Released by Netflix on July 19, 2019, Typewriter is a supernatural web series revolving around a haunted villa and a book which captures the imagination of four school going kids, completely unaware of the bigger threat.
Directed by- Sujoy Ghosh
Produced by- Avishek Ghosh
Starring- Purab Kohli, Palomi Ghosh, Jishu Sengupta, Kanwaljit Singh, Aarna Sharma
Plot
After reading the book “The Ghost of Sultanpore” written by Madhav Mathew – who died long ago under suspicious circumstances – three school kids form a Ghost Club. Led by Sameera (Sam, daughter of local Police Inspector Ravi Anand), the club – which also includes Satyajit (Goblu) and Devraj (Bunty) – intends to catch a ghost. Oh! I forgot to mention; the Ghost Club has a fourth member – Buddy – a dog. They attempt to break into Bardez Villa – a haunted house – vacant for the past 36 years. But their plan to enter the Villa fails when they find that someone has moved into the Villa. Jenny comes to Goa along with her husband Peter, daughter Anya and son Nick and stays in the Bardez Villa. The kids befriend their new classmate Nick and include him in the Ghost Club. Jenny is, in fact, the granddaughter of Madhav Mathew. Her return to the Villa starts some mysterious incidents, including a series of murders. Who is behind these murders? Whether the Ghost of Sultanpore was a work of pure imagination or there was some truth behind it? How Madhav Mathew died? Who was Fakeer? And most importantly, what was the role of the Typewriter?
The series consists of five episodes, each of 42–45 minutes duration. The episodes are titled as “Four Kids and a Dog”, “Operation School Bell”, “The Ghost of Sultanpore”, “The Rise of the Fakeer” and “The Night of the Blood Moon”.
Analysis
There is resemblance with Famous Five and their dog Timmy. The kids are the main protagonists, who are convinced that ghosts do exist. The kids are also confident that their club is skilled enough to capture them, completely unaware of the danger they are about to get exposed to. With the mix of innocence and curiosity, they hatch plans and invite troubles for themselves as well as for others. Full marks to Aarna Sharma who has performed masterly as Sam, the leader of the kids. Other kids – Mikail Gandhi as Gablu, Palash Kamble as Banti and Aaryansh Malviya as Nick – have done their part well. Together, the kids steal the show. Purab Kohli has performed impressively as the police inspector investigating the series of murders, as well the concerned father of Sam. Palomi Ghosh has efficiently played the role of a confused lady Jenny. And you cannot ignore Jishu Sengupta’s portrayal of a shady character.
Gairik Sarkar’s cinematography has captured the essence of the subject beautifully, by capturing the tense and the eerie landscape. Sound engineering plays a major role in supernatural flicks and Anirban Sengupta has done his job aptly. Dyananda Samarth’s editing was good in some parts whereas average in others.
Sujoy Ghosh – the director of movies like Kahaani and Badla – has directed Typewriter. He has co-authored the story with Suresh Nair. Like most of the Indian supernatural stories, this one also starts and revolves around a ‘Bhoot-Bangla’. However, it is the engaging storytelling and peeling-off of the story layer by layer, that separates Typewriter from the rest. With this web series, Sujoy Ghosh has once again proved that he is a master storyteller. Although one may not find the series boring or disinterested, the final episodes become somewhat predictable. There are clues left in the end leaving scope for subsequent seasons.
Our Verdict:
Indian supernatural genre has been struggling to break the stereotype and Typewriter too does not succeed on that front. However, despite having a few shortcomings, Sujoy Ghosh’s Typewriter is an interesting binge-watch, if you like supernatural subjects.
