Andhera Review: Kinda Dark, Barely Scary
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
A young woman is chased by a ghost, spooked to the core, she runs in fear to her hotel, only to be consumed by ‘Andhera’, darkness personified as a malicious demonic entity in this 2025 Prime Series. And that’s the thing, the primary antagonist in this horror series is over-ambitiously abstract for the terrors to truly work. But well, it does have several watchable elements.
Created by Gaurav Desai, ‘Andhera’ follows Mumbai cop Kalpana Kadam (Priya Bapat) investigating into the disappearance of Bani Baruah (Jhanvi Rawat) over the course of eight episodes. The case leads Kalpana to doctor Prithvi (Pranay Pachauri) and brother Jay (Karanvir Malhotra), the latter claims Bani was consumed by the darkness, embarking on his own investigation with paranormal expert Rumi (Prajakta Koli) to prove that darkness has come to life.
The second episode of ‘Andhera’ introduces a new sci-fi element in the story, with Vatsal Sheth playing one of the antagonists, part of a group experimenting on people using electronic headbands. Child actor Mohit Prajapati plays Omar, a child who is kidnapped for these experiments. Surveen Chawla plays Ayesha, a professional who works at a high-end wellness retreat called Atma, where the same headbands are used on people for “therapy.” How these subplots tie into the Andhera haunting and killing people is the primary mystery of the tale. But for a supernatural horror thriller, the “scary” scenes just aren’t spooky enough, at least not for regular horror fans.
The third episode introduces a new comic-book nerd character called Jude (Kavin Dave), which appeared to be very random. Although Kavin Dave, as the nerdy, childlike Jude, brings some much-needed comic relief to ‘Andhera’. His character walks around with a lightsaber and is convinced that a comic book series could hold the key to understanding how to fight off the dark, demonic entity that’s consuming people. The visual effects in the ghostly scenes never rise above clunky, old-fashioned gimmicks that fail to scare.
I’ll give the creators credit for aiming high: they turn human fears, insecurities, and depression into a literal monster, a force that manifests physically to ruin lives. In ‘Andhera’, this darkness becomes more than just a villain, it’s depression itself, chipping away at the human spirit until all that remains is desperation and the shadow of death. Unfortunately, the execution isn’t up to mark. Mandakini Goswami who plays Bani’s mother Ushmi, is a lot creepier than the ghosts who appear in the show. She delivers a spooky performance as a grief-stricken mother suffering from strange hallucinations.
Most of the cast is very entertaining in their parts, but Karanvir Malhotra as Jay is the weakest link of the show. He plays central protagonist in ‘Andhera’, but his acting lacks conviction, is screechy and flails awkwardly in emotional moments. I kept thinking how actor Abhay Verma, who played the protagonist in horror-comedy ‘Munjya’, would’ve fit perfectly as Jay in this series.
Priya Bapat and Prajakta Koli on the other hand deliver strong performances as strong, independent young women with their own personal baggage. Priya Bapat’s Kalpana Kadam is in the closet, with unresolved guilt over a dark past. She gets a romantic sub-plot which moves too quickly and is rather contrived. Anand Ingle plays Kalpana’s junior Kanitkar, a jovial cop, who like Jude, serves some comic relief in the show. Prajakta as Rumi is a refreshing modern take on paranormal experts, who’re usually portrayed as over-the-top cuckoos. Karanavir Malhotra’s performance alongside these actors feels especially jarring.
The last few episodes of the show see cop Kalpana Kadam reluctantly team up with Jay, Rumi, and Jude to figure out how to defeat the ‘Andhera’. Of course, like any ‘good versus evil’ story, the protagonists will first have to overcome their own fears. The finale, episode eight, tips into sheer ridiculousness, dragging the story to a hollow “victory” for the protagonists, before tossing in a last-minute tease that the ‘Andhera’ is far from gone.
Watch ‘Andhera’ on Prime Video.
Read Next: The Thursday Murder Club Review (Audio Version Below)
