5 reasons why Indian horror shows cannot match upto International Standards!

Indian Horror = comedy for kids, insult to adults!

Published: Saturday,Jun 11, 2016 19:20 PM GMT-06:00

Atharva Lobo

The Indian Television industry has given us all types of content. We have seen some great love stories like Iss Pyaar Ko Kya Naam Doon? and Madhubala...Ek Ishq, Ek Junoon. We have seen amazing suspense shows like Laut Aao Trisha. The industry is known for its all time favourite Saas Bahu Drama's all the way from Kyunki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi to Saath Nibhana Saathiya. We have excellent comedies like Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai and Bhabhiji Ghar Par Hai. But there is one genre that we Indians terribly suck at- Horror! Period.

Indian horror shows have become a joke! Indian horror shows are mostly based on Indian folklore. Well, I am not saying that Indian folklore has bad horror stories. There are Indian ghost stories that will give you goosebumps! There are stories that will make you think. There are stories that have driven people crazy! So what goes wrong when production houses try to attempt a horror show?

There was a time when India had some really nice episodic horror shows like the first seasons of Aahat and Shhh...Koi Hai. That is because these stories were a mix of Indian and international stories. For example, I remember watching an episode of a headless jailer when I was a kid. That was one scary episode! It gave me the creeps for days! The way it was shot was totally amazing! So why aren't we able to make such shows anymore?

Well, there are quite aAa few reasons why our horror shows are not doing well. After going through a lot of related content, I came up with a few-

1. Over use of VFX.

Back in the day, we used special effect makeup, dummy bodies, generous amounts of fake blood, non-computer generated sounds and much more. We Indians have the habit of overusing something that is good. Computer generated imagery, effects and sounds are very effective tools. But we decided to be lazy and let the computer do most of our job. In the past, if we wanted to show a Naagin, people would take the effort to make a legit costume for the actress. The Naagin of today looks like a Mermaid! She isn't scary at all! There is no emphasis on the Naagins Hypnotic and Alluring eyes! We shot half of the actresses body and pasted it on top of a cheaply animated snake body!

2. Religion Kicked in Yo!

In the past not all episodes showed the victory of good over evil. Sometimes the monster or spirit would be too strong to be beaten and the protagonists would lose. But now times have changed. Good Has' to triumph over evil! It has become sort of a compulsion! One thing Indian Horror has taught me-

Easy steps to do an exorcism-

Step 1- Tie the victim to the bed.

Step 2- Call the doctor who will tell you he knows nothing.

Step 3- Chant the Hanuman Chalisa repeatedly into the victim's ear.

Step 4- Step back and see the spirit go away. You can grab some popcorn at the same time!

3.Lack of experimentation.

Indians are not ready to experiment with different type of horror themes! Most Indian horror shows have similar themes. And all of them have a love angle to them. Why aren't we trying and experimenting with new concepts instead of over using the same old Ghisa-Pita' formulas? How can they expect good viewership when they aren't providing anything new? Psychological horror, cannibalistic horror, alien horror, Voodoo Horror, there are so many themes to choose from! But no we want the guy saves girl or vice versa type of themes.

4. The Star Factor.

If you are making a horror show your main concern should be picking a face that can make the audience connect with him. The audience should feel his every expression; they should be as scared as he is. Horror shows should pick faces for star value at all!

5.The actual shooting.

Producers should get one thing straight. Zooming in and out while shaking the camera, using Win- Amp animation and crappy sound effects aren't going to scare anyone! Instead, a ghost popping out of nowhere right in front of their eyes would give them goose bumps! Minimal VFX can help enhance the scare quality of these shows.

Well, this list can go on and on. All these things apply to Indian movies as well. One thing is clear. Indian Horror is not going anywhere unless and until we start experimenting. We don't need 1920. We need another conjuring!

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Comments (19)

h-arshi89 @h-arshi89

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Commenting only for IPKKND.
The best show ever created.
ArShi, the best jodi

7 years ago

Ishu @Pani.Puri

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ROFLROFLROFL I don't believe this that IF in almost all its articles related to such contents of ghost,comedy,romantic etc etc adds the name of this show called Iss Pyaar Ko whatever... At times it feels that this is not IF but IPKKND Forum ROFLROFL ... Writers ! there are more awesome shows made by the Indian PHs in all such genre so everytime including your favourite IPKKND's name is not going to make it more famous . Try to be a neutral journalist and a media person . IPPKND is not the ONLY so called romantic,comedy,horror etc etc genre's show in Indian TV industry . There are many more better and good shows than this over hyped IPPKND show by IF ROFLROFLROFL And regarding the horror concept well it depends upon director to director that how good and creative they can be in showing such things rather than making it a mockery or a cartoon .

7 years ago

2 Reply

NickiMinaj @BangBang_Shilpa

+ 2 ⋮

Saathiya rockzzz

it doesn't need any bhoot aatma for trp

SNS is more popular SNS scored rating of 17k and is most popular longest running show and is no.1 even its repeat telecast on star utsav. total trp of Saathiya is 18k now and it has scored all time high of 28k even more than IPL but haters get a life

these shows fans said

hey said there shows have fan following W*F kinda fan following is this Lol India forum fan following which have only 8-9 lakh registered members and only 8-12k are active is this fan following no no no no a big no how can few thousand or evenlac people can decide fan following of a country with population more than 125 crore the real fan following is the audiencewhich doesn't come online 99% of trp come from them that's the real fan following and popularity Gopi Bahu and Kokila are the most popular character on Indian TV even after 6 yrs . I am not sayingthis but the trp is sating this even after 6 super successful years the show is still no.1 on its slot that's the popularity even after replacement of 3 leads the show is intop 3 always and SNS was/is/always remain the only show to set new records lol before SNS highest trp at 7 pm was 1.5 made by a colors show SNS is the show which has scored more ratings than the IPL yes u read right..During vidyas marriage SNS trp was at 17k on star flush plus around 8-10k on star utsab makes it to 25-27k total and dont be confuse with current trp of SNS trp as it is not 2.7 (barchas changed the raring format a lot) acc. to 1st format this weeks SNS trp is 9.6 acc. to 2nd format its trp is 4 and SNS repeat telecast on star utsav is performingvery well making it 2nd most highest viewed show in villages trp (the point to be noted is that it competes with Jodha Akbar as both the shows airs on the same slot of 8:39 pm) Jodha Akbar is no.1 this week both shows airs at sane slot but still SNS is on spot this is the real popularity , so SNS is the most popular show and its actors has highest fan fo...

7 years ago

3 Reply

Vertika Srivastava @Vartika07

+ 3 ⋮

Really true and I agree with all your points that now a days horror shows seems lost their track.

7 years ago

2 Reply

Masooma Bukhari @MasoomaBukhari

+ 4 ⋮

b i agree that Indian Television fails to produce sagas like Shh.. Koi Hai and Aaahat now /b

7 years ago

6 Reply

rishbalafan9 @rishbalafan9

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Commenting here for my only favourite show Madhubala EIEJ...
This show created history...and there can not be a couple and show will be there like Rishbala for times to live...DVD may do any no of shows but they will always be remembered as Vivian as RK of our television and Drashti as Madhubala of indian television. ...This show was indeed one of the game changer in the history and stereotypical boredom of indian television. ...who can forget Vivian style of saying BIWII...and ahaan...and the ethearnal..beauty royal Indian beauty our Madhubala. ..drashti...each and every Saree and outfit she wore in the show...every thing looked sexy on her perfect indian figure The most gorgeous leads ever ever...once in a lifetime pairing as if some dream we lived in that phase of our show...
This show indeed gave tribute to the 100 years of cinema...

7 years ago

2 Reply

dey.bh @dey.bh

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Mr. Writer although some of your points are very much valid I cannot believe you do not want the good to overcome evil.

Yes, it may not be like what happens in the west but a land where witch hunt is so common and where superstitions are so rigid its very important that the content that comes on TV don't add to it. Next time do some research on your country before comparing it to the western country !!

7 years ago

Aaliya @Orla

+ 4 ⋮

I agree with some points,I used to eagerly watch Aahat,I loved the chars,storyline, it never disappointed in scaring me.The creatives did a great job in makeup nd editing..sudden appearance of ghosts were super scary.But nowadays i can easily guess d storyline and climax.I m a sucker of horror,but nothing intrigues me nowadays.I won't say that Indian creatives are lazy, they just lack creativity.Though some international horror shows were good in storyline,Indian stories are also scary sometimes. Stories need not based on love,if we dig a little history,there are lot of horror stories it can be interesting and educative if we learn history through horror,a bridge which connects between present nd past would contribute to an awesome storyline.The thing which irritates me most in a horror show is d overuse of blackmagic.

A good creative mind + min vfx + relatable chars = Good horror show.

7 years ago

2 Reply

K.AJAY MANIKANTA @ajay227

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hmm...its true...But as far as Naagin is concerned, although VFX sucked some tyms it was good and not that bad on an average!!!And d first episode of Kavach is also nice(although not so scary for now)...On a serious note, I agree its true that All the horror stories are having d same love theme!!!I just want this theme to be changed!!!!

7 years ago

2 Reply