# Typewriter (2019 TV series)
**Typewriter** (Hindi: टाइपराइटर) is a 2019 Hindi-language horror streaming television series created, directed, and written by Sujoy Ghosh for Netflix. Set in Goa, its five episodes follow four young friends who plan to search an old villa for ghosts, and the family that moves into the villa, whose buried past resurfaces in chilling ways[1](https://www.netflix.com/in/title/80996338?fromWatch=true) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/typewriter).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Format | Hindi-language Netflix series, 5 episodes of roughly 50 minutes each, released 19 July 2019[1](https://www.netflix.com/in/title/80996338?fromWatch=true) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/typewriter) |
| Creator | Sujoy Ghosh, who directed and co-wrote the series with Suresh Nair[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/typewriter) • [3](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/typing-horror-typewriter-netflix-sujoy-ghosh-5842853/) |
| Setting | Bardez Villa in Goa, former home of the ghost-story writer Madhav Mathews[4](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/typewriter-rating-review-netflix-5839412/) |
| Central cast | Palomi Ghosh as Jenny, Purab Kohli as Ravi, Jisshu Sengupta as Amit Roy, Sameer Kochhar as Peter, and child actors Aarna Sharma, Aaryansh Malviya, and Mikail Gandhi[1](https://www.netflix.com/in/title/80996338?fromWatch=true) • [5](https://scroll.in/reel/930994/scroll_in) |
| Genre influences | Children's adventure in the manner of Enid Blyton combined with a haunted-house horror plot[3](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/typing-horror-typewriter-netflix-sujoy-ghosh-5842853/) |
| Reception | 67% average Tomatometer (6 reviews) and 75% Popcornmeter on Rotten Tomatoes; 6.5/10 on IMDb from about 4,700 ratings[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/typewriter) • [6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9310372/ratings/) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and story
The story begins in the mid-1980s at Bardez Villa in Goa, which has seen mysterious, unexplained occurrences. Madhav Mathews (Kanwaljeet), a successful ghost-story writer, wrote his book *Ghost of Sultanpore* on a Remington typewriter and dies of a heart attack when he sees a doppelganger ghost of his adolescent granddaughter, Jenny. The action then shifts to the present day, when the grown-up Jenny returns to live at the villa with her husband and two children[4](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/typewriter-rating-review-netflix-5839412/).
In the present, four children in Goa form a ghost club inspired by the late Madhav Mathews's book, hoping to witness a ghost[7](https://www.mid-day.com/entertainment/web-series/article/typewriter-web-review-desi-stranger-things-gets-a-few-things-right-21399181). When Jenny's family moves into Bardez Villa, unnatural deaths begin to occur in the town[7](https://www.mid-day.com/entertainment/web-series/article/typewriter-web-review-desi-stranger-things-gets-a-few-things-right-21399181). Competing with the shape-shifting spirit for villainy is [Amit Roy](https://www.edgepedia.org/amit-roy) ([Jisshu Sengupta](https://www.edgepedia.org/jisshu-sengupta)), a shadowy character who wants to get his hands on Madhav's typewriter, which types out messages on its own[5](https://scroll.in/reel/930994/scroll_in).
The five episodes are titled Chapter 1: Four Kids and a Dog; Chapter 2: Operation School Bell; Chapter 3: The Ghost of Sultanpore; Chapter 4: The Rise of the Fakeer; and Chapter 5: The Night of the Blood Moon. Later episodes include flashbacks, one to 1950s Sultanpore in which a mother displays unnatural powers, and one to the 1980s revealing the sinister actions of a figure called the Fakeer[1](https://www.netflix.com/in/title/80996338?fromWatch=true).
## Production and influences
**Sujoy Ghosh's approach.** Ghosh, known for the thrillers *Kahaani* (2012) and *Badla* (2019) and the short films *Ahalya* (2015) and *Anukul* (2017), made *Typewriter* his first project with Netflix[8](https://www.indulgexpress.com/entertainment/tv/2019/Jul/18/sujoy-ghosh-on-his-new-web-series-typewriter-on-netflix-it-was-like-reliving-my-childhood-16698.html) • [9](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/sujoy-ghosh-typewriter-netflix-5832214/). He said the series came from a long-held wish to work with children and, in his words, "vicariously go back to my childhood and live everything that Enid Blyton taught me"; he directed and co-wrote the show with Suresh Nair[3](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/typing-horror-typewriter-netflix-sujoy-ghosh-5842853/).
Central to the plot is a ragamuffin ghost club of four children and a golden Labrador, which Ghosh described as a direct reference to Blyton's *The Famous Five* series. The story also features a colonial-era villa and a ghost called the Fakeer, whose ancestry can be traced to a place called Sultanpore[3](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/typing-horror-typewriter-netflix-sujoy-ghosh-5842853/). Ghosh added that he grew up reading horror and ghost stories in 1970s Calcutta and wanted children as protagonists, in the way films like *Jurassic Park* used them[8](https://www.indulgexpress.com/entertainment/tv/2019/Jul/18/sujoy-ghosh-on-his-new-web-series-typewriter-on-netflix-it-was-like-reliving-my-childhood-16698.html).
In casting, Ghosh did not want known faces. Nine-year-old Mikail Gandhi, best known for playing young [Sachin Tendulkar](https://www.edgepedia.org/sachin-tendulkar) in the 2017 biopic *[Sachin: A Billion Dreams](https://www.edgepedia.org/sachin-a-billion-dreams)*, won the role of Gablu after multiple auditions[10](https://www.gadgets360.com/entertainment/features/typewriter-netflix-series-release-date-cast-interview-sujoy-ghosh-purab-kohli-india-2068050).
## Reception
On Rotten Tomatoes the series holds a 67% average Tomatometer from six critic reviews and a 75% Popcornmeter audience score; Rotten Tomatoes lists the show's rating as TV-MA[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/typewriter). IMDb users give it 6.5/10 from about 4,700 ratings, with per-episode ratings ranging from 6.5 (the finale) to 7.5 (episode 3)[6](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9310372/ratings/). Netflix India classifies the series U/A 16+[1](https://www.netflix.com/in/title/80996338?fromWatch=true).
Reviewers frequently compared the show to *Stranger Things*. [The Indian Express](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-indian-express), rating it 2.5 out of 5, wrote that it followed a similar template but could not replicate the formula successfully, faulting a predictable ending and a per-episode length of about 50 minutes that needed crisper editing[4](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/typewriter-rating-review-netflix-5839412/). Scroll.in found the scares few and far between in a crowded plot but praised Palomi Ghosh's dual role as Jenny, playing both the haunter and the haunted, and called the series an easy binge with a short running length[5](https://scroll.in/reel/930994/scroll_in). The New Indian Express, rating it 3 out of 5, highlighted [Purab Kohli](https://www.edgepedia.org/purab-kohli) as a caring single parent and an inquisitive cop, while noting that the plot scattered across genre shifts and left a subplot involving Jenny's husband Peter unresolved[11](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/review/2019/Jul/22/typewriter-review-this-netflix-series-is-eerie-scary-but-fun-to-watch-2007695.html) • [12](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/hindi/2019/aug/01/netflixs-typewriter-review-the-kids-are-all-not-right-2012198.html). [Hindustan Times](https://www.edgepedia.org/hindustan-times) rated it 3.5 out of 5, suggesting viewers imagine a live-action *Famous Five* adaptation[13](https://www.hindustantimes.com/tv/typewriter-review-sujoy-ghosh-s-netflix-show-is-a-worthy-follow-up-to-stranger-things-a-palate-cleanser-before-sacred-games/story-wr6foQzDywhEi4wczOhuwO.html).
## References
1. [Typewriter, Netflix official site](https://www.netflix.com/in/title/80996338?fromWatch=true)
2. [Typewriter, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/tv/typewriter)
3. [Typewriter director Sujoy Ghosh: A scary story is akin to a roller coaster ride, The Indian Express, July 23, 2019](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/typing-horror-typewriter-netflix-sujoy-ghosh-5842853/)
4. [Typewriter review: An overcrowded house of horror, The Indian Express, July 20, 2019](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/typewriter-rating-review-netflix-5839412/)
5. ['Typewriter' review: Some thrills, but not enough chills in Sujoy Ghosh's Netflix horror series, Scroll.in, July 19, 2019](https://scroll.in/reel/930994/scroll_in)
6. [Typewriter (2019) ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt9310372/ratings/)
7. [Typewriter Web Review: Desi Stranger Things gets a few things right, Mid-Day, July 23, 2019](https://www.mid-day.com/entertainment/web-series/article/typewriter-web-review-desi-stranger-things-gets-a-few-things-right-21399181)
8. ['It was like reliving my childhood and doing everything I couldn't': Sujoy Ghosh on his new web series, Typewriter, Indulge Express, July 18, 2019](https://www.indulgexpress.com/entertainment/tv/2019/Jul/18/sujoy-ghosh-on-his-new-web-series-typewriter-on-netflix-it-was-like-reliving-my-childhood-16698.html)
9. [Typewriter director Sujoy Ghosh: Only benchmark in digital world is the discussion about your content, The Indian Express, July 16, 2019](https://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/web-series/sujoy-ghosh-typewriter-netflix-5832214/)
10. [Sujoy Ghosh on making his Netflix debut with Typewriter, Gadgets 360](https://www.gadgets360.com/entertainment/features/typewriter-netflix-series-release-date-cast-interview-sujoy-ghosh-purab-kohli-india-2068050)
11. ['Typewriter' review: This Netflix series is eerie, scary but fun to watch, The New Indian Express, August 1, 2019](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/review/2019/Jul/22/typewriter-review-this-netflix-series-is-eerie-scary-but-fun-to-watch-2007695.html)
12. [Netflix's 'Typewriter' review: The kids are all not right, The New Indian Express, August 1, 2019](https://www.newindianexpress.com/entertainment/hindi/2019/aug/01/netflixs-typewriter-review-the-kids-are-all-not-right-2012198.html)
13. [Typewriter review: Sujoy Ghosh's Netflix show is a worthy follow-up to Stranger Things, Hindustan Times, July 19, 2019](https://www.hindustantimes.com/tv/typewriter-review-sujoy-ghosh-s-netflix-show-is-a-worthy-follow-up-to-stranger-things-a-palate-cleanser-before-sacred-games/story-wr6foQzDywhEi4wczOhuwO.html)
---
*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 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license