Film Indiani
Dimple Belousson
This is an inclusive list of the most expensive Indian films, with budgets given in Indian rupees and US dollars. The list contains only films already released to the general public and not films that are still in production or post-production, as costs can change during the production process. Listed below is the costs of the actual filming, not including promotional costs (i.e. advertisements, commercials, posters, etc.) and after accounting for tax subsidies.
The charts are ordered by budgets that have been independently audited or officially acknowledged by the production companies where they are known; most production companies will not give a statement on the actual production costs, so often only estimates by professionals and movie industry writers are available. Where budget estimates conflict, the productions are charted by lower-bound estimates.
I have been dancing since I was six years old. Throughout my years of dancing, I have taught myself with the help of TV, movies, and Youtube, learning many different dance styles such as salsa, Bhangra (traditional Indian dance, mostly done in Punjab), hip hop, and classical Indian dance.
Even though I learned how to dance to different types of genres from different nations, I mostly focus on Indian dances, such as Bhangra, belly dance, and classical. My favorite classical dance form to do is Kathak, which is one of the most popular and the oldest dance form in Northern India.
Recently, I saw a Bollywood dance video from a new movie to be released in April on Youtube. The dance genre the actress and the dancers were dancing to was Kathak, which is one of the eight major forms of Indian classical dance.
Some of the numerous styles of dance featured in films, either in fusion form or in pure form, include Kathak, Bharatnatyam, Odissi, Garba, and Bhangra. However, they also do dance style from other nations like belly dance, Latin, hip hop, contemporary, jazz, and many others.
The hardest classical dance for me to learn has been Kathak, which I am still working on. Kathak is sometimes tough because there are a lot of hand movements and footwork to do together. But, the most important thing is your facial expression. To be a good Kathak dancer, you need to be the most expressive person that you can be.
A Kathak performance tells various stories through dance, songs, and music, similar to opera. Dancers tell the stories through their hand movements, footwork, and facial expressions, and usually, tell the story of the Hindu god Krishna or famous heroes like Ramayana.
Women Kathak dancers always wear traditional jewelry, usually gold on their hair, nose, ears, and hands. Also, every Kathak dancers need to have dance anklets called ghunghru made of leather straps with small metallic bells attached to them which are wrapped around the ankles and produce rhythmic sounds while the dancers perform their fantastic footwork.
I bought my ghunghrus last month by saving up for them, and I love them. They are fun to dance with and make a lot of sounds due to the bells which are so loud that my mom can hear them from upstairs in my house.
The best Indian horror movies present big scares with an emphasis on myths from that part of the world. The horror genre transcends borders and languages, and each distinct society worldwide has its own mythologies and horror stories, many of which often revolve around their respective belief systems and cultures. While America and the United Kingdom have created some of the greatest horror movies ever made, India also has a strong pedigree of horror titles that can stand toe-to-toe with anything from Western culture.
India is known for its massive movie industry which turns out big products rivaling Hollywood productions and great international hits like RRR. So it is not surprising that they have also produced many notable horror movies as well, using many of the same concepts seen in Hollywood, like demonic possession and ghost stories. India knows how to craft a solid horror film, and there are many great ones out there for movie buffs willing to find them.
The mix of horror and comedy can be a lot of fun when done effectively and Stree is one such movie that nails the blend. This Indian horror movie is based on a popular urban legend called Nale Ba (which stands for Come Tomorrow). The legend has people painting this word on the walls of their homes to keep out evil spirits. Stree features a village where a witch has been haunting it for years while abducting men, while the film's main story follows a young man who falls for a girl only to begin suspecting she might be the witch herself.
The movie provides an ideal balance of laughs and scares while also providing a lot of heart to the unique and inventive story, helping it to stand out in a crowded pack. Stree received mostly positive reviews, with praise for its direction, screenplay, the social message at the tale's core, and for its quirky humor. Director Amar Kaushik won Best Debut Director at the Filmfare Awards and at the Zee Cine Awards.
A great directorial debut from Kolkata-born Prosit Roy, Pari is a supernatural horror movie about a strange woman named Rukhsana, who may not be of this world. Containing elements of demonic horror, Pari concerns a satanic cult called Auladhchakra that sexually assaults and impregnates kidnapped women with the offspring of an Islamic mythological demon named Ifrit. Even more disturbingly, there is a group that seeks out the impregnated women and holds them captive until the baby is born, so they can kill them, decapitate them, and seal them in glass jars.
The story then follows the daughter of a woman who escaped the group's clutches and is now pregnant herself. It's certainly a bizarre and troubling storyline, but a unique one in the horror genre, and the movie also features an excellent lead performance from Anushka Sharma as Rukhsana. The Ifrit is a real myth in Islamic culture, compared with the jinn as demons of the underworld, bringing some real mythology into the tale. It's worth watching for anyone looking for a good demon-based horror movie.
A fun mix of science fiction and horror, 9 also contains some touching elements regarding father-son relationships. The "9" title refers to the number of days that a passing comet will disrupt all forms of modern technology, including electricity and phone service. The movie follows Dr. Albert Lewis, a widowed astrophysicist, and his eight-year-old son Adam, whom he has a distant relationship with because he blames the boy for his wife's death during childbirth. Albert's brother-in-law also hates Adam, believing the child is evil.
While the father and son are investigating the oncoming comet, a woman named Ava arrives and begins to torment Adam, but not everything is as it seems, as Albert realizes his son's life might be in danger. The movie is well shot and filled with some good visual effects work, but the real heart of the story lies in the father-son relationship. It's an inventive sci-fi horror movie with some affecting personal drama that is well-acted by leads Prithviraj Sukumaran and Master Alok.
Some of the best period horror movies include haunted houses, and 1920 belongs to this subgenre. Released in 2008, the movie concerns a married couple who live inside a haunted house. Arjun is a Hindu man who marries a half-caste British Indian woman and his family tries to kill her to stop the marriage. Arjun abandons his religious beliefs and his family before taking a job as an architect remodeling a stately old manor home. While there, they learn it is haunted and something in it wants his wife.
The film runs at a long 140 minutes, which is more than enough time to squeeze in a lot of great supernatural-based scares and some interesting character dynamics revolving around marriage. 1920 was a huge success in its native India and spawned a franchise that now encompasses four movies, speaking to its palatability as a mainstream horror film.
The House Next Door is an Indian horror film with many effective scares that can both startle and unsettle. The story follows Krish and Lakshmi, a brain surgeon and his wife, who grow troubled once a rebellious teenager and her stepmother move in next door. A series of disturbing paranormal events accost the teenager, resulting in a battle between good and evil as Krish and Lakshmi attempt to rid their house of the spirits.
Siddharth not only starred in the movie as the brain surgeon, but he co-wrote the script with the intention of working with Andrea Jeremiah (who played his wife) in a horror movie directed by Milind Rau (Kadhal 2 Kalyanam). The House Next Door received positive reviews with praise going to its use of horror in the Kollywood movie scene. It's an engrossing old-fashioned ghost story, and it's sure to thrill anyone who enjoys good paranormal-based horror.
2015's Kothanodi is based on Grand Mother's Tales, a very popular piece of Assamese literature that has been enjoyed since its publication in 1911. The book is a collection of folklore stories written by Assamese poet, Lakshminath Bezbaroa. It would have proved quite difficult to adapt the book, given its legendary status in Assam. But through some good filmmaking and inventive re-imaginings of the classic stories, Kothanodi proves an enticing watch. The movie's story is based on four of the book's fables (Tejimola, Champawati, Ou Kuwori, and Tawoir Xadhu).
The four fables are told in interconnected stories. A woman wants to kill her stepdaughter while her husband is on a trip, and he encounters a mysterious woman who gives birth to an outenga. Another woman in a different village plans her daughter's wedding with disastrous results and a final mother wants to protect her child from her murderous husband. While not a straightforward horror film, Kothanodi nevertheless contains some very difficult subject matter that is sure to disturb and unsettle.
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