Hoichoi's latest horror offering has run into trouble before it has even premiered. The teaser for Kauriburir Mandir, released on 22 October, has drawn a wave of sceptical and sarcastic comments on YouTube, much of it from viewers who say they know the story it adapts.
Directed by Sayantan Ghosal, the series stars Jeetu Kamal, Solanki Roy and Paoli Dam, with Saswata Chatterjee, Aniruddha Gupta and Debopriyo Mukherjee in the cast. It follows Bhavataran, a man who can read the future, as he tries to change the fate of his love in the face of a curse hidden deep in a forest. It premieres on Hoichoi on 6 November, with Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions arriving on Netflix the same day. It is the first release under the platform's new Netflix partnership, so the teaser has more attention on it than usual.
Many of the comments are less about the cast than about the adaptation. Several viewers say the visuals look low-budget and closer to a daily television soap than a streaming horror series. Several commenters say the story deserved better. “Such a good story, and they’ve ruined this one too,” one viewer wrote, suggesting the disappointment extends beyond this single title.
Others turned to sarcasm. “Hoichoi has taken it upon itself to finish off Avik Sarkar’s stories... genius,” read one comment. Another viewer wrote, “I’m thinking about Mr. Avik Sarkar. We ourselves can’t take it, I wonder what state he must be in.”
One commenter pointed viewers to an alternative: “Everyone, just listen to it once from Goppo Mir, that’s good enough, then you won’t need anything else.”
A teaser is a thin basis for judging a series, and online comment sections tend to amplify the most critical voices. The series could still win viewers over when it premieres. For now, though, the early mood among fans of the source material is plainly one of disappointment.
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