Hello darkness, my old friend…

Originally scheduled for only 52 episodes, Aahat received extensions because of its increasing success as gradually Sony registered an increase in its viewership on Thursday nights when Aahat is on the air. Zee’s TRPs showed a decline.

What magical powers did Aahat have? Well, it brought with it, a touch of the unexpected. Initially it was more of a crime thriller-whodunit with only occasional episodes on the supernatural. When the audience got hooked on to these episodes, the producers realised that their strength lay in spooking out viewers. Says Singh, famous for the successful Marathi serial Ek Shunya Shunya, "There are so many stories. You have seen or read them all, somewhere, sometime. The trick lies in treating them differently."

For example, in Aahat, the camera does not linger too long at a creaking door or dwell on some ghastly mask for more than a few seconds. Neither are there any revolting, plastic, disfigured faces and coloured lenses. Instead, Aahat relies on live background music, which may have nothing to do with the scene.

"Besides this, there is a constant effort for new visuals with special effects," says Singh. Another example: in the episode `Aaina’, a lady acquires supernatural powers and resides in a huge gilt-edged mirror. She goes about strengthening her magical powers by pulling in anyone who stands before the mirror.

The special effects team produced a volley of faces rotating in the mirror. And when the lady sits in front of the mirror, her reflection refuses to do her bidding. As she combs her hair, her image puts the comb down and decisively folds her hands. This had the desired effect of giving the lady the shock of her life, and making viewers take a second look at their mirrors!

As a result of this kind of strategy, Aahat’s TRP ratings shot to a new high. For this episode, it took around 17 hours of special effects, which cost as much as Rs 20,000 per second of footage. But much more has been spent on the 100th episode. "It has to be a landmark episode. We have allotted a huge budget to it," reveals Singh. How much? Well, he would rather reveal that later. Besides the special effects, it has cast people like Kanwaljeet, Om Puri and Neha Sharad.

The story will revolve around a tantrik, a journalist and a psychiatrist, Singh insists that it will be something special. "The scenes will be very effective," he insists. In it, Neha comes running through the corridor, panting for breath and enters Kanwaljeet’s room. As she narrates her tale, she holds up her burnt hand and the camera zooms in….

The stunts begin when Om Puri calls upon the spirits to give him powers. The ghost is a hairy one and is inspired by the movie, Poltergeist. The real chills are to be added by Ara, the man behind the special effects. "This is probably the first time that so much effort has been taken for a television serial," claims Ara.

The man who portrays spirits with such conviction, doesn’t believe in ghosts himself. "I haven’t had any supernatural experiences. It might require a certain kind of atmosphere, but there is no place for ghosts over here,” insists Singh. Maybe he should look over his shoulder…