Horror, according to many film critics and movie enthusiasts, remains an untapped genre in Bollywood as far as its potential is concerned. I am a sucker for this genre and admittedly harbor an unhealthy obsession for horror films, despite being the worst affected by their aftereffects.
This Friday - the 13th, I enlist my personal favorites that still give me goose bumps when I reminisce some moments from those movies.
#Gehrayee :
The Hindi rendition of Exorcist, Aruna Desai's Gehrayee of 1980 starred a teenager Padmini Kohlapuri who gets possessed by an evil spirit.In the reign of the Ramsays , Gehrayee was a game changer with its low key production values and scale.
#Raat :
Ram Gopal Varma's foray to horror through 1992's Raat was a chilling excursion to the world of unexplained phenomena and spirits , as the tantrik played by Om Puri explains to Rohini Hattangidi.Revathi was fabulous as the possessed college girl , who even kills her bestie in evil stupor.
#Bhoot :
RGV spooked us again after a gap of eleven years during the summer of 2003 with the tale of a haunted flat that proved to be his career best.With a compelling performance by his the-then muse , Urmila Matondkar and the other A-list stars - Ajay Devgn, Nana Patekar, Seema Biswas and Rekha, Bhoot met an astounding commercial as well as critical acclaim.
#VaastuShastra :
The Indian rendition of Amityville Horror was backed by RGV's Factory production which encouraged new directors under its expanse. Saurabh Narang's Vaastu Shastra starting Sushmita Sen and Chakravarthy was creepiness at its best sans the cringy climax.
#404ErrorNotFound :
This lesser known film of 2011,directed by Prawal Raman , and starring Imaad Shah and Nishikant Kamat was a psychological horror feast that unfolds in a hostel as a brilliant student starts hallucinating after moving to a room where a suicide was committed.
#RaaginiMMS :
'Main Chitkin Naain ' this incoherent cry still sends a chill down the spine. Balaji Films' Raagini MMS ,starring Rajkummar Rao and Kainaz, had multitude of escalating horror when a couple's kinky getaway plan get awry with the intervention of an evil spirit.
#EkThiDaayan :
It's Friday the 13th and I remember one of the songs from #EkThiDaayan'", Lautungi Main Tere Liye.Sung eerily by Rekha Bharadwaj and aided by a moody score by Vishal Bharadwaj, it is a haunting reminder by the witch to return and relish her favourite prey.The song plays in the opening credits, evocatively flashing some unnerving montages of the dark and dingy lanes.
This is one of my favorite horror films and I like it for its unusual creepiness. The horror was internal and grew on me later. Too bad, it didn't do well at B.O.
Do listen to this song in recluse and I am sure you ll get goosebumps. You can play 'Yaaram' next to uplift your mood.
Which one is your favorite ?
Never Ending Movie Carnival
