Get your spooks here, B'wood sounds the bugle

SPOOKSVILLE: Bollywood horror movies may not be popular but they're making a comeback this season.

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Mumbai: Comedy, thriller, action and romance are the usual categories of films distributed by Bollywood filmmakers week after week. But the coming months will see a few leading filmmakers experimenting with a genre much less tried and tested — horror.

Despite not being as popular as their more jovial cousins, horror movies are making a comeback this season.

But there's a reason why mainstream has eluded this genre in the past.

Bollywood-produced horror films are usually associated with the tawdry, low budget movies brought out by the Ramsay Brothers.

However, concepts of the masked beasts, haunted houses and girls in skimpy nightwear are a thing of the past.

Ram Gopal Varma's 2003 hit Bhoot changed the way horror films were perceived. But it was followed by attempts like Vaastushastra, Darna Mana Hai and Naina that failed to create the eerie effect, leaving the audiences disappointed.

Now filmmakers are recreating the genre with a vengeance. Leading the pack is a film titled Phoonk by Ram Gopal Varma, the man who started it all.

“Phoonk is going to be very scary film. Black magic has always interested me because I don’t believe in it, but there are so many who are well educated and still believe in it. So, I did a lot of research and in mainstream format I have not attempted a film on black magic”, said RGV.

Contributing to the horror list of movies are directors Vivek Sharma of the Bhoothnath fame and Mohit Suri of Zeher, Kalyug and Woh Lamhe.

While Sharma will be making a sequel to the Bachchan-starrer Bhootnath, Suri is working on the second part to Raaz with Emraan Hashmi and Kangana Ranaut. The movie will be produced by the Bhatts.

“It has nothing to do with the first Raaz. It has an independent narrative, which has no links with it at all. It is rooted in today's India in the globalised situation. But there is nothing in common between Raaz and Raaz 2 except the title”, claims Suri.

The last in line is Vikram Bhatt's 1920, a period supernatural thriller that features newcomers. “I am doing a supernatural thriller all over again after a long time. It’s a completely different sensation and yes, it is necessarily a story of love and fear but it is completely different”, said Bhatt.

At a time when not many films are working at the box office, the horror genre might be a good change for the audiences who have evolved over the years in their choice and analysis of movies.