At the end of a hard day’s work, one of the best ways to relax is by watching a fantasy series. It isn’t just children who love fantasy; many adults love to delve into the world of make-belief too. Throughout the world, fantasy fiction is loved on television. The creative team of Life OK’s Savitri (Flying Turtles Films) is experimenting quite innovatively with the fantasy genre in the series. The serial had initially started off as a mythological drama blended with supernaturalism. Savitri (Ridhi Dogra) being able to see ghosts and solve their problems in a way reminded us of the iconic movie The Sixth Sense. Rahukaal’s (Krip Suri) ominous den was reminiscent of Skeletor’s malefic cave in He-Man. Goolika (Reshmi Ghosh) reminded us of Evil-Lyn, the only female member of the evil warriors in He-Man. With ominous spells being cooked up and snakes being sent to create havoc, the serial had a grim overtone. Correspondingly the colours used for the scenes were dark and foreboding. A few days ago, the serial burst into a riot of vibrant and lovely colours which added a rainbow complexion to the series. Savitri woke up to find herself in a beautiful place like a child’s wonderland. Her clothes had changed to a striking flowing white outfit which made her look angelic. Colourful gigantic toad stools had sprouted all over the lush green field against the cloudy sky. Flowers were speaking to her and the boughs of the trees were laden with fruits. The whole landscape including the green field and sky had been created through chroma key technique. Savitri met both evil and good magical fairytale – folklore type characters and had quite an adventure and misadventure with them. The story was both a visual and heartfelt treat for the viewers. We were very pleased that the viewers of Savitri are being taken on a fantasy extravaganza. We talked to some of the actors of the series to know their views on this development. Yash Pandit who plays Satya told us, “The creatives are adding interesting variations to the show. They are playing around with the fantasy genre. There are the elements of thriller, fantasy, passion and action. With the recent changes, kids love to watch it too. They have added a touch of magic which isn’t gory. It has given a different look to Savitri. This genre is giving our show decent TRPs. I am clueless as to what the future track may be like though.” Ridhi Dogra has always mentioned in her interviews that Savitri is a very different show that she has ever done on TV. She told us, “It was very exciting to do this sequence. It seemed that Savitri had woken up in wonderland. It was great fun to do something so different. It is the first time on Indian television that they have done something as different as this.” Why are the creatives taking this different route in the fantasy genre? Ridhi explained, “This is because they are catering to what the audience would like to watch at the 8.30pm slot on television. The viewers like to watch shows of a certain kind of flavour during that hour. They would maybe like to take it a little easy instead of seeing blood and gore.” Rahukaal, being the villain on the show looks and behaves in a dark, brooding, wicked and ominous manner. Nevertheless he is appearing against very colourful backgrounds of late. Krip Suri explained, “This is because he is travelling with Princess Damayanti – who he is madly in love with – to Taradwar so that he can recover his severed body parts. The travel route is enchanting.” Reshmi Ghosh who plays Goolika is also pitted against colourful backgrounds. She added, “The creatives are experimenting with the show. They are enjoying the constantly changing palette of colours. Goolika is the same but they are changing my avatar to make it match with the stunning backgrounds. In the upcoming weeks you will see some very nice changes to the show.” TRP pressures do compel the creatives to bring about various twists and turns to the story. If it is a mainstream family drama, the track changes can be jolting and unrealistic especially when good characters turn bad vice versa. Savitri is however a fantasy thriller, so unexpected plot threads are making the story all the more appealing to the viewers. Savitri harmoniously blends together various genres of fantasy. From a dark fantasy (a dark, gloomy atmosphere fantasy with a sense of horror and dread), paranormal romance (a romance which includes elements beyond the range of scientific explanation) and a sword and sorcery fantasy it is evolving into a sweeter fantasy which is a delightful mix and match of hybrid fantasy genres. Stay tuned to Tellychakkar.com as we will continue to update you the changing trends of this show which is combining Indian and Western genres of fantasy.