With “ES” Stephen King should deliver one of his biggest hits in 1986. The story of a group of children who are haunted by a horror clown and again confronted by the terrible creature in adulthood should become a literary milestone. But not only that: the film adaptations are also celebrated by genre and Stephen King fans.
In 1990, director Tommy Lee Wallace (“Halloween III”) delivered “IT”, a two-part TV series starring Tim Curry as clown Pennywise intended to terrify an entire generation. In 2017, “Flash” creator Andy Muschietti managed to deliver the highest grossing horror film of all time with “ES”. The follow-up, 2019’s “ES: Kapitel 2,” couldn’t build on it, but rounded out Andy Muschietti’s horror epic to a total of 305 minutes of horror odyssey.
There’s more “IT”!
But that’s not all, because between the TV adaptation by Tommy Lee Wallace and the two films by Andy Muschietti, there was another “IT” film adaptation in 1998. It is a 52-episode Hindi-language television serial titled “Woh” (a gender-neutral Hindi word that translates to “it”). Here, the story of King’s novel is shifted from Derry to Panchgani, a small town on the western coast of India. An ancient evil, which takes the form of a horror clown, is planning to bring mischief here.
The story largely follows the plot of Stephen King’s novel. The series is available on the Indian streaming service Movies And TV, though the platform is only available in India. “Woh” stars acclaimed actor Lilliput, who has made it his mission to emulate Tim Curry’s legendary performances. If you look at a picture of “Lilliput” from “Woh”, you might think he succeeded in this project:
Not everything the same
As Stephen King personally admits, finishing a story is his greatest weakness. Although “IT” is a true classic, the finale remains a big disappointment for many readers – not to mention a still more than questionable orgy sequence that doesn’t actually advance the plot one bit.
“Woh” deviates from the template here and finds a new origin for the clown monster. Because the Indian series is not about an ancient alien who settled on earth millions of years ago to feed on fear, but about a human being who was born under the name of Vikram. Eventually, through harassment, he became the vengeful ghost tormenting the townspeople who had once wronged him.
In “Woh”, the adults meet again after 15 years to finally finish off the clown. But the story doesn’t stop after that. A seven-year jump ensues, and a son of one of the main characters suddenly displays unusual, evil traits reminiscent of Woh. It seems Woh’s ghost has returned to possess the boy. This cleverly plays into the cross-generational nature of King’s original story.
In “Woh” there is even a harmonious ending, because after the adults realize the backstory of the monster, they feel sorry and even show understanding for his pain. In the end, “Woh” is also the salvation of a tormented soul that finally finds peace. “Woh” thus tells of social ills, while Stephen King descends into the hidden evils of 1950s America with “ES”.