“I ain’t afraid of no ghost,” Ray Parker Jr. sang for the 1984 horror flick, Ghostbusters title song. This, however, does not hold for a lot of Indian viewers of the horror genre as movie halls often resonate with screams as audiences jump during a scary scene at the time of screening of a horror movie. Despite the odd screams every once in a while, the audiences in India have an appetite for the horror genre. Horror was a prominent genre in the 1970s to early 2000s, courtesy of movies spearheaded by the Ramsey Brothers such as Guest House (1980), Darwaza (1978) and Andhera (1975). Even in between the horror genre plunged at the box office as films including Ajay Devgn-starrer Bhoot (2003), Vivek Oberoi-starrer Kaal (2005), and R Madhavan-starrer 13B (2009), among others, tanked. Interestingly, there a few films like Bhool Bhulaiyaa, and Shaitan which have been able to win over the Indian audience. “2023, despite being a record-breaking year for the Hindi box office, witnessed the release of only three Hindi language horror films, compared to the eight from Hollywood during the same period. The limited success of Hindi horror films in India can be attributed to the perception of horror as solely a genre for return on investment (ROI). This perception leads to restricted budgets for production, marketing, and genre-level innovations, ultimately affecting the genre’s growth potential. Having said that, post-pandemic, owing to its limited dependency on starcast, franchise worthiness and ability to provide a compelling theatrical experience, well-made Horror films can be a great opportunity for Hindi filmmakers,” Sanket Kulkarni, head- business development (theatrical), Ormax Media, told BrandWagon Online.
According to a report by Ormax Media, the horror genre in India has seen few and far releases post-2000s. Tumbbad was the last non-franchise Hindi horror movie that grossed approximately Rs 16 crore in 2010. The horror genre has witnessed hits post-2010 including Kartik Aryan-starrer Bhool Bhulaiya 2 (2022), Shraddha Kapoor-starrer Stree (2018) and Ajay Devgn-starrer Golmaal Again (2017). However, the recent releases had elements of comedy, making them multi-genre movies.
Are ghosts not spooky enough?
Industry experts believe that the horror genre typically proves to have one of the highest returns on investment (ROI) in Hollywood and Bollywood. Yet, the genre has not been exploited to its potential. There is a vast difference between the quality of films Bollywood makes compared to a horror film made by Hollywood. According to the Ormax report, one of the reasons why horror movies have not worked in India are visual effects and animation quality. The disparity between Hollywood and Bollywood in terms of visual effects and animation quality is huge, often resulting in the ghosts being called different names. Moreover, Bollywood horror movies have a significantly lower budget than Hollywood horror movies. “Producers are in a calculation mode because horror films, traditionally, have a limited scope of market. The audience base is restricted. Females usually shy away from watching horror films so audiences get cut. Rather than targeting four tickets per family, producers end up targeting just one member. With the sale of tickets going down, producers turned to glamour element and commercial aspects which resulted in the inclusion of songs and other things which make it more of a commercial movie rather than a natural horror movie,” Girish Johar, producer and film trade analyst, highlighted.
Furthermore, the industry has been exploring newer genres within horror with mythological horror being one of them. The recent releases of movies and web series within the mythological horror genre include Kantara, Asur and Ghoul, among others. According to industry experts, web series have taken off in the genre due to the pricing as well as the ability for viewers to watch different things at the same time. Moreover, the whole story can be divided into seasons and be portrayed in more detail. “Hindi horror genre has not been made or explored much. The success of Shaitaan proved that there was a gap and the audiences wanted a good horror-thriller film. Horror as a genre does very well. English horror films like The Conjuring and The Exorcist did very well. The thing with Hindi horror films is that you have to get it right or else it can look cheesy,” Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, executive director, PVR Inox Limited, stated.
According to the Ormax Report, Hollywood horror films have performed well at the box office with the Conjuring franchise amassing more than Rs 300 crore across eight films. The It franchise also performed well amassing approximately Rs 40 crore at the box office.
Comedy of errors!
The box office has seen a plethora of horror-comedy movies in the last decade. The release of movies such as Janhvi Kapoor-starrer Roohi, Akshay Kumar-starrer Laxmi and Varun Dhawan-starrer Bhediya were box office hits. Industry experts believe that filmmakers add comedy to horror films to target wide audiences who would otherwise not watch such films. Additionally, the horror-comedy genre would add to a family-watching experience, contributing to higher numbers at the box office. “A few horror movies are ‘A’ rated at the box office which results in the satellite rights not being eagerly bought by channel partners which also results in a downward push from the producer’s perspective. Horror-comedy on the other hand has the comedy aspect to it. The addition of songs and having a female protagonist hugely attract female audiences,” Johar, added.
While horror films are being worked upon in Bollywood, the sentiment remains subdued due to the existence of Hollywood horror movies having higher budgets, better visual effects as well as animation quality. The dearth of horror films in Bollywood led audiences to turn to Hollywood horror films. However, industry experts expect the dynamic of the horror genre in Bollywood to change soon. “We follow the tried and tested formula like romantic movies and comedy movies. We want to be safe. We do watch horror films but primarily those are Hollywood counterparts. We need to make horror movies and I think producers should make horror movies. The recently launched Shaitaan worked and has been a huge success at the box office,” Taran Adarsh, a film trade analyst, said.