be even more thrilling for its viewers, ‘much larger in magnitude’. Chiranjeet Chakraborty plays the role of Niren Bhaduri, an occult expert who gets called in to counter dark forces.
“Chiranjeetda has a certain way of performing, which he has done for several decades. I find it very exciting to include or inculcate that into my scheme of things. He has a certain aura! When he comes on screen, you feel like looking at him, and not just because of his tall stature, but because he brings such a tremendous presence on screen. I don’t think anybody else can look like Bhaduri Moshai. I try to direct him the way he is, and I don’t try to fundamentally change him because I feel that’s what I need to do for this particular role,” said Parambrata.
“Unlike the last season, which was based in the mountains, this series unfurls in the surroundings of Calcutta, mainly Barasat, even though we’ve not disclosed a name for the locality in the series,” said Parambrata.
The trailer provides intriguing hints of the mystery, terror and dread. The four friends of Parnashavarir Shaap, Mitul, Amiya, Titash and Pallab, can be again seen portrayed by Surangana, Gaurav, Anindita and Arna respectively. “There are many characters in this series, and there’s one of my favourite actors bringing in a surprise element, which we won’t disclose until the final series is out,” shared Parambrata at the trailer launch.
The scenes of pyres burning in a crematorium, shots of the dark forest at night, and spine-chilling horror keep the audience on their toes for what’s to come next. “Horror is one of my favourite genres and despite having the greatest horror stories and novels in Bengali, it’s a genre hardly explored by our Bengali film industry. I love to believe that there’s another world of unearthly beings that exist parallelly to us. I like being scared of the unknown, it’s like unboxing my cascading imagination, and I’ve translated the same in Nikosh Chhaya,” the director added.
“I think fear is one of the most relatable emotions among all the emotions that we have. I think fear of the unknown and fear of the dark have been primitive in the human race forever, since the time of Adam and Eve. We’re often led into a misconception that a horror piece is about jump scares, or being afraid. Actually, I am a staunch believer in the fact that the spirit of the souls that come back to haunt us, which is the basis of supernatural horror, come back because they have unfinished businesses. They’ve got unfinished businesses because they’ve been struck with sadness. Their ties with the mortal world aren’t over yet, that is the reason why they come back. So, that itself is such a strong emotion. I don’t think any successful horror piece can be complete without a strong sense of emotion. That is what charms me the most about the supernatural genre,” said Parambrata.
“I’ve never encountered the supernatural, but I love the genre and watch horror films. Thankfully people loved the first season — Parnashavarir Shaap, and I hope people will enjoy this season too. The first season was a risk that both Hoichoi and Paramda took as such a genre hasn’t been explored on Bangla OTT before. So, we were sceptical about how the audience would respond to it. However, things went well, they enjoyed it and we had to come back with a second season,” said Gaurav Chakrabarty. “I’ve worked with Paramda as an actor in some pivotal films of my career... he’s brilliant as a co-actor for sure, but he’s even better as a director. It’s because he’s academically educated, and an actor. He knows the right ways to handle actors... he explains his vision as a director to his actors seamlessly and gets what is needed from us as actors. As an actor, it gets extremely easy for us to work with him and do a better job,” he added.
“I’m extremely scared of ghosts! I can’t watch horror films so I thought, ‘Let me be a part of one where I can scare people’ and I did the first season (laughs). Now I’m addicted to it, and I want to be a part of this genre because it’s too much fun shooting it,” said Anindita Bose, who plays Titas in the series. “She’s a doctor. She’s the one who keeps the equilibrium in the group. She’s the one who tries to handle everything maturely, the practical one who keeps everyone together,” she added.
“As an audience member, I’m really excited after watching the trailer of Nikosh Chhaya. I know for sure that it’s going to be full of thrills, and chills and scare people in a larger magnitude than last time, and I cannot wait to know how the audience finds it. I’m grateful to be directed by Paramda and working alongside such a talented cast,” said Surangana.
