DEBINA BOSE
A skimpily clad heroine is romancing the handsome hero when suddenly she is possessed by a devilish spirit and she tries to murder the hero, which gives a new twist to the movie. That is exactly what defines the new trend of ‘horrex’ movies which is currently the fashion in tinsel town.
Bollywood trade experts believe that ‘horrex’, an amalgamation of horror and sex, is what filmmakers aim at while working on horror flicks. Spine-chilling horror combined with bold body show claims to be the current taste that movie-makers are catering to. “Scary is the new sexy,” said Bipasha Basu whose new horrex movie Alone generated `14 crore in box office collections in the first weekend itself.
The Raaz and Ragini MMS franchises, 1920, Haunted – 3D and now Alone are all cases in point. Bipasha Basu earlier portrayed a bold image in Raaz, but she’s uninhibited in admitting that Alone is her boldest work ever.
Bhushan Patel who has directed Alone claims that a combination of intimate scenes and horror adds an intriguing touch to a horror film. “Sex and scare have always gone hand in hand in films. It is an integral part of the genre. If you see old English films like Dracula, they all had their share of sex scenes,” Patel had said. Patel, who has directed films like 1920: Evil Returns and Ragini MMS 2 as well, says ‘horrex’ works like “magic” on the screen. “Sex is a tool in horror films to take the story forward. I don’t think sex is used unjustified in those films,” the director had added.
Tanuj Garg, former CEO of Balaji Motion Pictures who has produced films like Krishna Cottage and Ragini MMS, says infusing horror with erotica grabs eyeballs. “When you add erotica to horror, it becomes more appealing and exciting. The formula has worked on a large-scale. I think just erotica or horror by itself wouldn’t have garnered that much fascination as the combination has. Sex and horror is a lethal combination. When oomph is combined with horror, it creates an entirely new experience for fans of the genre,” Garg said.
Even though the trend of horrex movies has suddenly gained steam, but a flashback of earlier movies proves that the genre of titillating scenes combined with horror has been ruling Bollywood since 1980s. The Ramsay Brothers were the ones who immortalised this genre of films in Bollywood though most of their films have proved to be B-Grade ones. Movies like Veerana, Purani Haveli, Bandh Darwaza and Dahshat which have all been made under the banner of Ramsay Brothers are instances of a perfect combination of sex and horror.
Makers of horrex movies have often faced flak over making sex as the driving force of a film with no storyline. However, filmmakers claim that the strictness of the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) has prevented them from using sex as a driving force and thereby balancing the two elements has become highly essential.
Hence the staple ingredients of a Bollywood horror film: some spooky noises, a dark ambience, a woman in distress, a hero, evil spirits, lovemaking scenes and sensual songs is what make a horrex movie appealing to the audience.
Trade expert Vinod Mirani opined: “Films, especially of the horror genre, in India are getting poorer in content. Horror films lack in content and they try to make it up with sound effects, loud background music, low light choreography and, in desperation, sex.”
With Bollywood’s unflinching effort to initiate a change with every new movie, we hope the new craze of horrex movies continues to set a benchmark and keeps luring the audience with its heavy oomph of sensuality combined with high voltage horror.
Horror and sex has always gone hand-in-hand in B-town and this trend isn’t dying out anytime soon. We list some of Bollywood’s horrex ( horror+sex ) wonders
Khamoshiyan
Slated to release January 30, the upcoming horrex flick stars Gurmeet Choudhary, Ali Fazal and Sapna Pabbi in principal roles.Coming from the banner of Vishesh films,the story is an erotic love triangle revolving around a writer adrift in the icy slopes of Kashmir where he discovers a woman with a strange, silent past.The movie promises to be another spine chilling horrex movie of this year.
Alone
Starring horror queen Bipasha Basu alongside TV sensation, Karan Singh Grover, the movie which released last week is an official remake of a Thai movie with the same name. The film is about a pair of conjoined twins who get operated and one of them dies. The deceased twin then returns to haunt her surviving sister. Bipasha’s sensuality and Karan’s unabashed sexuality has made Alone quite a success in the first week of its release itself.
Ragini MMS 2
Ekta Kapoor casted Sunny Leone in the sequel to Ragini MMS, and the movie turned out to be more sex than horror. Well, with an adult star as the lead, generous offerings of sex were but natural. Add to that the oomph factor – that Sunny is synonymous with – and the film went on to churn an impressive amount of money.
Ragini MMS
Directed by Pawan Kripalani and produced by Ekta Kapoor, this paranormal film revolves around a couple who go to a secluded house in a forest to spend a weekend together, and have a horrible experience. The film was partly based on the 2007 Paranormal Activity, and the film made news for its treatment of the genre of horror. Ragini MMS involved some good amount of erotica.
Raaz 3
Starring Bipasha Basu, Emraan Hashmi and Esha Gupta, Raaz 3 was a film that raked in much moolah, thanks to its content – horror and sex. The star power of the lead actors, too, added to the film’s business.
3G
Neil Nitin Mukesh and Sonal Chauhan starrer 3G revolved around a 3G enabled cell phone that slowly weaves out to be a nightmare for the couple. With horror infused with intimacy,we would’nt labeling it as another horrex movie.
1920
Vikram Bhatt’s 1920, which starred Rajneesh Duggal and Adah Sharma, was a tale that incorporated horror and sex. Despite several scenes being veritable lift-offs of the 1973 Hollywood horror film The Exorcist, the film did quite well.
Veerana
Starring Hemant Birje, Jasmin and Sahila Chadha in pivotal roles, this 1988 film by the Ramsay Brothers was pretty (in) famous for its amalgamation of horror and sex.
Purani Haveli
Again from the Ramsay Brothers, Purani Haveli hit the theatres in 1989, and was instantly recognised as an offering of sex combined with horror. The movie starred Deepak Parashar, Amita Nangia, Neelam Mehra and others.
Purana Mandir
This 1984 film by the Ramsay Brothers is still considered a classic, as far as the genre of horrex is concerned. Starring actors like Mohnish Bahl, Puneet Issar and Sadashiv Amrapurkar, Purana Mandir dealt with the story of the monster-demon, Samri.
Bandh Darwaza
Starring Kunika, Aruna Irani and Manjeet Kullar, Bandh Darwaza was a 1990 film from the Ramsay Brothers. This film had a vampire called Neola, who went around hunting for the blood of fresh young women had a lot of what they were famous for – horror and sex.
Dahshat
From the Ramsay Brothers, yet again, Dashat is a 1981 film starring Sarika, Nadira, Om Shivpuri and others. The plot revolved around a mad scientist, who transforms into a bloodthirsty monster every night, thanks to an experiment gone awfully wrong.
