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Since my post on “Top 10 Must-haves in Horror Serials” was so well received, I thought it was time I give you some more details of my knowledge on the subject. So I thought I should give you a sneak peek into my yet unpublished (indeed, unfinished) thesis on “Ghosts of (and on) Television”:

A Rough Classification of Ghosties:

Out of 10 ghosts, on an average, 3 are jilted lovers, 4 are devil worshipers, 4 are convicted criminals (mostly serial killers), while 2 are disciplinarians like jailers and hostel-wardens (my friends tell me there is not much difference between the two), with a shapit aatma (cursed soul) thrown in for good measure.

And no, I am not weak at maths. Some fall in two or more categories.

Now, on to the Part Zwei of the “Must-have’s in Horror Serials”. Continue reading ‘Further Analysis of the Ghostly Realm’

A good friend writes,

The movie was a treat for the senses. The background music, sound design, camerawork, special effects - all worked towards narrating the idea. Nope, I cannot make myself say I saw a story; it was a visual description of an idea - a ‘what if…?’ Such cinema might not be the proverbial “everyone’s cup of tea.

And she couldn’t be more correct. Anurag Kashyap’s hyped up most awaited release is definitely not everyone’s cup of tea – it’s actually not anyone’s cup of tea. Coming to think of it, it’s not even a cup of tea, coffee, Breezer or thanda. It’s in fact a stylish, empty but yet stinking ashtray.

Continue reading ‘Review No Smoking – Injurious to Head’

Well I am of the opinion that there is no such thing as a “bad horror film” simply because no matter how cheesy the film’s story-line is, it still manages to give you the “kicks” – be it the entire 90 minutes or every now and then or at times, just for those few spilt seconds.

Frankly speaking, I went for The Grudge 2 without much expectation since the first installment of this series had failed to make an impression on me. However to my surprise (or horror), I found The Grudge 2 to be far more entertaining than its predecessor. Obviously you cannot compare it to the likes of The Ring and countless other Japanese horror remakes but it is also not that lame as stated by most Movie Critics.

Continue reading ‘Review The Grudge Two: Cheap Thrills Will Entertain’

Indian Television and Movie Industry has a long and glorious tradition of “horror flicks”. If Ramsay brothers frightened the populace with the horrible ghosts like “Jaani Dushman”, “Jaadu Tona”, the television audience thrived on shows like “Kile ka Rahasya“, “Zee Horror Show”, “Aahat” and “Sshhh… Koi Hai” to name a few.

There are quite a few things which are common amongst all these media. But after watching myriad movies and TV serials, I have come to a conclusion that there are 10 things which every single horror serial episode has to have (as opposed to movies which might have all or none of them):

Continue reading ‘Top 10 in Horror Episodes’

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.

Continue reading ‘Who misses The Zee Horror Show? – I Do.’