In supernatural thriller Pretkaal, Kunal Jaiswal confronts morality, ambition, belief.
When Kunal Jaiswal talks about life, success and faith, he doesn’t think in simple binaries. His upcoming project ‘Pretkaal’ is a supernatural thriller that grapples with that tension — the pull of worldly ambition versus the deeper, often unspoken, path of belief. This moral stance isn’t rhetoric for Jaiswal — it is becoming the emotional backbone for bringing ‘Pretkaal’ to life. As he puts it: “In pursuit of success and wealth, many people abandon the path of God and embrace the path of Satan. We should not stray from God’s path, because walking on the path of Satan may bring temporary pleasures, but ultimately, it comes at a great cost.”
Kunal’s journey in storytelling began on the wooden boards of theatre in Ujjain. His early roles in productions like ‘Tughlaq,’ ‘Lost Life,’ ‘Hum Tum’ sharpened not just his acting skills, but his sense of timing, space, and emotional stakes — elements that live or die in live performance. These formative years taught him to let silences and pauses speak — something he now applies in visual media.
On television, shows like ‘Perfect Pati,’ ‘Harphoul Mohini,’ ‘Choti Sardarni’ brought him wider recognition. Stepping into webseries (Talaab) and films (Kissebaaz) made him aware of the differences in scale, but his core belief remained: that the emotional truth in a moment matters more than spectacle.
While acting gave him visibility, directing gave him control — over tone, frame, emotion. His debut music video as a director, ‘Tum Yaad Na Aaya Karo,’ already signaled this sensitivity. What followed — ‘Bas Tera,’ ‘Shaam Se,’ ‘Sajda / Tera Sajda,’ ‘Khicha Khicha,’ ‘Tu To Bhatka Hai’ (featuring Gurmeet Choudhary & Tridha Choudhury), and ‘Rang Birangi’ — all share his signature: subtlety over show, feeling over flash.
In many of these works, there’s minimal dialogue. The real conversations happen through looks, light, setting, space. In ‘Tu To Bhatka Hai,’ for example, the emotional arc moves with atmospheric tension rather than plot-driven spectacle. It’s this kind of directorial voice that sets him apart: he is less interested in filling frames, more interested in what lingers after the frame is over.
Now, with ‘Pretkaal,’ Kunal is stepping into even darker territory. While previous works deal with heartbreak, longing, loss, ‘Pretkaal’ aims to explore what happens when belief, fear, ambition, and the supernatural intersect. “It is essentially a project born out of my conviction that moral and spiritual choices are not abstract—they shape reality, often in ways we don’t immediately see,” he explains
The supernatural themes such as dark magic, demonic forces and a painful end are not mere genre-tropes for Kunal. “These are metaphors for the inner battles everyone faces: ambition vs integrity, the seduction of easy success vs the cost of staying true, the lure of what is forbidden,” says Kunal.
If his previous narratives are an invitation to feel, ‘Pretkaal’ seems to be a summons to confront what we fear, what we deny, and what we risk losing when we choose comfort over conscience.
In an industry and a culture where success is often equated with fame, wealth, big numbers, social media validation, the message of ‘Pretkaal’ message may feel countercultural. But Kunal believes such stories are vital — not just to entertain, but to reflect the inner lives of people pretending everything is fine.
He asserts, “Choosing God’s path over the path of Satan isn’t about dogma so much as it is about awareness—a sense of awareness of the consequences of decisions, of moral compromises, of spiritual atrophy.” He wants ‘Pretkaal’ to trigger reflection — in viewers, in himself, in all of us.
‘Pretkaal’ is still shaping up. Casting, technical teams, and final script details are under wraps, but if the early signs are anything to go by, it promises to be a milestone in Jaiswal’s journey. Not just because of its scale or genre, but because it seems to embody what he’s been preparing for all along: the ability to tell stories that matter, stories that unsettle, stories that linger.
In a world chasing the bright lights, ‘Pretkaal’ suggests sometimes the shadows show us more truth. And with Kunal Jaiswal behind the lens, that truth may not be pretty — but it might be necessary.
