General · EdgepediaOctober 3, 20265 min read

Andhar Maya

Andhar Maya (अंधार माया) is a Marathi-language horror web series that premiered on the streaming platform ZEE5 on 30 May 2025, and is ZEE5's first Marathi horror original series¹^•². Directed by National Award-winner Bhimrao Mude and produced by Sharmishtha Raut and Tejas Desai under Ericon Telefilms, it runs for seven episodes and blends horror, suspense, and mystery¹. The story follows the Khatu family, whose annual visit to their ancestral mansion in the Konkan region of western India turns deadly when family members begin dying under strange circumstances¹.

Key fact	Detail
Title	Andhar Maya (अंधार माया)¹
Premiere	30 May 2025, exclusively on ZEE5; audio in Marathi and Hindi with English subtitles¹
Format	Seven episodes of roughly 17 to 21 minutes, all released on the premiere date¹
Genres	Horror, suspense, mystery; rated U/A¹
Director	Bhimrao Mude, a National Award winner¹
Writers	Story and dialogues by Pralhad Kudtarkar; screenplay by Kapil Bhopatkar¹
Lead cast	Kishor Kadam as Gonya, Rutuja Bagwe as Madhavi Khatu, Shubhankar Tawde as Kartik¹
Setting	An ancestral mansion in the Konkan region³

Spoilers

Premise and plot

The Khatu family makes a yearly visit to their large ancestral mansion, a decaying relic filled with tradition and dark memories¹. According to the Scroll review by Nandini Ramnath, the extended family arrives at the home to observe the death rites of an elder, Dinushet, and to sell the property; the long-time housekeeper Gonya welcomes them with the words, "Now that you are here, don't be in a hurry to leave"³.

The reunion is far from amicable. Keshav's late father performed female roles in the local Dashavatar festival, a folk theater tradition, and was ridiculed for it; Keshav defends him against his cousins Kartik and Manoj. The plan to sell the house divides the family, and Nayana is obsessed with how the jewelry will be divided, while the pregnant Madhavi grows attached to the mansion³. Episode synopses on ZEE5 trace the escalation: the mystery of Dinushet's death is revealed, Nayana and the jewels go missing, a freak accident kills Manoj and Shalaka, and Kartik eventually realizes that Gonya is behind the deaths and tries to escape with Madhavi¹. The final episode, "It Begins Again", ends with Madhavi begging Gonya to let her child live and coming across a shocking revelation¹.

Production

The series was written for the web format from the start. In an interview with Maharashtra Times, director Bhimrao Mude said the work was never intended as a television serial or film; producers Sharmishtha Raut and Tejas Desai decided early that the story by Pralhad Kudtarkar and Kapil Bhopatkar would be made as a series, and Mude described the writing as the soul of the show, with the wada (mansion) as its second protagonist⁴.

The credited crew includes cinematographers Imran Alam and Vinayak Jadhav, music by Suyash Kelkar and Omkar Pradhan, and sound design by Mandar Kamalapurkar⁵. The supporting cast includes Omprakash Shinde, Swapnalee Patil, Shubhangi Bhujbal, Anup Belwalkar, and the child actors Pihu Gosavi and Aarav Aeer⁵.

Promotion and release

ZEE5 launched the series with a mobile campaign: a moving replica of the show's old wada toured Mumbai, Thane, Pune, and Nagpur, appearing at locations including Wardha Road, Karve Nagar Road, Fetri, and Somalwada in Nagpur, so that passers-by could glimpse the series' world⁶. The official trailer was released on 19 May 2025 and drew over 9.1 million views on YouTube⁷. All seven episodes went live on ZEE5 on 30 May 2025¹, and the series later aired on the Zee Marathi television channel from 14 September 2025⁸.

Reception

Maharashtra Times reviewer Shabduli Kulkarni gave the series three stars out of five, praising the direction and cinematography for capturing both the daylight beauty of the Konkan and its empire of darkness, and singled out the music and sound design; the review noted that the child roles played by Pihu Gosavi and Aarav Aeer leave a mark on viewers⁵.

Scroll's review was more mixed. It found the early episodes overloaded with strange events, jump scares, and wonky camera angles, but said the show picks up steam in its fifth episode, comparing the one-by-one targeting of family members to Agatha Christie's novel And Then There Were None, and called the final two episodes suitably gripping and creepy. It described Kishor Kadam as brilliant as Gonya, consistently ambivalent and convincingly authoritative as the keeper of secrets³. A review on Report Wire was critical, arguing that the series underperformed as horror and did not delve deeply into the gender ambiguity of the deceased owner, though it acknowledged the crumbling ancestral home as a strength⁹.

Significance

As the first Marathi original series on ZEE5 and the platform's first Marathi horror production, Andhar Maya moved a genre long present on Marathi television, in shows such as Ratris Khel Chale and Tee Parat Aalliye, onto the digital platform². The ZEE5 blog positioned it as a milestone for Marathi entertainment, offering a cinematic treatment of supernatural elements rooted in Konkan folklore².

References

Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › International serial drama and telenovelas › South and Southeast Asian serials › Marathi and Bengali serials

Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026

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