Evil spirits and ghost movies have frightened Indian cinema audiences since the early 40s. Despite the lack of superior special effects and computer graphics, old black and white films like Mahal left viewers in cold sweat. The Ramsay brothers took over the Hindi film industry as veterans in the horror genre and blood and gore reigned supreme in horror films in the 80s and the early 90s. As Ram Gopal Varma?s latest thriller Agyaat hits theatres on August 7, one wonders why new age horror films like Bhoot, Raaz and Phoonk, that tasted success at the box office, are rarely counted as mainstream cinema.

Azam Khan, producer, Phoonk, says, ?It is not that horror films do not find an audience in India. It is just that there are very few filmmakers in Bollywood who would attempt anything as offbeat as supernatural thrillers or similar versions of occult themes.? Film analysts agree that merely few directors like Verma and Vikram Bhatt who try their hands at making horror films these days.

UTV has devised a series of contests for the publicity of Agyaat to attract curiosity around the film. The filmmakers have initiated a contest challenging people to stay in five haunted locations in five cities across India and win cash prizes.

Budget constraints

Barring a few big budget horror film projects funded by established production houses, most horror films are made on a shoestring budget of around Rs 1 crore ? an amount that is lesser than what most films spend on merely shooting a song. Thus, marketing these films on a large scale also becomes difficult sometimes. However, since the budget for these films is less, the return on investment is higher as the risks involved are low. Due to the limited potential of these films, they have a good potential of recovering around 25% to 30% of the revenues from home video market. Film analyst Vinod Mirani mentions, ?Most thrillers and horror films recover very little from theatrical revenues and hardly any money from satellite rights as they can be aired on TV only post prime time.?

Joydeep Ghosh Roy, GM-Marketing and Sales, PVR Cinemas says, ?Horror films might not appeal to the masses but it has a faithful audience. ? Director Vikram K Kumar?s small budget horror film 13B starring R Madhavan was made on a budget of Rs 6.5 crore and was able to gross around Rs 11 crore at the BO. According to media reports, Weinstein Company, an independent American production house, wanted to acquire the rights of 13B from the producers Reliance BIG Pictures to remake the film in English.

Success formula

While films like Friday the 13th, Hostel and Saw are high on gore, supernatural horror films like The Ring, The Grudge, Poltergeist and The Exorcist are what work better for Indian audiences. Sunder Aaron, Business Head, PIX says, ?Supernatural horror films work better in India than vampire or zombie films. Also the CBFC puts a restrain on gory violent horror films that discourages many producers from making a horror film. A censor certificate for a scary film limits the audience thereby shrinking the revenue pie further.?

Internationally, horror films have to struggle less than their Indian counterparts. The most financially successful film English supernatural film was the Blair Witch Project. The film as made on a budget of less than $20,000 and it went on to rake in $200 million. ?Horror films in India as well as internationally can have an extreme return on investment as they are low on budget,? feels Aaron. Horror films have a special slot on most English movie channels as well. On July 5 this year, HBO premiered the first season of True Blood in India. The vampire series claims to have almost six million viewers in the US and is being promoted through a lot of online campaigning in India as well. However, vampire and zombie films still have a tough struggle in finding an audience in India.

Shruti Bajpai, Country Manager, HBO South Asia reveals, ?Some horror films have garnered the highest ratings on our channel. Indian viewers have been exposed only to certain formats of entertainment. While there is an overdose of reality or talent shows, genres like horror, mystery and thriller are evolving slowly. These shows need to improvise the quality of content to appeal to the masses.? She further adds, ?Indian viewers may not like to watch vampire movies or series. But viewers can be initiated into this genre gradually if the focus of the show is mainly on the relationships and characters rather than the blood and gore.? Spooks are definitely here to thrill.