Typewriter Review

All I want to say is – Why Netflix why? 

People have high expectations from Netflix and when the platform publishes content like Typewriter, you start losing faith in it. I do not like horror stories. The only reason I gave it a shot was not only because it is released on Netflix but also because it is directed by Sujoy Ghosh. The man who has given us some wonderful movies in the past – my all-time favourite Jhankaar Beats along with Badla and Kahaani. But yes, he has also given us films like Ta Ra Rum Pum, Bang Bang, and Home Delivery: Aapko… Ghar Tak. I would add Typewriter to his ‘not so great work’ list. 

What’s wrong with Typewriter?

Firstly, the series gives you a very Hollywood horror drama feel – the storyline, the setup, the look, the presentation – everything. If you are a horror film lover, then you could easily find plots of different stories jumbled in this one web series. There were parts where it even reminded me of Ra.One and The Incredibles. 

Ra. One because at a point it looked like a story about good power vs bad power.

The Incredibles because – Have you seen the Hindi version of The Incredibles? If yes, you could easily relate all the ‘barfile’ moments to Typewriter’s giving of heart attacks/or pulling out the heart from the body moments. All thanks to the power in their hands, ummm… in their palms. 

Typewriter isn’t a horror series. No, it’s not even comedy even though you may feel like it is at the end, but it is not. It is about, let’s say, supernatural powers and paranormal activities. So, if you think it will scare you with ugly, ruined faces, and sound effects, it will not. 

I think what went drastically wrong for Typewriter was a ‘confused’ plot. The makers themselves did not know exactly how powerful their ghost is. He can blow life into his dead body after being dead for hours but then his body dies forever after being hit by a typewriter and then his soul gets trapped in that same typewriter. He is trapped but he is still powerful enough to create a look-alike of the protagonist who is equally powerful. Why don’t you come back to life instead of creating a look-alike? Let’s assume that the soul wants someone else to work on his behalf, but then when your son whose only motive was to save you (or free your trapped soul) tells you that he is your son, the typewriter, I mean, the soul kills his own son to repair the damaged typewriter (which is not the typewriter, but the ghost himself).

Wait! That’s not it. There was more stupidity just so that you have enough proof to tell others why you shouldn’t watch this web series. The scene where the real Jenny is hanging and the fake Jenny is looking down at her. When the van is burnt the fake Jenny vanishes. The whole point behind this was that since the typewriter is destroyed with the van, fake Jenny too is destroyed. In the next scene, the real Jenny isn’t hanging anymore. Who saved her? Who pulled her up? No one knows.

[Spoiler Alert: The typewriter is not destroyed (Then why did you destroy the fake Jenny? I mean, she was the ghost’s innovation, she was a masterpiece)]

If that sounds childish or doesn’t make any sense, I wonder how did it make any sense to Netflix. The makers should thank the person who sold this film to Netflix. What convincing powers he might have. Convincing a platform like Netflix to release this no-sense, non-sense story – Now that’s what supernatural power is all about. I wish Fakeer was as powerful as this person. 

I strongly believe that Season 1 should be so powerful that people desperately wait for Season 2. Giving people no answers to their questions in Season 1 so that they seek them in Season 2 is a strategy that won’t bear any fruits. Like Elli Avram’s character. Her role isn’t justified. Her presence may make more sense in Season 2 (only if we watch it), but in Season 1, you keep wondering why is she around? 

The Climax: Let’s relate the climax of Typewriter to an office scenario here. Deadlines! You are given 15 days to complete a project. For 13 days, you continue taking tea-breaks, extended lunch breaks, and gossip breaks because you think 15 days is more than enough time. On the 14th day, you realise you are running out of time, so you sit back in the office, put in extra hours, sweat, palpitate and eventually just for the sake of completing the task, you anyhow complete it on the 15th day. And then you realise that there was a reason you were given 15 days, not 2 days to complete the project. 

This is exactly what has happened with Typewriter’s climax. When they reached episode 4, the team realised that they have only 5 episodes to tell the story. What now? 

‘Chal na yaar, baaki story next season mein complete kar lenge. Ab sab ko maar do aur end mein kuch baaki chod do – Season 2 ke liye waise bhi kuch chahiye’ 

In short, the plot is weak. There is no originality in the story. It has nothing that you haven’t seen or heard before. In the beginning, it gives you the feel of a Hollywood horror movie and at the end, it turns into Aahat is all I can say. 

Where to Watch? Netflix