MUMBAI: Indian storytelling didn’t begin on screens; it began around firesides, courtyards and festival grounds, where folklore travelled by voice, gesture and memory. Today, films and series are returning to those roots, reimagining folk tales, local myths and regional legends for a new audience. These stories carry the texture of place, the rhythm of oral tradition and the lingering sense of something older than time. They’re not just entertainment — they’re cultural memory retold, reshaped and kept alive.
1. Dashavatar [ZEE5]
Starring Dilip Prabhavalkar, Mahesh Manjrekar and Bharat Jadhav, Dashavatar brings the Konkan Dashavatari folk theatre tradition to screen with emotional depth. Directed by Subodh Khanolkar, it follows the story of Babuli Mestri, a seasoned performer whose faith and art endure even as his eyesight fades. The film shows how mythology lives not in spectacles, but in the people who keep it alive. Watch it for a storytelling style that is rooted, spiritual and deeply human.
2. Tumbbad [Prime Video]
Tumbbad didn’t just revive folklore in cinema it proved that Indian myth-horror can be visually stunning, emotionally layered and globally resonant. The film treats the legend of Hastar not as superstition but as a way to talk about greed, inheritance and generational hunger. It shifted the OTT and theatrical landscape by showing that audience appetite exists for rooted, hyper-local storytelling told with world-class craft. Watch it because it feels both ancient and strikingly relevant, like a story your grandmother told, reimagined in cinematic gold.
3. Janaawar – The Beast Within [ZEE5]
Starring Bhuvan Arora, Janaawar – The Beast Within taps into the age-old belief that every person houses a primal force beneath their calm exterior. Set in a rural world where folktales and whispered warnings still shape daily life, the story follows a man confronting the violent instinct he has long tried to deny. The show doesn’t treat myth as fantasy — it treats it as memory, fear and inheritance. Arora’s layered performance and the show’s raw, close-to-the-skin storytelling make Janaawar – The Beast Within a compelling look at the thin line between who we are and who we’re capable of becoming.
4. Stree 2 [Prime Video]
Stree 2 continues the shift toward horror-comedy rooted in Indian oral legends but with sharper commentary. It uses folk ghost lore to examine gender, community memory and the stories society chooses to fear or conveniently ignore. By blending laughter with unease, it has inspired an entire wave of folklore-based genre cinema. Watch it because it proves that old stories can evolve, respond to the present, and still have the power to unsettle a crowd that thinks it cannot be surprised anymore.
Watch these stories to rediscover the timeless magic of Indian lore and experience Dashavatar as it premieres on ZEE5 from 14th November onwards.
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