By Ayesha Khan 
Mumbai, October 27: At 2:04 this afternoon, Ashish Chanchlani hit play on a moment he’s been building toward for years. The trailer for his long-awaited web series “Ekaki” finally dropped on his YouTube channel and almost instantly, the comment section erupted. It wasn’t just another sketch or comedy short this time. It was a statement.
A Different Kind of Ashish
The first few seconds make it clear: this isn’t the Ashish who cracks jokes about exams or relationships. The world of Ekaki is darker, quieter, and oddly lonely. A group of friends heads out for what seems like a harmless trip until an abandoned bungalow and a few too many secrets start to change everything.
The footage feels cinematic, far removed from his usual handheld, high-energy sketches. There’s an atmosphere now. Long pauses. The sound of breath, the flicker of a light, the camera lingering on faces that know something’s wrong. For an audience raised on his quick-cut humor, it’s a bit of a shock but a good one.
“Didn’t expect this from you, bro,” one fan wrote, “but damn, this is intense.” Dozens more chimed in, echoing the same surprise and pride. Within an hour, Ekaki had begun trending on X and Instagram, with peers from the creator community calling it “Ashish 2.0.”
From Laughter to Fear
According to IANS, the show follows seven friends who decide to explore an eerie bungalow, a setup that slides from banter to paranoia as the night deepens. But it’s not just a horror story. The title itself, Ekaki, meaning “solitary” or “alone,” hints at something deeper. Maybe isolation, maybe guilt. The trailer doesn’t spell it out, which only makes it more intriguing.
Visually, it’s unlike anything Chanchlani has done. The camera work feels measured, the pacing patient. There’s even a moment where silence becomes the scariest thing Indian YouTube hasn’t really seen before.
The Crew That Stayed
If you’ve followed Chanchlani’s journey, you’ll recognize the faces. Akash Dodeja, Harsh Rane, Sidhant Sarfare, Rohit Sadhwani, Shashank Shekhar, and Grishim Nawani all appear in the trailer. They’ve been with him since the old ACV sketch days, and their chemistry still carries through, only now it’s being tested in a much darker space.
The project comes under ACV Studios, Chanchlani’s own banner. It’s entirely his baby; he’s written it, directed it, acted in it, and produced it. In earlier interviews, he admitted Ekaki had been delayed due to heavy VFX work, but the result looks polished enough to justify the wait.
The “Dream Project” Label
Every creator eventually has one project that scares them more than it comforts them. For Chanchlani, Ekaki is that. He’s been calling it his “dream project” for months, and not in a marketing sense. It’s something he’s been quietly building toward, a bridge between the YouTube persona everyone knows and the filmmaker he’s becoming.
In a conversation shared by Who’s That 360, he said the series will release for free on YouTube later this year no subscriptions, no paywalls. “It’s my way of giving back,” he said. “The people who got me here deserve to see this first.”
That single line says a lot about how Chanchlani sees himself, not as a star moving away from his roots, but as someone trying to grow without leaving the community behind.
Why It Matters
It’s easy to underestimate what Ekaki represents. A YouTuber trying his hand at horror might sound simple enough, but the shift is bigger than that. It’s about creators refusing to stay boxed in by their own algorithms. Chanchlani has the kind of reach most OTT platforms would pay for, and yet he’s choosing to release it free, straight to his subscribers. That alone is a quiet revolution in India’s digital scene.
It also signals where audiences are headed. The same viewers who once wanted five-minute gags now want stories that stretch and challenge them. They’re growing up, and so are the people who make their content.
The Road Ahead
As of this evening, the Ekaki trailer has racked up hundreds of thousands of views. Comments range from pure fan love to professional admiration filmmakers and fellow YouTubers alike noting the tone shift and production scale. The release is reportedly slated for November 27, though that hasn’t been officially confirmed by Chanchlani’s team.
What’s certain is that this isn’t just another upload. It’s a marker. A clear signal that one of India’s most popular digital voices is ready to tell stories that don’t fit inside punchlines anymore.
And maybe that’s what makes this moment so satisfying watching someone known for making millions laugh choose, instead, to make them think.
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- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ayesha/
- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ayesha/
- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ayesha/
- Ayesha Khanhttps://hindustanherald.in/author/ayesha/
Ananya Sharma and Ayesha Khan