A woman clad in a white sari entering a dilapidated Gothic bungalow, set amidst foggy dense forests. That may be enough to send shivers down your spine. But what if you get paid to sample a similar horror film alone in a theatre. Director Ram Gopal Varma has offered Rs 5 lakh to anyone who dared to watch his film Phoonk. Marketing gimmicks like these only prove to show that horror films have to fight it hard to ensure audience stickiness.
Azam Khan, the producer of Phoonk, says, ?It is not that horror films do not find an audience in India. It is just that there are very few film makers in Bollywood who would attempt anything as offbeat as supernatural thrillers or similar versions of occult themes.?
The popularity of a horror film is also leveraged if it includes a famous star cast. Films like Gumnaam, Mahal, Bhoot and Raaz did well mainly because they had a famous lead pair. The risks are higher when debutantes are cast in a horror film since such films have a niche audience comprising mainly male youngsters in the age group of 18-35. It is quite rare for most horror films to find a family audience. The content and the star cast of the film are other factors that decide the footfalls and occupancy at multiplexes. ?Horror films amount to an occupancy rate of only 25%-30% in multiplexes. Bhoot however managed to procure a 50% occupancy rate owing to its star cast,? says Utpal Acharya, vice president programming and distribution, Inox Leisure Ltd.
If the star cast is not popular, the film must chalk out a strong marketing campaign to ensure an initial thrust and a good opening. These films need to be smartly packaged as well to create curiosity and draw audience attention. 1920 tried to create a buzz with a well-publicized music launch. Phoonk for example used the Internet and television extensively for advertising the film because the producers wanted to attract the youth. ?Young audiences are always eager to watch experimental films and since they are cued in to television, radio and the Internet, it was natural for us to exploit these avenues,? mentions Khan. Phoonk has also devised the ?It happened to me? contest where the ten best entries about a supernatural experience will be awarded a sum of Rs 25,000 by the film makers and Rs 5 lakhs will be paid for the script, incase it is selected to be made into a feature film. But how effective are these marketing strategies in attracting moviegoers? ?It is only an attempt to market a product in an innovative manner,? quips Varma.
Marketing these films may be instrumental in ensuring a good opening but most analysts feel that horror films cannot sustain more than a few days. With stiff competition from other genres like comedy, which usually manages to draw a sizeable audience to the theatres, horror finds very few takers. The success rate of horror films in Bollywood these days is as low as 2%-3%. According to film analyst Vinod Mirani, ?Indian audiences look for a feel good factor in films. Very few people would want to shell out Rs 250 to Rs 300 to watch a horror film and get depressed hence they avoid such films. Horror films need to be interspersed with either a comedy track or good music to break even.?
The success achieved by Ashok Kumar starrer Mahal in 1949 and Bees Saal Baad after 20 years was lost in the mid 80s and 90s. Deepak Ramsay, director, Tulsi Ramsay Production feels there was a string of 15 to 17 films that were low budget ?C grade films? that spoilt the market for this genre of films. ?Most horror films lack a corporate backing and are made on a shoestring budget of around Rs 1 crore ? an amount which is lesser than what most films spend on merely shooting a song. Thus marketing these films on a large scale also becomes difficult sometimes,? says Ramsay. Due to the limited potential of these films, they have a good potential of recovering around 25% to 30% of its revenues from home video market. ?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, mentions Acharya.?
Ram Gopal Verma returns to one of his favourite genres, horror, with his next release, Phoonk. One of India?s most prolific and experimental directors talks about why the genre fascinates him to Sagorika Dasgupta. Excerpts from an interview
Why is the film titled Phoonk?Is horror your favourite genre?
The name is derived from jhaad phoonk, a colloquial term used with the ritual of exorcism. Yes, it is. I am an atheist and I have never come across any paranormal experiences in my life. The supernatural world is a very debatable subject as there are certain experiences that even rationality cannot explain. It is an interesting genre to make films.
What is the inspiration behind the film?
Hindi news channels like India TV, for instance, include black magic and supernatural stories as an integral part of their programming, proving that these themes do have an audience in our country. This film is based mainly on surreal incidents that I have heard from my friends.
How difficult is it to direct a horror film?
Horror is a very difficult genre compared to others. The emotion of fear goes beyond any social norm. There is great amount of technical finesse that is required to make such films. You need to focus on aspects like lighting and the background score to play up with the audience?s imagination. Horror films are a lot more than just blood and gore
What is it that you look for while casting the main actors of your film?
I usually have certain characters in mind right from the scripting phase of a film. I auditioned many children for Phoonk and it is really uncanny how the leading girl (Ehsaas Channa) interpreted the complexity of the character she is playing and translated it on screen.