The genre of horror became popular from 1960s to 1990s, with films such as Do Gaz Zameen Ke Neechey, Ghungaroo Ki Awaaz, Band Darwaza, Dahshat, Purana Mandir, Purani Haveli, and 100 Days. The 1980s and 1990s were taken over by action and romance, and the early 2000s tried bringing back horror with films such as Raaz, Krishna Cottage, Bhoot, Vaastu Shahstra, among others. Many stories disappeared into thin air, much like the ghosts in these films, and very few left a mark. Horror has struggled to find a steady popularity in India, though filmmakers have often tried to reinvent it.
With the advent of OTT platforms and a shift in the age of content consumers, the last few years have seen more horror stories come to digital platforms like Netflix and Amazon Prime Video. The treatment of the genre on these platforms surely differs from theatre releases. Plus, the pandemic confined us indoors and many found it engrossing to curl up to horror OTT content with films such as The Ghost Stories, Typewriter, Roohi, Dybbuk, Chhori, and Ghoul.
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“Traditional cinema and OTT content are two diverging paths,” says Patrick Graham, writer of Betaal, Leila and Ghoul. He observes that OTT platforms allow for slightly more mature storytelling and cater to specific audiences unlike cinema where the modus operandi is to please everyone. “There is still an element of that on OTT platforms, of trying to make it accessible to every member of your family, which is kind of ludicrous because you end up with a diluted story. For horror, it is just a matter of time when you really make content that connects to all kinds of audience.”
Adding to this, filmmaker Vikram Bhatt says that he sees a difference in demand from producers when he makes content for theatre and for OTT platforms. Bhatt says, “People who buy my satellite rights say please make films like Raaz and 1920 while those who buy my OTT rights say that please make something like The Conjuring. In that case, what are the key points for writing a good horror story? “It’s a tough one to tell really,” says Graham. He further explains that “the story is the king” so the plotline and the characters need to keep viewers enticed. “The problem is that in this industry, producers see horror as a fairground ride where you just have to tick off the jump scare box every four minutes. You get a lot of superficial, silly childish films because a lot of people underestimate the genre.”
However, Graham highlights an interesting aspect of why the typical ghost in Bollywood is mostly the image of a woman, as noticed in OTT releases such as Bulbbul, Chhorii, and Bhram. “Culturally, it is quite an Asian thing of a woman with long black hair. And these movies are mostly feminist tales about patriarchal oppression and how these women come to avenge their deaths in their afterlife. It even speaks of fear in men, who feel guilty about their treatment of women,” says Graham.
(This appeared in the print edition as "Gamechanger for Horror?")
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