PromoReview: Vivek-Karishma’s ‘Qayamat Ki Raat’ seems a certain STEP-UP in India’s horror history

We haven’t had a good one, but this seems a good one..

We are been bombarded with multiple shows one after the other, where biggies like Naagin 3 and Silsila Badalte Rishton Ka will be going on-air next week. But the long wait and anticipation to another awaited show, Star Plus’ Qayamat Ki Raat has now finally gone on-air.

The show stars Vivek Dahiya and Karishma Tanna in lead roles followed by an ensemble cast. Here’s what we think about the promo-

What’s It About

We see Vivek and Karishma’s characters entering what seems like a cave, and are immediately warned by a man that a tantrik was slaughtered and killed in the cave. The same is made fun of by Vivek as he and Karishma continue to march with some fear.

Soon, we see quintessential scare tactics as a prosthetic baba scares them. Soon, Karishma and Vivek pull his robe only to find that the face doesn’t have a body. What follows is a moving hand, and other organs coming in from different places as the voiceover tells ‘jab milenge sirr dhad aur haath, tab hogi Qayamat Ki Raat.’ (when the hand, head and body will meet, it will be a night of terror)

What’s Good

Since frame one, I absolutely loved he darkness to the full promo; the lights and color palettes completely match the genre of the show. Another special mention is the background score, where the music is aptly placed at the situations.

The scares or the idea of presenting the scares seem novel; at least a lot novel than what we have seen in Indian TV shows so far. One thing is for sure, it surely is something new and something to look out for.

Vivek, even though a little glimpse, looks good, but Karishma’s presence is absolutely fabulous. She looks beautiful and her expressions to the jump scares and minute screams seem pretty genuine.

The Not-So-Good

Even though prosthetic make-up, the tantrik guy looks absolutely similar to the giant wildling Wun-Wun from Game Of Thrones. I don’t know if they purposely did it or not, but you get the reference immediately.

The biggest challenge is to cater to Indian audiences with horror in a different manner than your Aahats and other Aap Beetis among others. The show seems to be that, but will have loopholes in the modern times, that will have the need to be dealt with.

The Verdict

With what looks like a novel and a fresh approach to the presentation of horror, Qayamat Ki Raat, undoubtedly piques your interest for the right reasons. Of course, we will have plenty of jump scares, but they are impactful enough, we are not complaining.

Rating – **** (4/5)