The Pratap household in Ichhapyari Naagin is beginning to feel like a snake pit. With Ichha, the mild mannered form shifting snake being forced to bare her fangs by Amrita/ Vishaili. To back track a bit, Ichha is from a land called Naagistan, home to Ichhadhaari Naags and Naagins. They are nice and some never get vicious. One day, while watching a TV show, they realize that earthlings think that the snakes are negative, vengeful creatures who are only out to harm or bite them. Then they decide that they must come up with way to change these perceptions about them.
Despite some detractors, Ichha, a charming and cheerful serpent, is sent to earth to change the perception of earthlings about snakes. She appears in a temple, before a pandit who worships snake deities and he tells her about the Pratap Family; a simple and loving Pehalwaan family. Ichha endears herself to Daadi and the family especially to Appu the grandson and Babbal.
The Prataps are old foes of the snakes from Vishailgarh, and Vishaili, who has lost a family member because of Daadi's son, Shankar, vows to kill each and every member of this family. She has since kidnapped him and held him hostage to find about the whereabouts of his family.
Iccha’s presence in the Pratap home is soon taken for granted and nobody suspects her reptilian antecedent; but Appu and Babbal know her true identity. When Babbal is fatally wounded in a firecracker explosion, Ichha brings him back to life, by performing a puja where she gives half her life to Babbal; but falls unconscious during the process. When Ichha doesn't regain consciousness, Babbal takes her to the only Nagomi Dev temple in the village and prays to Nagomi Dev to save Ichha.
Soon the Pratap household has a new mysterious house guest. Vishaili a.k.a Amrita. She suspects the presence of another Ichhadhaari Naagin in the house, so she creates a special flower that only snakes can smell. Mamta, who wakes up in the middle of the night, is mistakenly kidnapped. Ichha with the help of her fellow snakes finds Mamta. Vishaili now knows that Ichha is a Naagin.
Babbal professes his love to Ichha, but, Ichha ignores his advances, since she promised her mother to stay away from Babbal. After many failed attempts, Babbal decides to make Ichha jealous by flirting with Amrita, who reciprocates. She creates a rift between Iccha and Babbal. Vishaili then sends Aagvansh, a shape shifting eagle to destroy the family. Babbal is to marry Amrita soon. Iccha sees Babbal drinking milk from a bowl in the middle of the night and feels a bit of venom in his grip.
The Pratap homestead will soon be the arena for a reptilian war. Although Sabal and Prabbal are dysfunctional, they sense Amrita isn’t right for Babbal, who has changed.
Ichhapyari Naagin has all the ingredients of the Naagin folklore, including revenge and mythical characters; but it has so far been low on the horror and hissing and fairly light and funny. The quirkiness of the Pratap family takes the edge off fear. How can we forget the scene where during a bank hold up, a little boy is entertained by Iccha, who plays ball with the boy in her naagin avatar. Or when she baffles Appu with her quick change antics from being Daadi to her own self.
The credit for this naagin potboiler doesn’t go to the formulaic scripts of unrequited love between snakes or sudden death of a mate; on the contrary the premise is to make the reptilian fantasy a friendly narrative. The serial’s producer Siddharth P Malhotra has the shock and horror touches well under control. Even in a scene where Iccha’s snake army comes out to fight, it is a short and quick scene, and part of one episode. The Pratap household which is the fulcrum of the serial is also the source of mirth. The reason why Ichhapyari Naagin is slotted at 8 pm in a family oriented GEC is it is no horror story of the vengeance of the naagin, but it’s really an endearing story of a cheerful, mild mannered naagin, who wants to take the venom out of the way and allay misconceptions. Her’s is a friendly hiss.