'Naagin 6' Is a Crossover Between Science, Nationalism, and Delusion

I am numb toward Indian TV Soaps from this moment on.

When I was asked to review the first episode of Naagin Season 6 by my boss, I had two thoughts. The first being, “Wow, does my boss really hate me this much?” and the second, more obvious thought, “There’s a NAAGIN SIX?!”

Discussions around who watches these shows are redundant now, and there’s nothing these makers can do that will surprise me. I’ve seen it all– right from bahus turning into flies (re: Sasural Simar Ka) to innocent women metamorphosing into ichhadhaari naagins. Not sure if this is a gender issue, but has anyone wondered why Indian soap writers are obsessed with turning their female leads into these bizarre mythical figures?

Naagin 6 begins in 2019 with a “professor” who is worried a pandemic potentially destroying the country. First of all, this professor is an obvious rip-off from Money Heist. Not just the name, they’ve even made him look like that. Don’t believe me? See for yourself.

Coming to the Plot…

Moving ahead, now that the professor knows there’s a pandemic coming, what does he do? Go to the ICMR? Other scientists? Medical professionals? Naah. He summoned all the sadhus, sadhvis, and monks he could find to help solve the problem. Genius!

These sadhus assembled like the Avengers and heard the professor’s concerns. Guess what they did next? Completely dismissed his information as nonsense and went away. Come on professor, what were you expecting? In our own experience, we’ve seen sadhus completely ignore the importance and urgency of a pandemic, and unfortunately, your case was no different.

But the professor is not that big on science either. When the pandemic strikes, his solution is to end it by summoning a “sarvashresth naagin” from a temple. Yeah… for real. If all it took to end a pandemic was a snake, my ex could have easily solved this crisis in a day.

Let’s take a minute to talk about this supposed pandemic that has struck the nation. Naagin shows a country called “Chingistan” that is plotting to spread a manmade pandemic in India because India is their biggest enemy. Need I say anything more?

They didn’t even try to make the name of the country less obvious. Just used a common Indian slur and put “istan” to it. Not sure if they wanted to be deliberately xenophobic or the writers had just given up at this point.

Lots of Delusion, With a Spoonful of Nationalism

I have deduced exactly why Naagin was made: to show that China, is in fact, actually 'responsible' for spreading the pandemic, and that the writers live and breathe nationalism.

One example of this would be when the professor goes to summon the Naagin. He takes a bunch of snake charmers with him, and together they try their best to make the Naagin appear. They try a lot but to no avail. Finally, the professor comes up with another genius idea: he decides this is no ordinary naagin, so snake charmers won’t work for her, only one thing will: Desh ki Mitti!

Waah! Kya tadka daal hai nationalism ka. He just happens to have a handful of sand in his pocket, which he quickly takes out, and voila! The Naagin appears.

Another example of this nationalism would be the male lead. A soldier who is always worried about the country’s security, this character looks heavily inspired by Vicky Kaushal’s character from Uri. At a flag hoisting ceremony on Republic Day, this hero talks about how the pandemic is raging in the country to which someone asks, “Kya karenge iss mahamari ka? (How will we get out of this pandemic?)” Pehle mask toh pehen lo uncle.

Tejasswi Prakash (winner of Bigg Boss 15), stars in the show’s lead role, so it is safe to assume she will finally transform into the Naagin. While the first episode of Naagin 6 answers very few questions about where the plot is going, or if there's anything worth watching at all, I only have one thing to say: CANCEL YOUR VOOT SUBSCRIPTION.