Ghoul Trailer Explains Meaning of New Netflix Series

Netflix has released a new trailer for its upcoming Indian horror miniseries Ghoul – starring Radhika Apte in the lead – which focuses on the meaning of the title. Ghoul’s release date is August 24, and it will be available worldwide on Netflix. The new Ghoul trailer opens with newly-minted interrogator Nida Rahim (Apte) questioning a prisoner about the truth of the person who’s been put in a special cell. “Arabic legends tell tales of the Ghoul,” reads the English translation of the prisoner’s reply. “The Ali Saeed imprisoned in your cell is not human.”

Cut to a cryptic shot of Ali Saeed Al Yacoub (Mahesh Balraj, casting associate on Haider) – a feared terrorist assigned to Rahim, who has been tasked with drawing out a confession from him – asking about Rahim’s father, whom she turned in to the police as an anti-government activist which in turn landed her new job.

“He’s a Ghoul,” someone says off-screen, if that wasn’t obvious enough already at this point. The rest of the new Ghoul trailer is made up of shots we have seen previously in the first and second trailers, though there’s a little explanation this time. “Anyone can summon the Ghoul, by making this symbol with their blood and agreeing to sell their soul to it,” a character adds while we shots of someone doing just that.

Here’s an extended description provided by Netflix:

According to Arabic folklore, a Ghoul is a demonic phantom or an evil spirit that blends in right with humans. The Ghoul is flaccid and can take the shape of any human. A human can trade his/her soul to call upon the Ghoul. It is also considered a fiendish Jinn who dwells in your past guilt, feeds on it and makes you feel remorseful.

Written and directed by Patrick Graham, and also starring Ratnabali Bhattacharjee (Sold) and casting associate Mallhar Goenka (Titli), the Ghoul Web series is a co-production between Anurag Kashyap and Vikramaditya Motwane's Phantom Films, Jason Blum's Blumhouse Productions, and Ivanhoe Pictures.

Ghoul is set to be the third Netflix Original for Apte after the anthology film Lust Stories and India's first Netflix original series Sacred Games, which premiered in July; and the second for Phantom Films, having developed Sacred Games on its own.

We discussed Ghoul on Transition, Gadgets 360's pop culture and gaming podcast. The Ghoul discussion starts at 34:40. You can listen to it via Apple Podcasts or RSS, or just listen to this week's episode by hitting the play button below.