# High Priestess
**High Priestess** is a 2019 Indian Telugu-language supernatural thriller web series created for the streaming platform ZEE5, starring [Amala Akkineni](https://www.edgepedia.org/amala-akkineni) as [Swathi Reddy](https://www.edgepedia.org/swathi-reddy), a tarot card reader and psychic who takes on cases that draw her into encounters with the supernatural.[1](https://www.zee5.com/global/web-series/details/high-priestess/0-6-1624) It premiered on April 25, 2019, and consists of eight episodes built around seven client stories.[1](https://www.zee5.com/global/web-series/details/high-priestess/0-6-1624) • [2](https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/south-indian/telugu-web-series-high-priestess-explores-psychic-world-1.63508039)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Premiere | April 25, 2019, on ZEE5[1](https://www.zee5.com/global/web-series/details/high-priestess/0-6-1624) |
| Format | Eight episodes, seven stories, runtimes of roughly 24 to 36 minutes[1](https://www.zee5.com/global/web-series/details/high-priestess/0-6-1624) • [2](https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/south-indian/telugu-web-series-high-priestess-explores-psychic-world-1.63508039) |
| Lead | Amala Akkineni as Swathi Reddy, a tarot reader, psychic, and regression therapist[1](https://www.zee5.com/global/web-series/details/high-priestess/0-6-1624) • [3](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/tamil/2019/Apr/09/krishna-turns-producer-for-amalas-web-debut-1961840.html) |
| Director | Pushpa Ignatius, an ad filmmaker whose short film *Pournami* was screened at Cannes[2](https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/south-indian/telugu-web-series-high-priestess-explores-psychic-world-1.63508039) |
| Producer | Tamil actor Krishna, under his banner Tribal Horse Entertainment[4](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/amala-akkineni-telugu-web-series-the-high-priestess-5665292/lite/) |
| Languages | Made in Telugu and dubbed into Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Bengali, Hindi, and Marathi[3](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/tamil/2019/Apr/09/krishna-turns-producer-for-amalas-web-debut-1961840.html) |
| IMDb rating | 6.5/10 from 47 user ratings[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10173178/ratings/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and structure
The series centers on Swathi Reddy, a high-profile tarot card reader and psychic who uses her ability to converse with the dead to help her clients.[6](https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/bollywood/amala-akkineni-makes-web-debut-with-high-priestess-1.64792940) ZEE5 describes the show as intertwining spirituality, crime, and the supernatural, with Swathi's life becoming entangled in mysterious incidents as she uncovers her clients' hidden secrets.[1](https://www.zee5.com/global/web-series/details/high-priestess/0-6-1624)
The eight episodes carry the titles Maya, Ruby, Vanity, 12:15, Vengeance, Innocence, Friends, and Into the Light.[1](https://www.zee5.com/global/web-series/details/high-priestess/0-6-1624) The client stories include Pooja, a mother moving through love, loss, and anger; Radhika, a young artistic woman who parties hard; and Vaishnavi, a businesswoman who has moved to Vizag but feels unsafe in her home.[2](https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/south-indian/telugu-web-series-high-priestess-explores-psychic-world-1.63508039) In the episode Innocence, an urban family of three, Ram, Vaishnavi, and their child Abhinav, moves into a house with a paranormal history, and the events pull Swathi into their ordeal.[1](https://www.zee5.com/global/web-series/details/high-priestess/0-6-1624)
A parallel narrative runs through the series: Vikram, played by [Kishore Kumar](https://www.edgepedia.org/kishore-kumar), was once Swathi's boyfriend and now pays an unexpected visit, spending a nostalgia-soaked day with her while she narrates the tales of several clients to a man who once refused to believe in anything paranormal.[7](https://www.thenewsminute.com/amp/story/flix/high-priestess-review-web-series-rides-amala-little-else-100949) The series also gradually unravels Swathi Reddy's own past alongside her clients' stories.[2](https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/south-indian/telugu-web-series-high-priestess-explores-psychic-world-1.63508039)
## Production
Director Pushpa Ignatius, an ad filmmaker, said tarot cards had seldom appeared in Indian cinema and that this prompted her to write the series.[2](https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/south-indian/telugu-web-series-high-priestess-explores-psychic-world-1.63508039) Having known Amala Akkineni as a close friend, she felt only Akkineni could carry the role, describing her as a strong person with an intuitive mind who remains calm.[2](https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/south-indian/telugu-web-series-high-priestess-explores-psychic-world-1.63508039) Ignatius also said that working in the digital medium gave her more space to flesh out characters, and that in terms of production the series was at par with a big feature film.[2](https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/south-indian/telugu-web-series-high-priestess-explores-psychic-world-1.63508039)
**Producer and debut.** The series marked the Tamil actor Krishna's entry into production; he set up Tribal Horse Entertainment for OTT platforms and planned web series in multiple languages as well as original features.[4](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/amala-akkineni-telugu-web-series-the-high-priestess-5665292/lite/) • [3](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/tamil/2019/Apr/09/krishna-turns-producer-for-amalas-web-debut-1961840.html) For Amala Akkineni, a veteran of more than 50 South Indian films, it was her streaming debut; she said she had long been offered mother roles and welcomed the chance to play something different and challenging.[6](https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/bollywood/amala-akkineni-makes-web-debut-with-high-priestess-1.64792940) Krishna said the role would unearth a never-seen-before side of her and called her a no-nonsense actor.[4](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/amala-akkineni-telugu-web-series-the-high-priestess-5665292/lite/)
The supporting cast includes Kishore, Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Vijayalakshmi, Sunaina, Brahmaji, Aadhav Kannadasan, Nandini Rai, and Bhavani.[2](https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/south-indian/telugu-web-series-high-priestess-explores-psychic-world-1.63508039) • [3](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/tamil/2019/Apr/09/krishna-turns-producer-for-amalas-web-debut-1961840.html) elCinema credits Shashank Srivatsav Vangala as writer.[8](https://elcinema.com/en/work/2082193/)
## Reception
The series holds an IMDb rating of 6.5 out of 10 based on 47 user ratings.[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10173178/ratings/) A review in The News Minute found the short, roughly 25-to-35-minute episodes easy to watch and praised the cinematography by Soundararajan and Gopal Rao's unobtrusive music, but judged that the series sat between a paranormal thriller and a drama without committing to either, with themes such as regression therapy, hypnosis, and tarot prediction touched on but left inactive in the plot.[7](https://www.thenewsminute.com/amp/story/flix/high-priestess-review-web-series-rides-amala-little-else-100949) The same review noted that Akkineni's character subverts the usual on-screen portrayal of Indian paranormal experts: she plays her age, is educated, cerebral, and scientific about her powers rather than an unhinged figure given to psychedelic visions.[7](https://www.thenewsminute.com/amp/story/flix/high-priestess-review-web-series-rides-amala-little-else-100949) • [6](https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/bollywood/amala-akkineni-makes-web-debut-with-high-priestess-1.64792940)
A 2019 industry report on South Indian OTT content listed High Priestess among the noteworthy shows on ZEE5 in that period, alongside Thiravam and [Auto Shankar](https://www.edgepedia.org/auto-shankar).[9](https://communicationcrafts.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Indian_ott_report2019.pdf) As of later listings, no second season had been officially announced.[10](https://www.zee5.com/web-series/details/high-priestess/0-6-1624)
## References
1. [High Priestess, ZEE5 official series page](https://www.zee5.com/global/web-series/details/high-priestess/0-6-1624)
2. [Telugu web series 'High Priestess' explores psychic world, Gulf News (April 24, 2019)](https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/south-indian/telugu-web-series-high-priestess-explores-psychic-world-1.63508039)
3. [Krishna turns producer for Amala's web series debut, The New Indian Express (April 9, 2019)](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/tamil/2019/Apr/09/krishna-turns-producer-for-amalas-web-debut-1961840.html)
4. [Amala Akkineni is a no-nonsense actor: Krishna, The Indian Express (April 8, 2019)](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/amala-akkineni-telugu-web-series-the-high-priestess-5665292/lite/)
5. [High Priestess (TV Series 2019) Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt10173178/ratings/)
6. [Amala Akkineni makes web debut with 'High Priestess', Gulf News (June 25, 2019)](https://gulfnews.com/entertainment/bollywood/amala-akkineni-makes-web-debut-with-high-priestess-1.64792940)
7. ['High Priestess' review: A paranormal web series that rides on Amala, The News Minute (April 30, 2019)](https://www.thenewsminute.com/amp/story/flix/high-priestess-review-web-series-rides-amala-little-else-100949)
8. [High Priestess (2019), elCinema](https://elcinema.com/en/work/2082193/)
9. [Growing Popularity of Southern Language OTT Content Industry, Indian OTT Report 2019](https://communicationcrafts.in/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Indian_ott_report2019.pdf)
10. [High Priestess web series page, ZEE5](https://www.zee5.com/web-series/details/high-priestess/0-6-1624)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Unscripted, reality, and web-native series › Web-native and streaming-original series › Indian and South Asian web series › Premiered 2003 to 2020*
*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*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
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