Bollywood: horror movies resurface to win large audience in India

The genre of terror was for a long time despised in the film industry of Bollywoodin India, but reinvented itself with a mix of comedy, mythology and the presence of great stars that boosted their success at the box office.

“There are new stories, fresh talents, and all this leads to a resurgence,” said director Deepak Ramsay from a renowned family of filmmakers who have created about 30 horror films in recent decades. “Movies that were previously seen as made for a niche, now they are box office hits,” he added.

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“There is a large audience waiting to see these movies,” said director Aditya Sarpotdar, whose movie ‘Thamma’, considered the first India vampire movie, opens this October.

This “bloody story of love” has in its cast the popular actors Ayushmann Khurrana and Rashmika Mandanna, and blends Bollywood’s traditional dances and songs with werewolves and sharp prey.

Earlier, a horror movie was made with about $ 25,000 (133.7 thousand reais in the current price), while now “the budget is $ 9 million ($ 48 million in the current price),” said Ramsay.

“After the fright”

Due to the low budget of horror movies, “none of the big stars were interested,” Ramsay explained. In addition, horror cinema is limited to the adult audience, which left “almost 50% of the outside viewers,” he noted. In the early 2000s, the scenario began to change slowly when Ajay Devgn appeared in ‘Bhoot’ (Ghost), a 2003 success.

Already in 2018, ‘Tumbbad’ was the first Indian work to open the critical week of the Venice Film Festival. The filmmakers began to mix the genres more and more. “There is a very fine line between horror and comedy,” said AFP Ram Gopal Varma, director of ‘Bhoot’. “When you get scared, the first reaction after the fright is to laugh,” he said.

In search of a star

Sarpotdar considers that the lighter approach has increased the public interest. “When you want a massive audience, humor becomes the key,” he said. His successful 2024 success, about a vengeful spirit that wants to get married, has become a family movie.

However, Sarpotdar feels that Indian cinema does not yet have the recognition it deserves. His current aspiration is to see one of Bollywood’s great stars acting in this movie genre. “I would love to see Shah Rukh Khan to do terror,” commented the director.