Indian cinema in general, and Indian horrors, including though they adopted a lot from European and Hollywood cinema, nevertheless remained very closely connected with the Indians' ideas about fundamental values that radically differ from Western ones.
Close links with the past and features
Throughout its history, the Indian horror film industry has experienced more than one powerful impact, starting with the Hindu epics Mahabharata and Ramayana and the ancient Sanskrit dramas, folk theater, ending with Hollywood iconic films and even the MTV repertoire. Indian horror films differ from the rest in that the main thing in them is not psychological growth, character development, but the process of its interaction with other heroes and especially the cascade of emotions experienced in this. In addition, all the manipulations with the audience by the creators of cinema in India are as simple as possible - if the authors gradually and unobtrusively hint at the Hollywood horror, set hints as the storyline develops, increasing suspense, then in Bollywood horror films they can either openly inform the viewer about the upcoming plot twist , or leave in utter confusion and ignorance until the final minutes. And almost all the directors, removing Indian horrors, love to kill the main characters at a time when it seems that the danger has passed - to aggravate the feelings of the audience.
Remakes and compositions on a free theme
It is certainly worth noting that borrowing Hollywood stories for the Indian film industry is not something reprehensible and unacceptable. The fact is, as already mentioned, the plot is secondary to the performing skills of the actors, prompting the watchers to empathize and share their emotions and feelings. The best Indian horrors are remakes of cult European and Hollywood horror films. A vivid example is the film “Mahakaal”.
"Nightmare on Elm Street" in Indian
In 1993, the directors Shiam Ramsey and Tulsi Ramsey presented to the audience the interpretation of the cult film about Elm Street. Of course, the customs and traditions of India left a significant imprint on their work, significantly changing not only the visual, but also the ideological component, so it is sometimes difficult to establish a connection between this project and the American horror film. If you cut out all fights, dances and songs from the Mahakaal, which has a timing exceeding two hours, you get a standard hour and a half horror. In general, the film can definitely be called an interesting and high-quality mystical thriller. As the storyline develops, the viewer will observe familiar situations from the original picture, but this is only half of the story presented. The second part of the picture is an author's work on a free theme. The fact is that in Indian mythology, Mahakaal is a petty god, a talisman of monks and other spiritual servants. But Indian horrors and horrors, in order to represent the long-known in a new distorted light. In this work, this deity (funny and colorful character) is positioned as a demonic entity, sacrificing to her beloved children and adolescents. So it would be wrong to imagine Mahakaal as a full-fledged remake, it is rather a free interpretation, and very successful one.
What scare Indian directors?
You can safely watch the Indian horrors in Russian, dubbing does not spoil the impression. The fact is that in terms of intimidation of those who look at them, most of the attention is paid to sound design and music, sometimes the Hollywood original may envy him. Piercing howls and creaks flare up an atmosphere of horror, frightening the viewer much better than any sudden moment. Indian horror films sometimes do not scare the European audience due to the fact that the actors, demonstrating an overly emotional play, add comedy to what is happening, which openly undermines the horror component of the story.
Immense theme
Scenarios of Indian horror - a vast topic. Indian thrillers and horrors, in addition to the above-mentioned classic and folklore plots borrowed from epics, use an infinite number of melodramatic variations exploiting the themes of soul relocation, communication with ghosts, assorted maniacs and hundreds of other themes that European filmmakers would never have come to mind. A good example of this would be the work of director Vikram K. Kumar, 13B: Fear has a new address. This full-fledged thriller was released in 2009, comparing favorably with the similar ones in the sustained tension, growing and oppressing more and more with each subsequent minute, pleasant actors and a fairly fresh plot. Although individual moviegoers call it a distorted variation of the Poltergeist. According to the plot, the large family of Manohar moves to a new apartment No. 13 on floor 13B. Everything would be fine, but on television, the broadcast of a strange series with the soothing title “Everything is good” began and everything that happened in the TV program began to repeat in real life with family members. The main character told his buddy policeman about oddities. And then it began: massacres, ghosts and lunatics, detectives, maniacs, esoterics and many other mysterious incidents. The complete absence of bright colors, songs and dances should be considered a sign feature of the picture. The musical accompaniment is strictly offscreen, in strict accordance with the genre policy and the plot of the film.
Co-creation
The fact that Indian horrors are known outside the country is evidenced by the appearance of co-production paintings. An example is the 2010 film Nagin: The Snake Woman, with India and the United States directly involved in its production. The basis of the script was the Indian legend of the female snake Nagin, the embodiment of the keeper and protector of nature, in particular, reptiles. Time has no power over her, she is immortal thanks to a special stone-mascot. The hero of the picture, George States, dies of cancer, so he decides to find a keeper, take away the talisman from her and gain immortality. But a meeting with a female snake does not bode well for him or his team. This painting is characterized by an unusual manner of narration, radically different from the canons of Indian cinema. Joint production with the United States made visible adjustments. The comedic element has been reduced to almost nothing, but there have been more bloody moments and scenes of violence. In some places the picture is really cruel and gloomy.