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[Full title: Folklore and Genres of Indian Cinema (5) The World of Ghosts, Witches and the Horror Genre of Films]

India is a land of folktales and these have profoundly influenced the film industry as well. Popular themes from folktales that have been incorporated in Indian cinema include reincarnation, ghost stories, age-old beliefs like snake gods and magical realism.

Ancient Indian folk tales offer a treasure of ideas which have been repurposed as mature films with blending of genres, like Ram Gopal Varma's Raat (1992) and Bhoot (2003). However these films are less gothic in comparison to the ghost stories like Mahal (1949, Dir. Kamal Amrohi) and reincarnation film Madhumati (1958, Dir. Bimal Roy).

The horror genre did not occupy a prominent place in the history of Indian cinema, partly because of the not so much interesting plots in which they were made and partly because of the factors like elements of sex, violence, poorly styled prosthetics for the demon character and the like which invaded the genre, stamping it with B-grade movies made for the audience with cheap tastes. In an essay titled Nevla as Dracula: Figurations of the Tantric as Monster in the Hindi Horror Film, Usha Iyer mentions the term 鈥榝ilmic folklore鈥� while discussing about the figurations of the character Nevla in Ramsay Brothers鈥� horror film Bandh Darwaza (1990, Dir. Shyam & Tulsi Ramsay). Iyer observes the film to be the 鈥業ndian version of the Dracula story by Bram Stoker鈥�.

The central character of Nevla, the monster, resembles Dracula in many aspects including his black cloak, long fingernails, and vampire fangs. Nevla also sucks blood, leaving marks on the victim鈥檚 necks; he is afraid of the sun and sleeps all day inside a coffin, only to prowl at night in the form of a bat. The essay discusses the concept of filmic folklore which has been defined by Juwen Zhang (Iyer: 2013: 104). In his essay titled Filmic Folklore and Chinese Cultural Identity, Zhang has defined the concept of 鈥榝ilmic folklore鈥� as 鈥榓 folklore or folklore-like performance that is represented, created, or hybridized in fictional film鈥� (Zhang: 2005: 267).

Psychological films like Sangharsh (1999, Dir. Tanuja Chandra), Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007, Dir. Priyadarshan), Kahhani (2012, Dir. Sujoy Ghosh), Talaash (2012, Dir. Reema Kagti) have been significant additions to the genre of thriller with underlined horrific elements. Moreover, films based on history like 1920 (2008, Dir. Vikram Bhatt) have treated the horror interplay with finesse keeping the folk themes intact.

Most of the horror films made by early Indian filmmakers and later by the low budget production houses relied upon reincarnation stories with past life being felt by or told to the protagonists. While this storyline was improvised by ace directors, it gained immense popularity in films like Madhumati (1958, Dir. Bimal Roy) and Bees Saal Baad (1962, Dir. Biren Nag). However the theme failed miserably with a series of Bgrade horror films which followed the trend through poor productions. Thus this theme was not a comfort zone for many filmmakers, except a few fantasy films like Karan Arjun (1995, Dir. Rakesh Roushan) which performed well at the box office. Many years later yet another reincarnation thriller drama film from Bollywood Ek Paheli Leela

(2015, Dir. Bobby Khan) was made, where the past life of a couple is set 300 years back. The film portrays how their story completes when they both are reincarnated in present time. The story moves to a flashback after a 鈥�Naadi palm leaf reader鈥� tells the hero about his past life. 鈥楴aadi palm leaf reading鈥� is an ancient method of astrology in which it is believed that the sages knew the past, present and future. It is worth mentioning that the reincarnation theme has not yet faded away from Bollywood. Following this theme, recently released film Housefull 4 (2019, Dir. Farhad Samji) has been produced in the comedy genre. The film is set in a fantasy kingdom that existed about 600 years back i.e. in 1419.

As with the example of Baahubali, film narratives are sometimes weaved to create new folktales. Much acclaimed 2018 horror film Tumbadd (Dirs. Anand Gandhi & Rahi Anil Barve) has been such a fantasy laden invented mythology which, in spite of being a horror movie, firmly holds its bottom-line of the age-old struggle between Man and Nature. Important constituents of Indian folk narratives such as a dreadful monster figure which is the symbol of destroyer (Hastar in the film), frighteningly disfigured characters (like the great-grandmother who has been surviving for ages holding a secret inside her), and an ancient village cursed with heavenly rage (an ancient Maharashtrian village which is always drenched in rain) have made Tumbadd a tale of extreme fantasy. While becoming the first Indian film to open in the prestigious Venice Film Festival鈥檚 Critics鈥� Week, Tumbadd received a 15-minute standing ovation. Intelligent use of colour codes like blue, grey, red and golden while portraying heritage of the ancient Peshwas of Maratha, mythic elements picked from tales of the Greek mythology and the politics of power grabbing in India's freedom movement, has made Tumbadd the most sophisticated 鈥榟orror鈥� film to come out of India in years as is being hailed by critics.

Witch movies are not new to the Indian audience. Films like Bees Saal Baad (1962, Dir. Biren Nag) and Woh Kaun Thi (1964, Dir. Raj Khosla) were based on vengeful spirits of women. Kannan 滨测别谤鈥檚 Ek Thi Daayan (2013) has illustrated a witch in a modern setting. However, speaking of the witch movie, one has to discuss Amar Kaushik's comedy horror Stree (2018) which has presented the Indian psyche in a totally reversed way. The film鈥檚 plot is inspired by an Indian folk legend about a witch who abducts men at night when they are alone and only leaves their clothes behind. The residents of a town named Chanderi believe in the spirit of an angry woman, referred to as 鈥楽tree鈥�, who stalks men and whisks them away during the four days of a religious festival every year, causing many disappearances over the years. The witch knocks on people's doors at night and people write on their home entrances 鈥�O Stree kal aana鈥� meaning 鈥榦 woman, come tomorrow鈥� with bat鈥檚 blood to protect themselves. Contrary to instructions given to women not to roam alone at night, the film presents an unusual theme where men are advised to remain indoors after 10 at night.

These movies have rescued the genre of Indian horror films from the B-grade style of presenting haunted haveli (mansion), self-sacrificing damsels, sleazy villains, a soothsaying clergy and cheap shock tactics.

The worship of the snake is a long-established ritual in certain Hindu festivals like 鈥�Naag Panchami鈥�. 鈥楽nake films鈥� where the hero and/or heroine is a snake who takes on human form are therefore an important chunk of films based on folkloric practices. The early films like the many versions of the Sati Behula story were based on the rage of a snake Goddess Manasha, which is a popular cult in the Eastern regions of India. The storyline is based on the life of Behula, a sati figure popular in Indian mythology as a chaste wife who brings back her dead husband to life. Encyclopaedia of Indian cinema by Rajadhyaksha and Willemen (1999) lists over fifty films with the words 鈥榥aag鈥� and other related words in their titles (Dwyer: 2007: 49). Most of these have been B-grade movies. Bollywood and the south Indian film industry produced a bunch of such films, but only a few were successful at the box office. Some of such prominent films which are totally based on folklore include Kannada film Nagakannika (1949, Dir. G Vishwanathan) and Telugu film Patala Bhairavi (1951, Dir. K. V. Reddy). Hindi films鈥� snake heroine 鈥�Nagin鈥� with her slithery dancing style in films like Nagin (1976, Dir. Rajkumar Kohli) and Nagina (1986, Dir. Harmesh Malhotra) introduced the concept of revengeful snakes coming out of the forest on new moon nights. Nagina (1986) had led Sri Devi to stardom. The same cast of Nagin (1976) was assimilated by director Rajkumar Kohli in 1979 to produce Jaani Dushman, a horror-thriller, which for the first time introduced a werewolf-like creature in Indian cinema. Another film by the same director called Jaani Dushman -Ek Anokhi Kahani (2002) had the storyline of a revengeful snake and past life troubles. This dark-fantasy horror film was a disaster at the box-office.

Films based on snake fantasy like Nagamandala (Kannada, 1997, Dir. T. S. Nagabharana) inspired other filmmakers to employ supernatural elements while narrating a simple story of love and companionship. Nagamandala is an adaptation of a 1988 play by Girish Karnad with the same name which is based on a local folk tale and ritual. The film depicts a romantic plot between a woman and a snake in the disguise of her uncaring husband. This storyline has been inspired from another Rajasthani folktale, which forms the baseline for other films namely Duvidha (1973, Dir. Mani Kaul) and Paheli (2005, Dir. Amol Palekar). These films also employed magic-realism to create a greater impact on the audience through intermingling of magical thought processes with real life. These aspects would be discussed in detail under the next sub-head.