Though Bhool Bhuliayaa became a hit way back in 2007, it did not inspire too many horror comedies.
Stree'S blockbuster success changed all that and now there are three new films in this genre awaiting release.
Joginder Tuteja looks at the forthcoming films and also looks back at how successful this genre has been.
Bhoot Police
Release date: September 17 on Disney+Hotstar
The Bhoot Police promo promises a crazy ride for its audiences.
Saif Ali Khan and Arjun Kapoor play small town ghostbusters with Jacqueline Fernandez and Yami Gautam giving them company.
The film has been directed by Pawan Kripalani, who is known for his horror movies,Phobia, Darr @ The Mall and Ragini MMS.
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2/strong>
In Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 Kartik Aaryan steps into Akshay Kumar's shoes.
With Anees Bazmee as the director, one can expect a lot of humour.
The second installment of the franchise has been put together by Producer Bhushan Kumar and co-stars Kiara Advani.
Phone Bhoot
Phone Bhoot has an interesting cast -- Katrina Kaif, Ishaan Khatter and Siddhant Chaturvedi.
It is directed by Gurmmeet Singh who made the thrilling Mirzapur Web series.
Laxmmi Bomb
Akshay Kumar's Laxmii was set to be a theatrical release, but released on OTT due to the pandemic.
Director Raghava Lawrence made his Bollywood debut with this remake that took the biggest opening ever for a film premiered on Disney+Hotstar.
The reviews, however, were mostly poor.
Golmaal Again
Box office collection: Rs 205.70 crore
More comedy than horror, Rohit Shetty's Golmaal Again saw Parineeti Chopra play a ghost.
The fourth installment of the hit franchise starring Ajay Devgn, Arshad Warsi, Shreyas Talpade, Kunal Kemmu and Tusshar Kapoor was the biggest hit of them all, as the film ended up being a Rs 200 crore club blockbuster.
Stree
Box office collection: Rs 130 crore
Stree was a bonafide horror comedy as it combined the scares and the laughs in equal proportions.
No wonder, the Shraddha Kapoor-Rajkummar Rao-Abhishek Banerjee-Aparshakti Khurana-Pankaj Tripathi starrer went on to gain from strength to strength, becoming a huge Rs 100 crore club hit.
In fact, Producer Dinesh Vijan is so thrilled with its success that he has announced a horror universe in the making.
Bhool Bhulaiyaa
Box office collection: Rs 50 crore
Bhool Bhulaiyaa scored half a century at the box office in 2007 but if inflation is accounted for, these numbers would be worth their weight in gold.
A remake of the Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu, it saw some great comedy by Akshay Kumar and Rajpal Yadav.
Bhoothnath
Box office collection: Rs 25 crore
Bhoothnath Returns
Box office collection: Rs 40 crore
A franchise made for children, Bhoothnath had mild horror and plenty of laughs.
Amitabh Bachchan played the grumpy but friendly Bhoothnath, and the makers delivered a good success with Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla in supporting roles.
This was followed by a sequel, which scored even higher.
Surprisingly, there hasn't been a follow through since.
Roohi
Box office collection: Rs 26 crore
The only film to have done decent business at the box office this year, Roohi was the first major film to arrive when the theatres reopened at the start of 2021.
The horror comedy from the house of Dinesh Vijan brought back Rajkummar Rao after Stree and had Varun Sharma for added measure.
The lady who fetched a lot of attention was Janhvi Kapoor.
Go Goa Gone
Box office collection: Rs 25.16 crore
The only zombie horror comedy to have done reasonably well in Bollywood.
With Kunal Kemmu, Vir Das and Anand Tiwari by his side, Saif Ali Khan had fun like never before in this Raj & DK film which is set to have a second installment soon.
