We watched Adhura early this morning. The skies were dark, it was quiet all around with the only sound being the gentle pitter-patter of rains. Just the perfect mood/ vibe to watch a horror show set in a boarding school exploring themes like revenge, past sins, secrets and such!
Here are 5 reasons why you should definitely watch Adhura this rainy weekend!
1. The setting is absolutely gorgeous and perfect! The show is set on the beautiful campus of The Lawrence School, Lovedale, Ooty and the misty greens, the darker-than-dark nights and the beautiful, regal old buildings amp up the spooky atmosphere of the show!
2. The story, as I mentioned earlier, is set in a boarding school in the hills. The batch of 2007 is back on campus for a reunion and a little 10-year-old boy, called Vedant, is acting strangely and scaring the beejeejus out of his bullies. Is Vedant's metamorphosis somehow connected to the return of the batch of 2007? What connects whatever entity is possessing the little boy to the 'Old Boys' of the 2007 batch? The series gradually, and very satisfyingly, unravels this mystery.
3. Adhura has several tropes of the horror and thriller/ mystery genre that we greatly enjoy. There is an unreliable narrator (or two or three!), there is a split-time narrative between the events of present day, those of three months ago and also those of the last few days of school in 2007 and, finally, the trope we love the most, old sins casting long shadows (and deserving massive payback!). These elements make the narrative interesting and engaging so that you don't mind the slightly slow build-up of the plot. There is never really a dull moment as the story keeps you gripped in the world of the boarding school and the dynamics between the kids- past and present.
4. The characters are nicely etched out and are believable as people. We get to see the whole range of high school archetypes (but not necessarily in a cliched manner) ranging from the rich bullies to the arty loners to the best friends and the jealous girlfriend.
We liked that the characters who were jerks as kids also grew up to be jerks. In real life, how many of these schoolyard bullies end up being lovely, reformed human beings? Not many, in my experience.
Really liked the friendship between our male protagonist, Adhiraj and his BFF - Ninad. Also, the school counsellor, Supriya, is an interesting character. The Hindi teacher is another character that was very likeable and his involvement in the story was a nice little angle.
The dynamics between all these characters and the events that unfold due to them is what makes the show so interesting.
5. This is a horror show and the good news is that while, at an overall level, it is a mystery and mildly scary, but there are some genuinely scary moments as well! The body count is also fairly high and brutal. Plus, there are some disturbing scenes and images that are not for the faint of heart. TW for bullying and animal cruelty. However, like I said, this is a mid-range horror series and even if you, like my sister, do not enjoy horror, this is a show that you can watch without being too petrified! :)
Let us know on Instagram or Threads if you watched this series and what your thoughts were!
Have a great weekend!
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