We get rid of cable more than five years ago. My husband decides streaming is the future of television when everyone else is hooked to cable and dish. Yes, this is five years ago…I was a NOT SO HAPPY wife then…but really, we haven’t looked back since severing our ties with the not so great and overpriced cable companies. As you can well imagine, I am and have been a Netflix addict from day one.

Fast forward to today….

Netflix obviously recognizes India as a massive market since it is inundated with Indian stuff. Demand and supply right?

There are the unending list of hindi movies of course. But what baffles me is the influx of scary desi shows. ‘DARR sabko lagta hai’, ‘Anjaan’, ‘Fear files’, ‘The house next door’,  Horror Story’…the list goes on. The numbers of these shows is ever increasing, but what is even more astonishing is the undesirable quality. Not only are they tacky and stupid, some of them illicit only laughter in place of fear.

For those of you who know me personally, also know, I LOVE “scary shows”. Murder mysteries, psychological thrillers, paranormal stuff only to name a few. I grew up watching X-files, haven’t yet missed an episode of “Law and Order:SVU”, and still follow every reality crime show that I can lay my eyes on.

So, when Netflix features desi shows in the same genre, I am thrilled. I start with ‘Anjaan’ last Feb. I’m totally disappointed after the first episode. But I don’t give up. I rally through the excruciatingly boring show. The main characters are mere shadows of Mulder and Scully (X files

Then comes ‘Darr…lagta hai”. Bipasha bipasha…tera kya hoga? (What have you come to). This one I just can’t get through. It is way too boring. Please please do not watch it if you haven’t already.

Now for the latest scary Netflix offering ‘Ghoul’. Don’t be fooled by it’s slick promos and realistic picturisation. It only starts off as a gripping thriller and sadly ends only as a Ramsey Bro production.

It is depressing that only one amongst all the desi shows mushrooming on Netflix  is worth watching. And that too only if you love blood and gore – ‘Sacred Games’. Amongst other things like great direction and fast pace, it also gives Saif Ali Khan’s dying acting career a new lease of life.

Another very personal observation

Indian directors seem to have been waiting to get out of censorship. Desperate are they to show that they belong to the land of the Kamasutra. Irrelevant, lustful scenes seem to be the norm, cerebral interactions – very few.

And one last thing…

What’s up with Netflix and Radhika Apte? Can Netflix not find any other actresses in the one billion population in India??? Should we just assume the Netflix casting couch is taken in with Apte’s grand acting skills???👀

That’s it from me…

Over and Out