An eerie and sooty atmosphere, a frisky royal Alsatian, a masked man mounted on a majestic white horse... Haven't you heard this one before or perhaps read it somewhere? Well, now you can watch it all on television.

Yes, the desi version of the comic character Phantom, titled Betaal Pachisi (DD2), has finally arrived on the small screen. It's directed by Sunil Agnihotri, one of the miracle men and women behind the success of Chandrakanta, which has proved to be the biggest commercial grosser on TV so far. Agnihotri won many plaudits for Chandrakanta and now hopes to earn even more for his very own Betaal Pachisi.

The much-awaited and controversial fantasy serial takes viewers into the deep, dark woods, where amidst wild animals, birds, they meet the Phantom alias Betaal.

Okay, it's time to exercise a willing suspension of disbelief. For Agnihotri, unbelievably, strongly denies any resemblance between his Betaal and the comic character. ``I've nothing to do with the comic. Betaal Pachisi is an absolutely original work,'' he insists. But he does agree that he had plans of making a fantasy based on the comic strip. Those plans fell through and led to a lot of legal wrangling. ``So I had to compromise. Things were getting delayed and I had already got dates from Doordarshan. So I completely forgot about the original Phantom and created my own character.''

Still, his character has been `inspired' right? No, he insists vehemently. ``But if people think that way, then it is their problem, not mine,'' he retorts. Of course there are differences. Here, unlike the original Phantom, the protagonist is immortal. Agnihotri's Betaal comes alive every 100 years to fight evil. Other than that, we have to really dig deep to come up with other differences. Shahbaaz Khan plays the title role and he has his desi Diana too -- Sonu, played by Sonu Walia who, after an unsuccessful stint in films and not a very successful one in other serials, is banking on Betaal to give her what Mr Mintoo or Saahil couldn't. There is also Kruttika Desai as Naina Jogan who is in love with Betaal and has been faithfully awaiting his arrival for the last 100 years!

Harry, an archaeologist, played by Tom Alter, is in love with Sonu but she, alas, has also fallen for Betaal's charms. So there: differences at last! The original Phantom's life was not complicated by filmi love triangles. And wait there is more: there is Vindoo as Zulmato, a poacher who tries to kill Betaal and there's his godfather, the devil king (Puneet Issar) who'd killed Betaal in his last birth.Can this `unique' combination work? ``Well I hope so. It has romance, action, thrill, magic, fantasy, comedy -- everything to make it an interesting and engrossing entertainer,'' says Agnihotri. And he isn't cutting corners: he has spent over Rs 18 lakhs on Betaal's home and the ape costume, alone, cost him Rs 60,000. ``I don't believe in compromises, I believe in quality,'' he boasts. Still, it remains to be seen if the fantasy goes on to become as popular as Chandrakanta. The going is tough as the viewers are presently mesmerised, or rather, addicted to Ramanand Sagar's Shri Krishna which is in the same time slot on DD 1.

Can the lure of the jungles prove stronger than the battles of Kurukshetra? Can a phantom beat a god?

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.