Bhog series review
Cast: Anirban Bhattacharya, Parno Mittra, Rajatava Dutta
Director: Parambrata Chattopadhyay
Star rating: ★★★.5
Bhog, the new Hoichoi Original directed by actor Parambrata Chattopadhyay, tripled my heart rate and left my jaw on the floor in the best possible way. Even though I am aware of the original short story by Avik Sarkar, which serves as the source for this compact 6-episode series, it left me surprised and hooked from the get-go. It starts off ominously and builds up slowly into a form of elevated mythical horror. (Also read: Anirban Bhattacharya opens up on Hoichoi series Bhog: ‘It was an incredible offer as an actor’ | Interview)
The premise
Bhog, which translates to a form of offering in Bengali, centres around Atin (Anirban Bhattacharya), a Kolkata-based man in his 30s working in sales. The show begins with good news as he gets a much-deserved promotion. He is an orphan who is being looked after by Pushpa di (Sudipa Basu) at the house. She dutifully cooks him food and reveals how his departed mother had made her promise to take care of Atin. His uncle Bhabesh Kaku (Rajadava Dutta) looks after him quite often.
Everything seems okay with Atin, who harbours a love for antique pieces. One day, when he chances upon this other-worldly deity in his friend’s shop- a goddess with four hands, carrying a skull in one and another holding a stringed instrument. Its untraceability further hooks him; there’s a strange sort of pull towards it that he cannot escape. He brings the deity home and begins to worship it. Soon, he has a dream-like vision at night where the deity reveals that she is hungry and wants an offering.
What is this conspiracy? Atin must not ask. He must submit himself completely. And so he does, as Bhog begins to chart his gradual descent into this obsession that engulfs his body and mind. His devotion nullifies his other interests, desires, and wants to such an extent that he does not see any harm in bringing a stranger home one evening. She is Damri, played by the terrific Parno Mittra. She cooks the food, and Atin eats it- even if it makes him puke it up.
What works
Bhog plays out in the course of 6 tightly knit episodes, directed with utmost care and nuance by Parambrata Chattopadhyay. The setting is key, as Atin’s sense of paranoia mixed with relief is balanced with the brilliant use of lighting and set design. Shantanu Mitra Neogi’s screenplay wisely expands on the elements that the original text stepped aside, contextualizing the questions that crop up later. Nabarun Bose’s chilling background score is one of the biggest highlights of the show, slowly building up towards a gradual crescendo of sorts.
None of it works without the chilling central performance of Anirban Bhattacharya, who embodies Atin’s mask of fear and curiosity with great depth of feeling. So much of this man is left to the physicality, the way his body slowly shrinks under the weight of this invisible burden. The actor nails that sense of loss and revelation extremely well. Special shoutout to the special appearance of Subhasish Mukherjee, who stands out in that one single scene.
Final thoughts
Bhog is not so much about myths or demons as it is about faith. Or the loss of it. Atin is influenced within this hyper-real world of mysteries and energies, and he loses a sense of control. Even as he begins to shy away, there are only a handful of people who act on this sudden change.
Beneath the surface of all the terror and thrill of Bhog lies the fate of a lonely middleman existing in his own little shell. It is an inexplicable sort of belief that one can suffice by themselves, but does it really work that way? As Atin will learn by the end, the sense of an offering, if any, must arrive as an act of love.
Bhog is now streaming on Hoichoi.
