Alongside the star-studded reality show Challenge Nibi Na, which goes on air on June 1, ETV Bangla is drawing on the supernatural to stave off the primetime TRP onslaught from its rival channels.

Taking off from wiccan Ipsita Roy Chakraverti’s experiences with the paranormal, the channel is airing Ipsita Ebong in the 10pm slot from today.

“The supernatural genre is not there on our competing channels and I believe we will be able to carve a niche. Ipsita Ebong is not a ghost story. We are not recreating an Aahat or a Ssshhhh… Koi Hai. Our show is about Ipsita’s research on the unknown. Besides, we are trying out a new format — it’s a 27-episode serial which will end in a month,” says Dipankar Choudhury, senior producer, ETV Bangla.

The channel is working on three unpublished stories by Ipsita. “These stories are about my experiences with the mystical, which are also deeply psychological. It is about the existence and the survival of the spirit. Through entertainment we are acknowledging the various dimensions too,” says Ipsita, who will appear in the first story, Trapped, as herself in a cameo.

Directed by Anindya Sarkar, Trapped is based on a paranormal experience Ipsita had years ago at the BNR in Puri.

“Puri is a place where the two dimensions — the visible and the invisible — come together, interact and sometimes merge with each other. The BNR in Puri has an atmosphere too. In this particular incident, I had experienced paranormal activities in rooms 12 and 14. Both rooms, I believe, are haunted,” she says.

Set largely in Puri with a small portion shot in Calcutta, Trapped begins with the hotel authorities (the name has been changed in the serial) calling in a psychic investigator to probe rooms 12 and 14.

“We see it from Debjani’s perspective, who after her mysterious death at the hotel, is trapped somewhere in a ‘middle world’. She haunts rooms 12 and 14. Some boarders of these two rooms have met with mysterious deaths. Through a flashback, we come to know how Debjani was jilted by her lover when they had come to holiday in Puri, and now her vengeful spirit is destroying young men who she feels are betraying their partners. The psychic investigator, Priya, is Ipsita’s student and she tries to help Debjani cross over, but something very unexpected happens at the end,” says Anindya.

He has shot major parts on location at BNR and the Puri seaside. “In fact, we shot in rooms 12 and 14 to maintain the authenticity!” adds Anindya, looking forward to steering Chinar, the next story in the series. Ipsita Ebong airs Monday to Saturday, at 10pm.