Indian cinema in general and Indian horrorseven though they took a lot from the European and Hollywood cinema, they still remained very closely connected with the ideas of the Indians about the fundamental values, which radically differ from the Western ones.
Close ties with the past and features
Throughout its historyThe Indian horror film industry experienced not one strongest impact, starting with the Hindu epics Mahabharata and Ramayana and the oldest Sanskrit dramas, the folk theater, ending with Hollywood iconic films and even the MTV repertoire. Indian horror films are different from the others in that the main thing in them is not psychological growth, character development, but the process of its interaction with other characters and especially the cascade of emotions that is experienced. In addition, all the manipulations with the audience to the film makers in India are easier than ever - if the Hollywood horror authors gradually and unobtrusively hint, set up hints as the storyline develops, inflating the suspense, then in Bollywood horror films they can either openly notify the viewer about the upcoming plot twist , or leave in complete confusion and ignorance until the final minutes. And almost without exception, directors, shooting Indian horrors, love to kill the main characters at a time when it seems that the danger has passed - to aggravate the experiences of the audience.
Remakes and essays on the free theme
Be sure to note that borrowingHollywood plots for the Indian film industry is not something reprehensible and unacceptable. The fact is, as already mentioned, the plot is secondary in relation to the performing skills of the actors, encouraging the viewers 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 "Mahakal."
"A Nightmare on Elm Street" in Indian
In 1993, directors Shiam Ramsay and Tulsi Ramsaypresented to the viewer the interpretation of the cult film about Elm Street. Of course, the customs and traditions of India have left a significant imprint on their work, significantly changing not only the visual, but also the ideological component, so it is sometimes quite difficult to establish a link between this project and the American horror film. If you cut out all the fights, dances and songs from “Mahakal”, which has a timing exceeding two hours, you will 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 essay on a free theme. The fact is that Mahakal in Indian mythology is the petty god, the guardian of monks and other spiritual ministers. But the Indian horrors for that and horrors, to represent the long-known in the new distorted light. In this work, this deity (funny and colorful character) is positioned as a demonic entity, sacrificing its children and teenagers to its beloved. So, it would be wrong to represent Mahakal as a full-fledged remake, it’s rather a free interpretation, and a very good one.
What scare Indian directors?
You can watch Indian horrors in Russian,dubbing does not spoil the impression. The fact is that in terms of intimidation of the people looking at them, most of the attention is paid to sound design and music, sometimes the Hollywood original can envy him. Trouble-free atmosphere of horror piercing voi and squeaks, frightening the viewer much better than any sudden moment. Indian horror films sometimes do not frighten the European viewer because the actors, while demonstrating an overly emotional play, add comedy to what is happening, which frankly undermine the horror component of the story.
Immense topic
Scenarios of Indian horror - the theme is immense.Indian thrillers and horrors, in addition to the above-mentioned classical and folklore scenes borrowed from the epics, use an infinite number of melodramatic variations that exploit the themes of relocation of souls, communicating with ghosts, multi-sorted maniacs and hundreds of other topics that never come to European filmmakers. 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, which compares favorably with those of sustained tension, increasing and oppressive with each subsequent minute, pleasant actors and a fairly fresh plot. Although some film gourmands call it a distorted variation of "Poltergeist." According to the plot, the large family of Manohara is moving to a new apartment number 13 on the 13B floor. All anything, but on TV began to broadcast a strange series with the soothing title "All is well" and everything that happened in the TV program, began to repeat in real life with family members. The main character told his friend, a policeman about the weirdness. And then it began: massacres, ghosts and madmen, detectives, maniacs, esoteric and many other mysterious incidents. A landmark feature of the picture should be considered the complete absence of bright colors, songs and dances. The musical accompaniment is strictly voice-over, in strict accordance with the genre policy and the plot of the film.
Co-creation
The fact that Indian horrors are known outsidecountry, shows the emergence of paintings co-production. An example of this is the 2010 film “Nagin: The Serpent Woman”, India and the United States were directly involved in its production. The basis of the script was the Indian legend of the snake woman Nagin, the embodiment of the keeper and protector of nature, in particular, reptiles. Time has no power over it, it is immortal thanks to a special stone-talisman. The hero of the picture, George States dies of cancer, so he decides to find the guardian, to take away her talisman and to gain immortality. But a meeting with a snake woman does not bode well for him or his team. For this picture is characterized by an unusual style of narration, radically different from the canons of Indian cinema. Co-production with the United States has made visible adjustments. The comedy element is reduced almost to nothing, but the bloody moments and scenes of violence increased. Mostly the picture is really cruel and gloomy.
