Supriya Pathak, Sayani Gupta, Rithwik Dhanjani unite for Audible show Buri Nazar

The online audiobook and podcast service Audible’s newest original thriller Buri Nazar features the talents of Supriya Pathak, Sayani Gupta and Rithwik Dhanjani.

Based on playwright Madhuri Shekar's Audible original Evil Eye, the Hindi version has been adapted by Noopur Sinha.

Evil Eye was also adapted into a film, directed by Elan Dassani and Rajeev Dassani and co-produced by Priyanka Chopra Jonas's Purple Pebble Pictures and Blumhouse. Starring Sarita Choudhury, Sunita Mani, Omar Maskati and Bernard White, the film was premiered on Amazon Prime last year.

The story of Buri Nazar, told through a series of phone calls and voicemails, revolves around Usha (Pathak) who is convinced that a curse has been put on her daughter Pallavi (Gupta) when she was in the womb. Usha worries about Pallavi who is focused on her career rather than settling down, despite her efforts at matchmaking.

But when Pallavi begins dating a young Indian-American businessman Sandeep (Dhanjani), she is surprised to find Usha is less-than-pleased with the turn of events. In fact, she is downright suspicious of Sandeep’s motives.

According to a press release, the audio show is “a can’t-miss tale about cultural miscommunications, family secrets and the lingering echoes of trauma”.  

Speaking about voicing a character on an audio show for the first time, Pathak said, “Playing the role of Usha and emoting the complex feelings of a loving but worried mother who just wants to protect her child using only my voice was an exciting challenge that I have thoroughly enjoyed.  Audiobooks and shows have the ability to tell a story in a new, exciting and uniquely interactive manner, and I am excited to explore this medium further.”

Gupta said she thoroughly enjoyed playing Pallavi and especially loved the banter with Usha and the romance with Sandeep. She went on to say, “It’s unbelievable how much potential audio shows and plays have. Growing up listening to radio plays, and my father being part of All India Radio, I have always been attracted to and intrigued by voice work. It's amazing to learn the range of emotions you can portray and tell a story with its nuance using just your voice, which is very powerful.”

“Audio storytelling is a craft in itself, and the scope, absolutely fascinating. Buri Nazar is an extremely unpredictable, exciting story that I know will have our listeners at the edge of their seats. I hope they enjoy this story, as much as we did narrating it!” she added.

Dhanjani, who plays the mysterious Sandeep, said, “Stepping into the audio world of entertainment has been an awesome experience for me – the epic sound production and technological innovation has blown me away! Playing this multi-faceted, mysterious character using only the power of my voice has been an incredibly unique challenge and I can’t wait to see what my fans think!”

Buri Nazar is available now for free for Audible.in members.