Indian and Pakistan Horror Films
David Murray
| HORROR - BOLLYWOOD & LOLLYWOOD STYLE |
 | |
|
Article by Ali assisted by Faiz and Sehba Ahmed
| ||
|
It is difficult to do justice to horror films in Bollywood with the lack of documentation and material available on the subject. Therefore, this article has been written almost entirely on the basis of memory. As a result there will be certain oversights but the idea is to pay some kind of homage to a genre that has managed to maintain its niche in India's massive film industry.
The earliest 'horror' films in Indian cinema revolved around themes of reincarnation and rebirth. Basically they were the typical old-fashioned ghost story. The attempt was not to scare as much as to give the love story a new dimension. The most famous is probably Kamaal (Pakeezah) Amrohi's debut film, Mahal. Starring Madhubala and Ashok Kumar the film is a complicated ghost story, which sees Ashok Kumar moving into an abandoned mansion with a tragic history. It is also immortalised by Madhubala's beauty and Lata Mangeshkar's first major hit song 'Ayega Aanewala'. Atmospherically photographed in the German expressionist style appropriately by the German cameraman Joseph Wirsching the film is heralded as an all time classic. SEE LIST OF HORROR AVAILABLE THROUGH THE BUBONIC ON-LINE SHOP
With the supernatural being a popular theme, most early spook stories revolved around 'bhatki hui aatmas' (lost souls). There was the odd attempt at making straight up horror films as well. In 1976, a star-studded shocker hit the screens in the form of Nagin (The Female Snake). The film starred Bollywood heavyweights Sunil Dutt, Jeetendra, Rekha, Reena Roy Feroz Khan, Kabir Bedi and Mumtaz. Nagin follows the bloody revenge of a female ichhadari (shape shifting) snake against a group of people who kill her mate. The film was a major success and was followed by another successful horror film in 1979 - Jaani Dushman. Once again Sunil Dutt, Jeetendra, Rekha and Reena Roy returned, as did director Raj Kumar Kohli. The versatile Sanjeev Kumar joined them as the cursed creature. In keeping with Universal's classic werewolf story, Sanjeev Kumar is bitten by a werewolf and as a result transforms into the creature himself. In a twist that Indianised the film, the werewolf preys on young brides dressed in the traditional red outfit of the wedding ceremony. The film was a monster hit.
The 1980s saw a qualitative change in the type of horror films being made by Bollywood. With VCRs making Hollywood horror films more accessible to Indian audiences, more and more filmmakers began 'remaking' famous horror films. In 1980 Padmini Kohlapure played the possessed child a la Linda Blair in the unnerving Gehrayee. Probably the best of the Exorcist inspired films, Gehrayee has a number of eerie sequences and an uncomfortable atmosphere. In a similar vein, Reena Roy and Feroz Khan starred in Jaadu Tona as the tormented guardians of Baby Pinky who is possessed by a spirit from a nearby Peepal tree. 1980 also saw Rajesh Khanna, super star of the 1970s, take on the role of a serial killer in the unsettling and original Red Rose. We learn that Rajesh Khanna's character was beaten by his mother as a child and then went through a number of unsavoury relationships with women leaving him disturbed and unhinged. In a much more radical move than the Shahrukhs and Sunjay Dutts of today, Khanna broke with his lover boy screen image and portrayed the disturbed woman hater who lured young women to his house, murdered them and buried them in his garden. Director Baharatirajaa tackled this unsavoury topic in a surprisingly direct manner but his slasher film was seen as anti women and triggered protests by feminists in Bombay and Delhi.
In 1985 Naseeruddin Shah reprised the serial killer role in the impressively taut Shart. Neither film though was particularly well received at the box-office. Rajesh Khanna returned to the horror film genre in the late 80s with the more camp and less impressive Woh Phir Aayegi which co-starred current heart throb Tabu's elder sister Farah. However, despite the occasional horror film that had 'A' list stars and directors involved, the 1980s saw Indian horror become synonymous with low budget schlock churned out by the famous Ramsay Brothers. This family of filmmakers cornered the low budget market and for decades to come managed to produce horror film after horror film. The films were safe bets at the box -office often making their money back in their first week or then grossing impressively at the smaller rural 'B' and 'C' centres. Somewhat unfortunately, it did mean that the horror genre became ghettoised and never really broke out of that narrow mould. The horror film genre continued to remain stuck in a warp which saw films that were made on a shoe string budget, had amazingly awful special effects and repeated all the same people film after film. And yet the films had great entertainment value and at least offered something different from the mainstream. The Ramsays had succeeded in defining the Bollywood B movie genre. Their films relay a commitment to cinema - a delight in making films and deservedly they built up a committed audience. Starting from their initial horror success Do Gaz Zameen Ke Neeche in 1972 the Ramsay Brothers came into their own in the late 70s with films such as Darwaza and Guest House - the latter famously starring a chopped hand. The 80s remained their most prolific period and brought such hits as Sannata (1980), Dahshat (1980), Purana Mandir (1984), Haveli (1985), Saamri (1985), Veerana (1985), Tahkhana (1986), Dak Bangla (1987), Purani Haveli (1989), Shaitani Ilaaka (1990). Most of the themes revolved around evil spirits and deformed creatures terrorising villages. The most popular targets were thinly clad women and in between the horror there was a liberal sprinkling of sex and as much nudity as could be passed by the censors. It was a successful formula and one that was rarely deviated from.
Most Ramsay films utilised the services of an 'elite' band of actors including the thespian Deepak Parashar, the sirens Huma Khan and Aarti Gupta, and the comedians Jagdeep and Rajendranath. Other regulars included villains Reza Murad and Kiran Kumar, Vijayendra Ghatge, Hemant Birje, Navin Nishcal, and failed actors (now TV superstars) Sumeet Saigol and Javed Jaffri. Such was the success of one of the Ramsay films - Purana Mandir (1984) that an immediate sequel - Saamri was made the following year. Both films followed the terrifying exploits of Shaitan Saamri - a monster that preyed upon females of a particular family of Thakurs. Sadly, ever since the satellite boom, the Ramsays have turned their attentions to TV with the Zee Horror Show. It has left a gap in the horror film market. Yet horror films continue to flourish in the rich vein that the Ramsays tapped into. While attempts to bring horror films into the mainstream of Bollywood have failed of late (Raat - a poltergeist remake by Ram Gopal Verma and Kaun? also by Verma) the low budget genre is still up and running. Look out for some of the forthcoming titles. Come on! Some of the titles are enough to make you want to see the film. Some Recommended Classics Mahal, Bees Saal Baad, Kohra, Nagin, Jaani Dushman, Jaadu Tona, Gehrayee, Red Rose, Guest House, Purana Mandir, Saamri (Purana Mandir II), Shart, Woh Phir Aayegi, Do Gaz Zameen ke Neeche
VAASTU SHASTRA DO GAZ ZAMEEN KE NEECHE (SIX FEET UNDER) MURDAA GHAR (The House of The Dead) AMAVAS KI RAAT __________ BILLI (THE CAT) KHOONI AANKHEN (Bloody Eyes) -------- HAVELI KE PEECHE ROOHANI TAQAT - - -- - - - ----- SANNATA CHUDAIL No.1 ------- ----------- VEHSHI AATMA HAWA (THE WIND))------------ BHOOT (GHOST) ------------HOUSE NO. 13 | ||
 |
--
Remember to be always true to yourself, sad to watch yourself lie.