Shahmaran (Turkish: Şahmaran) is a Turkish fantasy-drama Netflix series directed by Umur Turagay and written by Pınar Bulut. The show, which stars Serenay Sarıkaya and Burak Deniz in the lead roles, was released on 20 January 2023.
The show's second season was released on 8 August 2024.
Contents
Synopsis
Şahsu, a psychology lecturer from Istanbul, goes to Adana for work and decides to confront her grandfather, who abandoned her mother many years ago. While there, she becomes involved with a community that worships Şahmaran, a mythical creature that is half woman, half snake, who are waiting for the completion of a historical prophecy. Her life is transformed when she meets a mysterious man named Maran.
Cast and characters
Serenay Sarıkaya as Şahsu
Almina Günaydın as young Şahsu
Burak Deniz as Maran
Mustafa Uğurlu as Davut
Mahir Günşiray as Ural
Mert Ramazan Demir as Cihan
Hakan Karahan as Lakmu
Elif Nur Kerkük as Medine
Mehmet Bilge Aslan as Salih
Berfu Halisdemir as Diba
Nilay Erdönmez as Hare
Nil Sude Albayrak as Bike
Öznur Serçeler as Gül
Ebru Özkan as Çavgeş
Saadet Aksoy as Lilith (season 2)
Episodes
Reception
Three days after its release, the series had been watched a total of 17 million hours worldwide.
A critic at Cumhuriyet praised the cinematography and actors but was disappointed with the "dissonance" between the "reality of the region" and the characters' behaviour, citing excessive nudity and out-of-context scenes that do not match the old Turkish traditions of the region they were filmed in. The critic also likened Maran's family to the Cullens in Twilight.
