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Bollywood's 10 BIGGEST Horror Hits
Horror movies can be money-spinners too.
Does horror sell?
Yes. But only if the content is right and the packaging is impressive.
Add sex to the mix, and we'll probably get a winner.
Last week's release, Ragini MMS -- starring the sexy Sunny Leone -- fared quite well at the box office.
We take a look at Bollywood's most money-making horror movies.
Ragini MMS 2
Ragini MMS 2 was expected to open well. But for it to sit right at the top of the heap is something even its makers may not have imagined.
Sunny Leone's oomph quotient -- especially in the song Baby Doll -- and terrific marketing by Ekta Kapoor's Balaji Telefilms ensured that the cost of the film was recovered in the opening weekend itself.
The film may well become the second biggest money-making horror movie ever in the history of Bollywood.
Box Office Collections: Rs 24 crores, and counting.
Read the reviews here: 1 and 2
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Raaz 3
Which brings us to the first in the list.
Raaz 3 is the biggest horror hit, and has paved the way for the four film in this hit franchise.
With the star power of Emraan Hashmi and Bipasha Basu, hit music, franchise value and return of director Vikram Bhatt -- the creator of Raaz -- with Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt, this spook fest is the highest grossing horror film of all time.
Box Office Collections: Rs 70 crores
Read the review here
Raaz - The Mystery Continues
Raaz, in fact, enjoys the strongest recall value.
Its second installment was directed by Mohit Suri (of Aashiqui 2 fame), and starred Emraan Hashmi and Kangna Ranaut. It was accepted with open arms.
A well-made affair with chartbuster songs, Raaz 2 was yet another example of a cost effective product from the Bhatts that really paid off.
Box Office Collections: Rs 31 crores
Haunted
Meanwhile, Vikram Bhatt, who has made it his job to sell fear in any shape or format, decided to scare audience in 3D for the first time with Haunted.
Not many carried much expectations from the film since its lead actor Mahakshay Chakraborty had delivered a few duds before.
However, the 3D format seemed to work very well, and it became a surprise hit.
Box Office Collections: Rs 28 crores
1920 - Evil Returns
After delivering a hit with 1920, Vikram Bhatt decided to make a sequel.
1920: Evil Returns was directed by his long standing associate and friend Bhushan Patel, who did not disappoint and told an engaging horror tale.
Again, not many expected this Aftab Shivdasani-Tia Bajpai film to score but powered by some good music, it went on to do well at the box office.
Box Office Collections: Rs 23 crores
Raaz
Raaz released at a time when the horror genre in mainstream Hindi cinema was dead.
The Ramsay brothers had stopped making films and no other filmmaker took up the challenge of making horror movies.
The Bhatt brothers decided to change the trend and with new actors Bipasha Basu and Dino Morea, they put their money into the film. To power it further, they roped in composers Nadeem-Shravan.
The rest is history.
Box Office Collections: Rs 21 crores
Bhoot
There was a time when Ram Gopal Varma was churning out brilliant movies across genres.
With Ajay Devgn as one of his favourite actors and Urmila Matondkar as his muse, he came up with an unconventional film called Bhoot, which had its USP lying in scaring during the day in a regular high rise apartment.
Bhoot was a major success.
Box Office Collections: Rs 15 crores
1920
Vikram Bhatt made 10 back-to-back flops before he made the surprise hit, 1920, a horror film starring newcomers and no hit music to boast about.
Still, Bhatt went ahead with his convictions, and the lead actors -- Rajneesh Duggal and Adah Sharma -- played their parts well too.
Box Office Collections: Rs 11 crores.
Phoonk
For Ram Gopal Varma, it was redemption of sorts to strike back with Phoonk, since his last few films -- Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag, Darling, Nishabd, Contract -- were disasters.
Ramu experimented with the poster, and made a crow its protagonist. That worked, and intrigued the audience.
With interestingly cut promos and a good narrative, the film was a good success.
Box Office Collections: Rs 11 crores
Ragini MMS
Ragini MMS starred new actors -- Rajkumar Yadav (now Rajkummar Rao) and Kainaz Motivala.
However, producers Ekta Kapoor and Siddharth M Jain had the USP of a tantalizing title and director Pawan Kripalani came up with unique narrative.
The sex factor helped, and the low cost film managed to sail through comfortably.
Box Office Collections: Rs 10 crores