Shweta Mahadik brings back Tatya Vinchoo for a desi spin on Halloween

This Halloween, creator Shweta Mahadik ditched the usual Western scares and brought back Tatya Vinchoo, the iconic possessed doll from Zapatlela, giving a desi twist to spooky season nostalgia.

While Halloween in India usually borrows its scares from the West, with faces like Annabelle, Chucky, and The Nun filling up timelines, one creator decided to dig into something far closer to home this year. Actor and digital creator Shweta Mahadik brought back Tatya Vinchoo, the possessed puppet from the Marathi cult classic Zapatlela (1993), reimagining him in her own inimitable way. When Zapatlela first hit theatres, it wasn’t just another horror-comedy; it was an event. The wisecracking, terrifying doll voiced by Dilip Prabhavalkar became a household name across regions, a character that made audiences laugh and flinch in equal measure. Tatya Vinchoo’s sharp one-liners and eerie charm found fans well beyond Marathi-speaking viewers, sneaking into India’s wider pop culture vocabulary long before the word "viral" existed.

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Three decades later, Shweta’s version of the character revives that nostalgia with a wink. Known online as the “DIY Chachi,” she has built a following for her handcrafted looks and festive makeovers that blend creativity with humour. Her decision to resurrect Vinchoo isn’t just clever cosplay; it is a nod to a time when Indian horror had its own quirky identity. “Every Halloween, the world gets obsessed with international horror icons,” she said in a post unveiling her look. “But it’s time we gave our own desi bhoot some spotlight. Meet Tatya Vinchoo, the OG ghost from our side of the world.”

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It is a sentiment that fits perfectly with the moment. As creators increasingly localize global trends, Mahadik’s homage reminds audiences that Indian cinema’s eerie corners hold their own kind of magic, full of camp, character, and cultural memory. 

So, who do you plan on dressing up as this Halloween? Let us know in the comments below.

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