Mahi V Raghav, the showrunner of the recent Telugu comedy-drama series Save the Tigers, explores the other end of the spectrum with Shaitan, the new Telugu web series he has written and directed. The series streaming on Disney+ Hotstar begins with ample trigger warnings. Viewers are advised to watch it in isolation and use headphones, given the use of profane language, violence and sexual content. This one is not out to please family audiences and aims to be in the space of Hindi series such as Sacred Games, Paatal Lok and Mirzapur.
Shaitan harks back to the period between the mid-1990s and mid-2000s to narrate the story of a family caught at the crossroads of police brutality, the Naxal movement and the politics of the State. As always, it is those who struggle to make ends meet who bear the brunt of the socio-political atmosphere. Savitri (Shelly) is a single mother who makes peace with being exploited by a police officer. All she wants is to feed her three children. If she has fallen in the eyes of society’s standpoint of morality, she rarely lets it affect her.
