Netflix has come up with its latest original series and this time we are talking about Sujoy Ghosh’s Typewriter. This directorial venture by Sujoy Ghosh comes after his successful career at Bollywood where he made well known films such as Kahaani and Badla.
Typewriter has been co-written by Sujoy Ghosh and Suresh Nair and belongs to the horror genre. It is set in the sleepy town of Bardez in Goa and more specifically at the haunted villa of Badrez.
The movies opens at the villa where we see a famous Goan author using his typewriter to type the name of his horror novel but moments after he has completed writing, he is killed by paranormal forces.
The author’s name is Madhav Mathews and through his new novel he wished to tell the tale of the ghost of Sultanpore but his untimely death doesn’t allow him to compete his project.
It is through the course of five episodes that the audience will get a chance to understand the story that Madhav died before he could tell.
It has been more than two decades since Madhav has died and now his granddaughter Jenny(Palomi Ghosh) moves into their house in Goa with her husband and children.
Things turn mysterious as the new family begins settling down in Goa, the body count starts ratcheting up in this quiet Goan town.
Three deaths unfold in a matter of few days but they all seem to be natural deaths. But there is a commonality between all of those who have died, they are all connected to Jenny in some way or another.
The police led by inspector Ravi Anand(Purab Kohli) begins its investigation. Simultaneously a team of four children- Sam, Nick,Gabluand Bunty also decide to investigate the erstwhile horror connection of the long dead Madhav Mathews.
It is discovered that a face-shifting ghost has taken the form of Jenny and is spilling blood in Badrez.
In competition for villainy is the shadowy character of Amit Roy(Jisshu Sengupta) who wants to have access to Madhav’s typewriter.
Typewriter is set in the most familiar locations for ghost stories- it has an old haunted building which new residents come to occupy, a series of mysterious deaths that follow up and even bits of influence from Enid Blyton can be seen as the child-gang along with their loyal dog takes it upon itself to solve the mystery of the haunted house.
The Typewriter is an interesting and engaging film given the fact that Sujoy Ghosh is known for his contributions to the horror/mystery genre.
The plot is full of interesting twists and turns and elements of humour only add to the overall magic in the film.
Palomi Ghosh convincingly plays the character of both the haunted and the haunter.
The child-gang has put up a satisfactory performance and adds to the overall creativity of the film.
The short duration along with the element of intrigue makes Typewriter a series that is worth binging on once, however a little bit of more engagement with the horror element instead of precious minutes given to uncovering the villa-mystery would have made the series far better.
Moreover, a greater focus on nuanced screenplay and narration would have actually made the series more engaging.
