Filmy Friday: With Bhoot the Haunted Ship hitting screens, let's look back at the Bollywood horror movies that set the box office on fire

Horror is tricky business. Not only is it mighty difficult to genuinely frighten people on screen with new and innovative stories (or at least stories that do a good job at presenting old wine in a new bottle), but it needs to be executed so that the output doesn't appear tacky, cliched, or going overboard with the jump scares. There needs to be a good balance between creating a chilling atmosphere, making the audience jump, keep them on the edge of their seat and doing all this against the backdrop of a strong plot and effective characterization. In short, it's a scary prospect to try and scare moviegoers, which could be the reason why so few Hindi films have managed to pull it off.

Truth be told, most Bollywood horror films have (and still do) ventured into cliched and, many a times, downright laughable territory, mixed with a mishmash of romance and love melodies that simply kill the mood of any chills or thrills the filmmakers would've endeavoured to achieve. However, there have been a handful of gems over Bollywood's rich and long history (yes, only a handful as this genre is by far Hindi cinema's weak link) that have not only set the box-office on fire, but are also fondly remembered by the audience, regardless how far back they may have released. So, without further ado, let's take a look at the Bollywood horror movies that left a lasting impression:

The Early Years

Long before the Indian audience even properly knew what constitutes a good horror movie, a gem by the name of Mahal, starring Ashok Kumar and Madhubala, had surfaced in 1949. Sadly, other than Bees Saal Baad and Mehmood's Bhoot Bungla in the 60s, there wasn't much to right home about in the way of horror for many, many years to come. And the last one among those was a horror-comedy (yes, Bollywood had dabbled and met success with the funny side of horror long before Stree came), not even a full-fledged scary movie.

80s and the Ramsays

Long before the Ramsay brothers nosedived into free fall and ended up caricaturing their own work, they made a couple of respectable horror films like Purana Mandir and Veerana, which, despite their tacky effects even then and outdated feel now, created enough of a stir at the box-office to at least be declared hits in the Mumbai (then Bombay) circuit. It's still worth checking them out for sheer nostalgia. Unfortunately, neither did the Ramsays nor anyone else do anything else worthwhile in the genre.

Turn of the Millennium

It took the dawn of a new millennium for Hindi cinema to somewhat find its footing with horror, notably with two pioneering names of the genre Vikram Bhatt and Ram Gopal Varma. Today's younger audience may sneer at them now that they've clearly lost their touch, but no two Directors have done more for the horror genre in India that them, and both the box-office collection as well as TV reruns and online popularity of films like Raaz, Bhoot, 1920, Phoonk, Haunted, Raaz 3 are testament to that. Heck, such was their goodwill at one point in time that even the slightly inferior sequels of these films like Raaz: The Mystery Continues and 1920: Evil Returns, helmed by others, but bearing Vikram and Varma's spirits, ran purely on their name.

Golmaal Again, Stree and Beyond

Three years ago, the genre received a new lease of life through the unlikeliest of medium and filmmakers, when Rohit Shetty decided to go down the horror-comedy route for his fourth Golmaal outing, which was soon followed the very next year by another horror-comedy loved pan-India Stree. With Bhoot Part One: The Haunted Ship, Roohi Afzana, Stree 2 and Go Goa Gone 2 in the pipeline, the future is finally looking bright for the horror genre.

Check out the collections and verdicts of all the Bollywood horror movies that have worked at the box-office:

Mahal (1949): Rs. 80 lakh nett - Blockbuster

Bees Saal Baad (1962): Rs. 1.50 cr nett - Superhit

Bhoot Bungla (1965): Rs. 40 lakh nett - Semi-Hit

Purana Mandir (1984): Rs. 85 lakh nett - Bombay Hit

Veerana (1988): Rs. 75 lakh nett - Bombay Hit

Raaz (2002): Rs. 21.46 cr nett - Blockbuster

Bhoot (2003): Rs. 14.49 cr nett - Hit

Phoonk (2008): Rs. 9.80 cr nett - Hit

1920 (2008): Rs. 10.48 cr nett - Semi-Hit

Raaz - The Mystery Continues (2009): Rs. 25.50 cr nett - Semi-Hit

Haunted (2011): Rs. 26.39 cr nett - Hit

Raaz 3 (2012): Rs. 70.07 cr nett - Blockbuster

1920 - Evil Returns (2012): Rs. 22.86 cr nett - Semi-Hit

Golmaal Again (2017): 205.51 cr nett - Blockbuster

Stree (2018): 129.90 cr nett - Blockbuster

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So, which of these Bollywood horror movies is your favourite? Tweet and let us know @bollywood_life

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