#REVIEW: Ekta Kapoor manages to keep the 'Naagin' Magic INTACT with 'Naagin 3'

Ekta Kapoor's Naagin 3 launched over this weekend, and the hype has been real.

Naagin 3 has attempted a complete makeover in terms of the cast and the storyline, which will be completely different from the previous 2 seasons.

So here's what we think about the same-

The storyline:

Surprisingly, the show starts with (still not dead) Shivangi (Mouni Roy) who was seen stabbed by her husband from season 2 Rocky (Karanvir Bohra) deliberating on why did her husband and her father want her dead. Not knowing the reason, she promises to return with answers.

The scene then shifts to a Shivji temple where pandits from North,East South and West gather to worship the Lord. In the midst of the pooja, business Andy/ ND Sehgal (we still could not get actor Chetan Hansraj's correct name, so we'll go with Andy) reaches the site with bulldozers to tear down the temple, but is warned by the pandits against incurring the wrath of the three-eyed God and his disciples- the snakes. He goes ahead with his bulldozers but is stopped by snakes who gobble up the bad guys, but not before Andy's associates take him away. At his mansion, a snake in the form of his servant tells Andy that the myth about icchadari snakes is true.

On the other hand, Andy's spoilt son Yuvi and his brat gang of boys are introduced. After drinking, the boys decide to go to the Shiv mandir property, where they encounter Ruhi (Karishma Tanna) and Vikrant (Rajat Tokas), the icchadari nsnakes, who are all set to mate after 100 years. After an unsuccessful attempt of 'gang raping' Ruhi, one of the guys from the group shoots Vikrant and he falls down the cliff. A few feet below, Vikrant dies in Ruhi's arms and she promises to return to take her vengeance. Soon after the incident, Yuvi's elder brother Mahir (Pearl V Puri) reaches the scene and the group lies to him that they shot a snake. Mahir takes them away and asks them to not come to the site, not before Ruhi sees Vikrant's killers in his eyes.

6 months later, the Sehgals' hotel is successfully constructed and the family is getting Yuvi (Ankit Mohan) and Prathamesh married to their workers' daughters Bela (Surbhi Jyoti) and Suhani respectively. The media mentions about Andy's marriage to Sumitra (Rakshanda Khan) and his illegitimate relation with Paoloumi Roy (Pavitra Punia) and how cousins Yuvi and Prathamesh will get married in the same mandap.

All too soon, Yuvi finds himself in an ego clash with a Vish Khanna, who has booked half of his hotel rooms and on finding out that she is a woman. He starts to pursue her, but Mahir then steps in and entertains Bela, then heads to talk to Vish and warns her to stay away from his brother. However, Yuvi relentlessly pursues Vish who takes him to the jungle and attacks him. But Mahir follows them and asks Yuvi to get back to his engagement.

Not known to Vish and Yuvi, Karan follows them to the jungle and even though he does not see what happened, he lies to Vish that he has seen her reality and asks to spend one night with her in exchange for his silence. Vish follows him to his room where she unleashes her Naagin avatar and kills Karan. At the engagement that is happening at the pool side, Yuvi's ring falls from his hand and when Bela and Mahir go to pick it up, they see Karan's floating dead body.

In spite of the plot of the show being revealed already, the makers have managed to keep the curiosity intact with a good grip on the story. Not even once, the audience feel like 'what just happened.'

There has been a HUGE improvement, when it comes to the special effects that have been used in the show, in comparison to the previous 2 seasons. However, this does not overshadow the fact that there have been moments where the VFX turns blotchy and looks fake too.

Performances in Naagin 3 are something to watch out for. Right from the central cast to the antagonists that Ekta has roped in for her show, dish out decent performances, which we are sure would only get better with time.

What we did not like:

Rajat Tokas fared really bad for us in his role as a Naag. But having seen him play roles like Akbar and Chandragupta Mourya, we could not help cringe over Rajat's portrayal of an icchadari snake.

While we already mentioned that the VFX is a bit here and there, what the makers really need to focus on is the sizes of their snakes. While we completely get it that there are really huge snakes out there, these ones look hilariously huge.

The Verdict

The makers have played it safe by changing the entire concept of revenge - from the naagin avenging her parents' death to a naagin taking revenge for the killing of her mate, which is a good change.

Also, with an all new cast coming into play, it is a safe move as loyal fans of the franchise will want to see their beloved show, in spite of a cast change, which again works in favour of Naagin 3.

Ratings: ***1/2 (3.5 stars)