Netflix  Ghoul is one more addition to the Netflix original series that has taken the Indian web series-production to another level. Netflix has been able to charm netigens with their exclusive, as well as, inclusive contents since the start. Although belonging to the horror genre, the paranormal drama raises some serious question in an indirect manner and provides an intriguing experience to the viewers.

The series shares its name with a few supernatural thrillers made in Hollywood. In case you are wondering what the title actually implies, it refers to a monster or demon having its origin in pre-Islamic Arabic religion that is said to be robber of graves and consumers of human corpses. The word is actually derived from ghūl which means a demon or precisely, Jinn of devilish nature, sired by Iblis, the Islamic equivalent of Christian Satan.

The most interesting thing about the three-part series is that it deals with subversive ideas that unnerve audiences and it’s quite refreshing to watch such an unconventional tale with Indian characters on the very contemporary platform Netflix. Earlier, Sacred Games starring Saif Ali Khan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui and Radhika Apte raised the bar with its controversial, bold take on gangster rule in Mumbai that also included the Rajiv Gandhi line in it.

Talking about the plot, the miniseries is a chilling story about a convict Ali Saeed Al Yacoub (Mahesh Balraj) arriving at a covert, remote military detention facility called Meghdoot-31, where terrorists are interrogated.  The prisoner, while being interrogated reverses the situation and gains an upper hand by laying bare their most embarrassing secrets. The protagonist of the series Nida Rahim, played by Radhika Apte, is a newly appointed interrogator, who blew the whistle against her own father touting him as an anti-government activist thinking that knocking him out can cure him of his rebel thinking. When Nida starts her investigation at the centre, she discovers that the prisoner and some of the other terrorists do not belong to this world and she is left to combat and survive the evils in the disguise of humans, beyond the hyper-nationalist goals of the military authorities. She is even questioned.

Set in a dystopian future of a country, presumably India, the background of film strikes familiarity with the present scenario of....well that is for you to understand. From the trailer the Netflix original, it seemed like a spooky content, but it rather chills the spine in an indirect satirical, disturbing manner showing that the society has been destroyed by sectarianism. The socio-political atmosphere is such that secret detention centres are established and military crackdowns are taking place. The performances are undoubtedly up to the mark and the grim, claustrophobic visuals add to the discomfort. Radhika Apte as the struggling officer trying to decipher the most difficult while facing humiliation and Manav Kaul as Colonel Sunil Dacunha shine expectedly; Mahesh Balraj’s sinister and scary expressions keep the audiences engaged. But the shining star of Ghoul is Ratnabali Bhattacharjee as Major Das, who is a brash and prejudiced subordinate of Dacunha. 

Written and directed by Patrick Graham and co-produced by Vikramaditya Motwane the miniseries was earlier supposed to be a film, but was turned into its present state of three parts on the suggestion of Netflix people.  The film is a joint venture of Blumhouse Productions, Ivanhoe Pictures and Phantom Pictures that packs an impressive cinematography, as well as background score making the dark genre of the series agreeable.

As Ghoul deals with some of the most sensitive themes like biasness of those in power, the anti-Islamic sense and administrative manipulations that have a destructive effect on the brainwashed citizens. Ghoul leaves you less horrified with the paranormal visuals and more pondering over where our society is heading towards. Given the wanting-for-more end of Ghoul, it will be interesting to see if the makers consider bringing the second season of thriller.