Review: Brahmarakshas - Jaag Utha Shaitan!

Brahmarakshas

Time: 9pm to 10 pm on Zee TV.

Cast: Krystle Dsouza, Aham Sharma, Parag Tyagi, Rakshandha Khan, Kishwer Merchantt and others.

Produced By: Balaji Telefilms

Story So Far

The story starts with a married couple Aparajita (Kishwer Merchantt) and her husband (Parag Tyagi) going to their ancestorial haveli after their marriage nuptials. On reaching the haveli, the typical apshagun of the light going away takes place. But soon it gets revealed that the only bad omen here is the bride herself who has an ulterior motive. 

Aparajita pushes her husband off to death from the haveli's top . It is then revealed that Aparajita only married her husband to amass his wealth and nothing else. However, her dead husband comes back as the beast, Brahmarakshas. Being betrayed by a bride, Brahmarakshas hates the sight of vermilion (sindoor), red bangles, the red 'shaadi ka joda' and alcohol.

The story moves to 20 years, where the Shrivastava family is geared up for the marriage of their daughter Rakhi (Charu Mehra). Her best friend Raina (Krystle Dsouza) and her brother Rishab (Aham Sharma) are at constant loggerheads. They miss no opportunity to pull each other's leg. Rakhi's alliance is fixed with Raina's rakhi brother Ajay (Sahil Uppal) but she is in love with someone else. Rakhi and Ajay get engaged and the marriage is scheduled to take place in Kamalpura, a town where stories of Brahmarakshas- an animal possessed with a human spirit, prevail. Both the families leave for Kamalpura.

Rishab and Raina along with Mishti and Shyam (Mridul Das), miss their train and head to Kamalpura via a taxi. On their way, they decide to take a short cut to the town. Due to various situations, the pairs separate and Rishan and Raina reach their family, but unfortunately, Shyam and Mishty find themselves at the misfortuned haveli where Aparajita's husband was killed. Mishty freshens up and dons a saree, sindoor and bangles. This brings out the demon in the Bhrahmarakshas and he kills the couple. He then takes possession of Shyam's body and reaches the haveli where the family has been staying. But he cannot enter as there are lotus flowers at the entrance. In Kamalpura, lotuses are placed everywhere to keep the Brahmarakshas away.

What we liked

The show had a very unexpected start with the Kishwer and Parag pairing. We did not expect that Parag would be the victim and Kishwer would be the accused. We obviously loved the way Kishwer played the vamp. She totally nailed it.

Another surprise was in the name of Rakshanda. She was last seen in Bade Achhe Lagte Hain and she is doing a damn good job in Brahmarakshas. She plays the dramatic mother of Rakhi and Rishab.

Aham Sharma and Krystle Dsouza do not fail to impress us, even though the writers could do away with the constant bickering between them.

What we did not like

They literally copied the train sequence from Jab We Met. Raina gets down the train to buy a water bottle and Rishab follows her. They start their argument and the train starts to move. They run behind the train but to no avail.

The VFX could have been better, but it was not as bad as we have seen in a few shows. The transition of Parag from a normal human into a beast is done nicely. But the introductory sequence of the rakshas was very badly done.

What we feel is that the dialogues could have been much better. We absolutely did not like the 24/7 bickering between the leads even when we could clearly see the chemistry between the two. Also, the groom's father and his sermons about the Brahmarakshas', made us yawn, like seriously. The makers could seriously work on this department for sure.

Verdict

The show managed to shock us, impress us and bore us all at the same time. The so far telecast of 2 episodes had the required amount of dramatic appeal to keep the audience engrossed and curious as to what was going to happen next. Out and out, we have a feeling that the show will pick up more from the next weekend when the real drama and plot are revealed. The show did manage to spark an interest in the viewers.