Chill ‘n’ thrills: The ticket to success

Manjari Sabharwal / TNN / Nov 22, 2007, 00:00 IST

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Themes packed with black magic, supernatural powers, reincarnation may be sending a chill down your spine, but that’s what’s selling these days. KT explores why?

Chill ‘n’ thrills: The ticket to success

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As ghostly as it may sound, ghosts are back and yes with a bang! (TOI Photo)As ghostly as it may sound, ghosts are back and yes with a bang! What with Bhool Bhulaiyaa being declared a super-hit in five languages other than Hindi, with other such flicks as Raaz, Saaya, Madhoshi, Vaastu Shastra crossing all parameters of disbelief and making it big with the Indian audience.
To add to that, reinstating faith in the concept of reincarnation is Om Shanti Om whose huge box-office collection across countries where it’s doing neck to neck business with Tom Cruise’s Lions for Lambs, jus goes to show how these concepts are being welcomed and accepted once again.
So, with themes of reincarnation, occult, supernatural powers and magic making a comeback in movies, KT explores what makes these themes still so believable and what remains the attractive feature for the audiences?
As actor Ashutosh Rana who’s been a part of Raaz and Sangharsh that dealt with themes of ghosts and black magic, says, “See, whether we accept it or not but there does exist a curiosity among the audience to know the ‘Unknown’, to know who is behind this entire universe, what happens to the soul after one dies. So such themes if dealt well in the movie will always sell. It’s just that these themes need to be packaged differently keeping the era in mind.”

However, Ashutosh says that as compared to yesteryears making the audiences today believe in supernatural powers, ghosts, and life after death is a very tricky job “so before taking on Sangharsh or Raaz I did a deep research and study into these concepts so that I was able to endorse such ideas in a very natural manner. My concern was that it didn’t look too far fetched,” he adds.
Technology is another important aspect in such movies. “It’s a challenge indeed since technological advancements have to be exercised judicially,” opines Piyush Shah, cinematographer of Krrish. “Technological advancement in the movie should not be used to overpower the theme of the movie else everything will look unbelievable and the audience will just shrug it off. If themes of reincarnation occult, supernatural powers are played within the believable parameter then only they work or unconvincing themes are hard to be accepted. So, I was extra cautious while working on visual effects of Krrish,” he says.

“Challenge or not but today people look for entertainment and these concepts are fast being used by commercial flicks for nothing more but entertainment,” opines Delhi-based distributor GD Mehta. “I was not at all apprehensive while taking up distribution of Om Shanti Om, Bhool Bhulaiyaa or even Koi Mil Gaya, for if we look at them closely, all of them are entertainers. They are not those hard-core bhoot-pret stuff! And why just India, Hollywood superhits like Superman, Batman, Spiderman and films based on Harry Potter novels are being showcased around the globe. This explains why SRK’s Om Shanti Om scored better than Tom Cruises Lions... in some places,” says Mehta.
What’s more, the saleability of such themes can be gauged from the fact that now even comedy movies are being spun around such themes. Krishan Kumar, producer of Bhool Bhulaiyaa, says, “I had clearly discussed it with Priyadarshan in the very beginning that the movie has to have good songs, good starcast and good comedy, else this Bhool Bhulaiyaa theme would not work. And the outcome is that the movie is a hit not just in Hindi but is doing superb business in Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam and Tamil.”
While funny man Rajpal Yadav who played Chhote Pandit in the movie puts it like this: “Ab comedy mein bhi kuch variety honi chahiye to iss baar bhoot-pret he sahi.” And we sure are loving this variety, right?

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