Good thrill haunting

Sukanya Verma

A woman in a white sari holds a candle, humming a haunting tune.

A rumble of thunder, a bolt of lightning, a deafening shriek.

Classic Bollywood-shtyle horror tale for you.

This year saw Vikram Bhatt's Raaz [said to be a remake of What Lies Beneath], starring Bipasha Basu and Dino Morea.

There is no denying that today's horror film is a far cry from those of the black-and-white era but the chills remain the same. "The basic horror elements are the same," says Box Office editor and trade expert Indu Mirani. "The women in white saris, the creaking doors --- those have not changed one bit. But I admit that the Ramsay brand of horror with those painted, ridiculously horrific faces is not prevalent any more."

"The target for these kind of films are generally men who visit cinema halls alone. Horrror films are not meant for family viewing," adds Mirani. "However in the case of Raaz, a considerable amount of teenagers and women have been drawn in. Then, the undelying theme was good versus evil. That always works and Raaz is doing exceptionally well."

The success of Raaz is manna from heaven for this genre. Although the market for such films has been diminishing, the new lot of filmmakers like Ramgopal Varma, Vikram Bhatt and Rakesh Mehra hope to infuse the genre with a new life. The treatment of the subject, as Mehra asserts, will now be of utmost importance.

Last year, Mehra teamed up with Amitabh Bachchan, Manoj Bajpai and supernatural forces in the bizarre tale of good vs evil, Aks - The Reflection.

Shyam Ramsay, one the Ramsays brothers, also believes that there is much potential for horror films. His next, Dhund, is a murder mystery and he has already begun planning his big budget horror film along the lines of Indiana Jones - Raiders Of The Lost Arc. With the latest technology and advanced SFX, Ransay knows the the time is ripe to make a spine-chilling, lavishly etched horror film.

This has not always been case with Indian directors. Unlike their Hollywood contemporaries, who regaled audiences with Frankenstein, Dracula, The Exorcist, Evil Dead, Poltergiest, The Haunting, The Blair Witch Project and The Others, Indian filmmakers are among the last to jump on to the wagon headed for spooksville.

The black-and-white era saw this genre's psychological facets, with Kamal Amrohi's Mahal (1949). Madhubala's bewitching presence and the song Aayega aanewala lend the film an ethereal charm.

Vyjanthimala's spirited (pun intended) act in Bimal Roy's Madhumati kept Dilip Kumar and the audiences in a daze.

What set the ball rolling again was Sadhana's bone-chilling act in Raj Khosla's Woh Kaun Thi (1964). Especially noteworthy was the graveyard scene. Sadhana relishing the taste of blood lent a credible eeriness to her performance. The same team tried to repeat the Woh Kaun Thi magic with their next Anita, but met with little success.

Intrigue, thrill and horror were the three key ingredients in both Waheeda Rehman starrers, Bees Saal Baad (1962) and Kohra (1964), inspired by The Hound Of The Baskerville and Rebecca.

A hilarious spoof on spooks came in from comedian Mehmood's directorial venture, Bhoot Bangla (1965). The same year saw Gumnaam, a rehash of Agatha Christie's And Then There Were None.

The background score was a huge factor in these terrifying tales. Aayega (Mahal), Kahin deep jale kahin dil (Bees Saal Baad), Naina barse (Woh Kaun Thi), Kahan aake yeh main phas gaya (Bhoot Bangla), Gumnam hai koi (Gumnam), Aaja re (Madhumati) can still send shivers down anyone's spine.

Inspired by Wilkie Collins' The Woman in White, a woman clad in white remained the perennial favourite avatar of spirits. Alas, most male actors had to wear gory make up to look terrifying.

Rajkumar Kohli's multistarrer Jaani Dushman (1979) is a case in the point. Leading the star cast was Sanjeev Kumar playing the possessed bride-hunting monster. The film also boasted of biggies like Jeetendra, Shatrughan Sinha, Sunil Dutt, Reena Roy and Neetu Singh. Jaani Dushman was a sequel to Nagin. Nagin, also a multistarrer, was about a snake that could turn human at will. Both the films were huge hits at the BO.

The 1970s and 1980s, horror took on the mask of the supernatural with films like Kudrat, Mehbooba and Karz. Apart from Karz, these films met with little success and horror flicks became risky business propositions.

Just when this genre appeared to be fading away, the Ramsay brothers entered with their scary film Do Gaz Zameen Ke Neeche. Cheap thrills, grotesque masks, an unknown cast of bad actors and tons of blood and gore became the trademarks of the producer-director duo of Shyam and Tulsi Ramsay.

Also, low-budget B-graders like Purana Mandir, Veerana, Tehkhana, Sannata, Andhera, Darwaza, Samri, Aakhri Cheekh, Mahakaal, actually recovered their money and made noticeable profit.

The early 1990s saw filmmakers turn to the supernatural. Ramgopal Varma paid homage to The Exorcist with Raat. But he openly admits that Raat was a bad film. "During its making, I was on my own trip. I had a lot at my disposal and I tried to find a place for everything. I had an exhibitionist streak then."

An earlier version of Raat was made with Padmini Kolhapure and Amrish Puri in Gehraai. Varma made a sequel to Raat with the low-budget Telugu film Deyyam. Varma met with some success with the experimental, low-budget, psychological thriller Kaun (Urmila, Manoj Bajpai). Though a horror film in element, Urmila's menacing performance added wonders to this whodunit.

After wrapping his Company, Ramu is said to be contemplating a horror thriller.

The chilling adaptation of The Eyes of Laura Mars, 100 Days with Madhuri Dixit and Jackie Shroff did splendid business. In Gulzar's Lekin, Dimple Kapadia's ghostly spirit was captured with poetic efficiency. Bhatakti aatma acquired a touch of class in Lekin.

High after the success of Sadak, Dil Hai Ki Manta Nahin, Mahesh Bhatt also tried his hands at the horror genre in the man-turns-beast saga-Junoon (Rahul Roy, Pooja Bhatt) inspired by Cat People.

Though Hollywood has been a constant source of inspiration, desi versions of remakes fail to live up to the original. However, even pathethic attempts like Paapi Gudiya with Karisma Kapoor (a remake of Child's Play) and Pyaar Ka Saaya (a remake of Ghost) have ended up recovering their costs.