Betaal – season 1 – review

Directors: Patrick Graham & Nikhil Mahajan

First Aired: 2020

Contains spoilers

The Betaal is probably best known among genre fans, renamed as the vetala, in the Indian folkloric story named as Vikram and the Vampire when brought to the West by Sir Richard Burton. That Betaal was a story teller. Spelt baital, when discussed in Bane, it is described as half man/half bat and capable of possessing the dead and a consumer of human flesh and blood. Some of these traits survive through to this series, though we don’t necessarily get the creature(s) described in Bane - certainly there is no manbat aspect and endless hunger is mentioned but not explicitly played with.

out of the vampire playbook

I had seen this Indian series described as a zombie series. It is blatantly not, the tropes used are clearly from the vampire playbook as we’ll explore, with an aspect that maybe strays into zompire. However, it was a friend, Prodosh, who asked me to look at the series. From what I can gather it has not had great reviews in India, but Prodosh was enjoying the series and suggested that it may well have a vampire aspect.

the mystic lady

So, it begins with a group of Adivasi people conducting a ritual at a shrine to the Betaal, their village sitting at the foot of the Betaal mountain. One elderly woman is able to commune with the spirit and is given visions from the spirit. The warning is clear, the tunnel that the British engineers built into the mountain, and which contains the betaal’s shrine, should never be opened. However, a group of industrialists, led by Mudhalvan (Jitendra Joshi), are looking to remove the Adivasi and use the tunnel as part of a highway that is part of India development.

CIPD arrive

The villagers are sabotaging equipment and the project is falling behind, with the monsoons not far off, and so Mudhalvan contacts Commandant Tyagi (Suchitra Pillai) of the Counter Insurgency Police Department (CIPD) to clear the area. Tyagi is clearly on the take but the rest of the Baaz Squad (the CIPD’s elite squad) seem idealistic and unaware of the corruption. She tells second in command Vikram Sirohi (Viineet Kumar) that the area is a hotbed of Naxal activity. Sirohi is haunted by the events of a previous mission involving a village child, he has also been told that he will take command from Tyagi after this mission ends.

stand off

Now I didn’t know what a Naxal was and so, to Wikipedia. Apparently, these are members of political organisations claiming the legacy of the Communist Party of India and are clearly seen as revolutionary forces. Apparently part of the ethos of these groups suggests that the Indian Constitution represents a colonial policy that legitimises land and resource theft from tribal areas – this is clearly the direction of this plot where the capitalist/colonial Mudhalvan is forcibly taking the homes and lands of the natives and looking at resettlement (likely into poverty) and the villagers are the guardians of tradition (though there are actually no Naxal in the area).

Manjiri Pupala as Puniya

So, the village is cleared and villagers are put onto coaches – the clearing is not gentle. This proves distressing to Mudhalvan’s young daughter Saanvi (Syna Anand), who is there with her mother (Meenal Kapoor). A group of villagers take position in front of the tunnel with antique weapons and there is a stand-off and so Mudhalvan orders his man Bhunnu (Ankur Vikal) to secretly detonate a bomb, making the squad believe that they are under attack and so they open fire killing most of the villagers, including the woman who can commune with the Betaal, though two eventually get into the forest and retreat to the disused British barracks.

first sighting

Construction workers are first in, and die; one comes out of the tunnel holding his guts in his hand before falling. Half the squad go in and there is gunfire and then nothing. Sirohi goes in with new recruit Haq (Siddharth Menon). They see shapes on the roof and one of them moves, revealing a face. Let us stop there and say big, tusk-like fangs and glowing eyes. They manage to retrieve Tyagi, whose hair has turned grey, though Haq is bitten on the leg, and beat a hasty retreat with the civilians. But the creatures are coming out of the tunnel, firing muskets – so intelligent tool use.

the restless dead

The village provides no cover so they break for the barracks. The door is locked and village survivors Puniya (Manjiri Pupala) and Sarpanch (Yashwant Wasnik) won’t let them in without them leaving their injured outside. Outside (they later discover) Puniya placed an effigy, which is burning, and a circle of turmeric, both of which are apotropaic. Whilst the undead can’t approach, they can shoot and kill Mrs Mudhalvan – however the CIPD force their way into the barracks at that point. The villagers retreat to the armoury, stealing Mrs Mudhalvan’s corpse.

undead soldiers

So the creatures are all British soldiers from the 90th Taunton Volunteers regiment, assigned to the British East India Company. They were a notorious regiment as was their commander, Lieutenant Colonel John Lynedoch (Richard Dillane). He wanted to become emperor of India and learned of the shrine of the Betaal. He sacrificed his son to the Betaal for its power (the Betaal possessing him and, not clearly explained, but it seems merging with him). He and his men were trapped in the tunnel, however. He bit his men, turning them and they are said to be consumed with hunger. He now wants the pre-pubescent Saanvi as a sacrifice to allow him to leave the area of the shrine.

fangs on show

As the lore continues we see that they can crawl on ceilings as comfortably as walking the floor and are capable of speech and deception. The drummer boy of the company still drums for the regiment. They can be destroyed but it takes a lot of damage. For the newly turned we see beheading and then fire as the way to make sure. So how do they turn? Most obviously with a bite or scratch, though being killed by a musket shot, fired by one, will turn also (and I guess that is the curse aspect that is often mentioned). If the person hasn’t died then the wound becomes infected – and the infection impacts their soul as well as their flesh. They very quickly develop fangs. Turmeric will burn them.

menacing

So they are vampires – fangs, hunger, intelligence and use of weapons says that much. As head vampire, Lynedoch can see through their eyes and is capable of possessing humans and “riding on their shoulders” having bent their will to his. What is interesting (from a place of ignorance), is that considering the Naxal belief around the Indian constitution representing a continuation of colonialism then, in this, the members of the (fictional) CIPD can easily be made to join Lynedoch in his colonial ambitions both by turning and possessing – perhaps there is a paper there. The sfx varied in quality and I thought the long dead creatures didn’t always look that good (whereas the newly turned looked quite impressive), and some of their en-masse activity – such a pounding on doors – did seem quite unthinking dead, potentially leading to the zombie classification (though more zompire).

Pa rum pum pum pum

Given this was the activity of one night, the four episodes could have been condensed but there was enough there to keep the viewer entertained. I did feel that the epilogue was overly contrived. However, I was entertained for the 4 episodes. 6 out of 10.

The imdb page is here.

The Vetala: A Novel of Undying Love – review

Author: Phillip Ernest

First Published: 2018

Contains spoilers

The Blurb: Nada Marjanovic, professor of Sanskrit at the University of Zagreb, has spent more than twenty years translating an obscure text on the vetala, a parasitic, vampire-like being that possesses the bodies of his victims. When her mentor and collaborator in the Indian city of Pune dies, she finds herself face-to-face with the undead that the text describes, an evil which long ago killed her lover - and set her on the path of an obsessive scholarly revenge. She must rely on her intellect, mythic lore, and even dreams to piece together the mystery of the manuscript. The vetala's opposition grows increasingly violent as Nada nears the book's conclusion, and with the help of two colleagues, struggles to decipher its climactic secret, which would allow her to exorcise the demon at last - freeing not only the mysterious man whom he has possessed for centuries, but also, perhaps, her own imprisoned and forgotten love. Suspenseful and unforgettable, Phillip Ernest's debut novel captures the most universal elements of human experience - even the monsters we face.

The review: When one accepts a wider definition of vampire than that drawn from the Slavic folklore from where we get the V word, then the folkloric/mythical incidents of blood drinkers, unquiet corpses and beings with vampiric traits is truly staggering. The vetala is such a creature, this time from India. Sir Richard Burton, 19th Century polyglot and explorer (amongst other things), first brought the vetala to the Western consciousness in the book Vikram and the Vampire. In the preface to the 1870 edition it is said that “The Baital-Pachisi, or Twenty-five (tales of a) Baital—a Vampire or evil spirit which animates dead bodies—is an old and thoroughly Hindu repertory.” In a footnote to this it is explained that, “In Sanskrit, Vetala-pancha-Vinshati. “Baital” is the modern form of “Vetala”.”

Author Phillip Ernest is a Sanskrit scholar from Canada, living in India, and has chosen the vetala as the focus of this novel and the world of Sanskrit scholarship as its stage. The book itself is a curious (in a good way) mix of supernatural horror, academia, high octane action (with one scene particularly coming to mind) and romance. It all merges together rather nicely and the book hurtles along with a sprightly pace.

The vetala itself is, within the lore of the book, dualistic with regards modus operandi but deliberately so. The vetala is a possessing spirit and it has the ability to possess a corpse and bring it to a state of undeath – raising the corpse like a more traditional Western undead. However, in this the vetala is also an entity that inhabits a living man (though there is a primary person the vetala possesses, it can also possess other people as well). The primary possession is of a man named Avinash who, centuries before, became jealous because his twin brother Amruteshvara fell in love with the woman he loved. It was this jealousy that allowed the vetala to take a hold of him until he was possessed.

Since then the three – the two brothers and the lover – have been reborn time and time again, the brothers always as twin brothers and the vetala possessing Avinash. Amruteshvara learned to replicate the tricks and powers of a vetala and the two brothers remember their past lives as they struggle with each other through their incarnation. It was Amruteshvara who wrote the obscure Sanskrit text that Nada had been working on with a respected Sanskrit scholar, who leaves her the manuscript and the task of completing the translation on his death. The book itself acts as a weapon and apotropaic against the vetala, who cannot allow the secret it holds (how to destroy it) be found. I won’t spoil the pay-off but suffice it to say it draws upon a trope that will be familiar to those who know the Western media vampire.

Definitely worth your time, this book touches on a variety of the vampire that deserves more exposure. 7.5 out of 10.

In Paperback @ Amazon UK

Honourable Mentions: The Vetala – season 1

You know something; I love obscure vampire references and adore them even more when they are free. Hence producer, writer, director Damon Vignale scores on two counts with The Vetala. This is a free to view web-series – which has a 7 episode run in its first series – and it is concerned with a creature called the Vetala.

So, what – you might ask – is a Vetala? The Vetala or Baital are an Indian vampire type as featured in the Baital Pachisi, which was reworked and introduced to western audiences in 1870 by Sir Richard Burton as Vikram and the Vampire. Isabel Burton, in her 1893 preface to the work, described them as “a huge Bat, Vampire, or Evil Spirit which inhabited and animated dead bodies”. Unusually the Vetala seems to be more benign than many of its western counterparts.

Paul Mendel as Alex

This series begins with a criminal, Antoin Boykos (James Tyce) in a warehouse checking illegal firearms. He texts a meeting place to Lily (Candace Chase). She is a student journalist and goes to meet him. Meanwhile her journalist partner Alex (Paul Mendel) has been left behind, a voicemail he couldn’t pick up explaining what she is up to.

Candace Chase as Lily

Lily is at the meeting place and Antoin gestures to her from over the street and enters a parking garage. She goes upstairs and gets to the roof but he doesn’t seem to be around. Then the silenced gunfire begins – one hitting her in the arm. She runs but, deep in the garage, he shoots her in the stomach and she falls.

Boykos about to be thrown

She awakens, alive and despite bloodstains on and holes in her clothes she is no worse for wear. A clip, laced into the episode, from Horror Express may give a clue to the initiated as to what is going on. Obviously she is a little wary of the investigation now and when Alex shows her a blog, which suggests that Boykos has been thrown over the side of the parking lot, she is even more concerned.

caught on camera

She starts to dream of his death and it is clear he was attacked and then she is asked to meet another contact. She and Alex meet him but he only speaks to her, giving her his number and a flash drive with the video that was gathered from Boykos’ phone – that shows his death. When we eventually see it we get a brief glimpse of a monster. The Syndicate (the organised crime gang that is running the guns) set a car bomb on their vehicle. Lily has a premonition causing her to get out of the car but Alex suffers critical injuries.

the Vetala

So, what is going on? Lily meets with the contact again and he mentions Vetala. Lily is convinced that she died that day but he says she is neither living nor dead. In a flashback we are given a clear impression that the Vetala has possessed her body but, unlike those possessed in Horror Express for example, Lily remains her own person. It is described by the contact as being chosen and as for what the Vetala wants… we’ll have to wait for season 2.

The show has some impressive photography and I really want a season 2 so that we can find out what Vignale has planned for Lily and to get a richer vein of lore. This first season is clearly a set up into a wider story, and there is nothing wrong with that at all - especially when it is well put together. There is an imdb page here and the episodes can be viewed here.