The Influence of Western Fantasy Fiction on Contemporary Bengali OTT and TV Series

Abstract

The publication of the Lord of the Rings trilogy marks a significant watershed moment in the literary history of the twentieth century. After the publication of this seminal text, it was “translated into numerous languages”(Manlove 156) and it also began to weave its influence into the various literary and cultural traditions of the world. Though the state of West Bengal possessed a powerful and rich literary and cultural background, in terms of supernatural or fantastic literature, the Bengali cultural field also started to take the colour of Tolkien’s magnum opus. Subsequently, the Harry Potter phenomenon in the 1990s, and the widely watched Peter Jackson film adaptations of the Lord of the Rings, added to the popularity of Western fantasy in West Bengal. This can be traced in a number of articles in Bengali magazines, journals, and blogs, such as “Angti Niye Abar Lorai,” “Dorja Jure Bisal Sap Er Murti! Khoj Millo,” which reveal the investment of Bengali audiences in the genre. Gradually, as this paper will argue in some detail, some of the newly emergent Bengali OTT and TV series, coming out in the post 2010s - were also coloured by the cultural expansion of Western fantasy. This paper will particularly demonstrate the influence of Western fantasy on Bengali OTT and TV Series with a special emphasis on the features of Western fantasy like the evocation of wonder through specific devices, mythopoeic tendencies, the dynamics of wish fulfilment, and the like. Side by side, the resemblance of scenes, actions, and ideas of the Lord of the Rings trilogy and the Harry Potter series in Bengali OTT and TV Series will also be depicted in this paper. The primary texts that will be studied, include one web series and two serials: Rudrabinar Obhishaap, Kiranmala, and Saat Bhai Champa.