Named after the Rabindranath Tagore play, Sayantan Ghosal’s latest web series Roktokorobi, headlined by Vikram Chatterjee and Raima Sen, is themed around family secrets and issues like mental health, sexual exploitation and adultery.

In this ZEE5 series produced and written by Sahana Dutta, Vikram plays a psychologist, Satyaki, whose self-confidence is shattered when his first client dies by suicide. As Satyaki contemplates giving up his practice, his sister-in-law Ranja (Raima Sen) comes up with a plan.

Ranja forces Satyaki to visit their ancestral house where she lives with her husband Saibal (Bhashwar Chatterjee), parents-in-law (Shantilal Mukherjee and Tulika Basu), sister-in-law Meghla (Angana Roy), and distant relations Bithi (Laboni Sarkar) and Bhulu (Haridas Chatterjee).

From the moment Satyaki steps into the house, Bhulu — who suffers from dementia and bursts forth seemingly incoherent phrases — piques his interest. Suddenly Ranja’s husband and parents-in-law die under mysterious circumstances, creating a mayhem in the family. This is followed by Ranja hallucinating and seeing the image of her dead husband in every nook and corner of the house. It’s now up to Satyaki to solve the mystery behind these bizarre incidents.

Having directed movies like Jawker Dhan (2017), Alinagarer Golokdhadha (2018) and the first season of Hoichoi Original web series Indu (2021), Sayantan skillfully builds suspense with shocking twists along the way. Though 11 episodes feels like a stretch for a suspense thriller, Roktokorobi holds your attention by the power-packed performances. Apart from Raima and Vikram, Hairdas Chatterjee and Laboni Sarkar stand out as the sibling duo.

The use of Tagore songs adds a new dimension as they hold clues to the mystery. The flower Roktokorobi — red oleander — symbolises the passion for rebellion in Tagore’s classic drama and it plays a big part in this aptly titled thriller show.