DesiDabba - Boss, Thoda Sa Roomani Ho Jaye

I am a complete Ramsay Brothers fan and I miss their horrific creativity on the big as well as the small screen, immensely. Okay, now you can stop laughing. No! I mean it seriously, stop laughing.

Ramsays’ horror films despite being big hits, could barely attract educated audience to the theatres and were mostly categorized as B or C grade Hindi films. Be it films like Tahkhana, Purani Haveli, Veerana or Daak Bangla, starring the same regular faces Raza Murad, Vijendra Ghatge, Deepak Parashar, Rajesh Vivek, Puneet Isssar, Aarti Gupta, Poonam Dasgupta and other almost unknown actors in mainstream cinema.

And even though they never managed to make a mark in mainstream cinema, they were successful in creating a niche, dedicated audience for themselves in the film industry. One can’t help but admire the courage of these guys for jumping into a “hatke” genre of films, while others were busy making love stories and family dramas.

Couple of years later and with the increasing popularity of Cable Network, Ramsay Brothers made an outstanding debut on the idiot box with their ever-popular productions, The Zee Horror Show. As the name suggests, the series was broadcasted on Zee TV and practically went on for nearly 9 years, airing more than 350 episodes. Zee TV enjoyed high TRP ratings in the initial years and even though rival channels brought out their own versions of horror shows, like Aahat and Shh…Koi Hai, Ramsay Brothers managed to stay on the stop.

I can vaguely remember the very first episode of The Zee Horror Show starring Archana Puran Singh as the evil spirit aka. Bhootni. And there was this scene with her chopped head placed under a platter, her face all black and blue and she is laughing away to glory. Now though this scene was intended to scare our pants off, it actually ended up doing the opposite, atleast for me. Archana’s laugh was goofy than frightening and here face resembled more to a circus clown rather than a dead person on a killing spree.

Their horror was way outdated when compared with international standards but I guess they had added their own little “charm” and on the safer side, were never too gaudy for the viewing eyes. Produced through hooting owl or crying dog or screeching doors, black cat appearing from nowhere (a sign for bad luck), Thakur’s old Haveli with 100 bhk, aged Ramu Kaka (now this dude is so old that even Baa from Ekta’s serials would look like a college chick in comparison), a shadow appearing and disappearing on a distant wall, blood soaked hands that stamp on a mirror with shrill voice for a sound effect, giant wall clock which only worked at the stroke of midnight, long nails and two protruding teeth on a monstrous face and the only way to get rid off the bhoot was either by punching a Trishul thru its heart or by exposing it to sunlight.

But the best bit about their tele-show or even movies for that matter was that, if it didn’t make you scream out of fear it would surely make you laugh out of your skin. So basically this way or that, being entertained is a sure shot guarantee.

Sigh! Those were the days.

Here is a clip from the film Shaitani Ilaaka, desi version of Evil Dead Part 2. Have Fun.