09/10/2025

LYFE THURSDAY | OCT 9, 2025

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Vampires, werewolves make comeback L ONG written off as fringe, horror is back in India’s Bollywood, reinvented with comedy, mythology and big stars powering a box-office o Bollywood horror goes mainstream vampire movie – releases this month. Billed as a “bloody love story”, it stars popular actors Ayushmann Khurrana and Rashmika Mandanna, and blends Bollywood’s signature song-and-dance numbers with werewolves and sharp fangs. Deepak credits some the genre’s new-found success to prosthetics and computer-generated effects that have “gone to the next level”, noting that budgets have also shot up.

renaissance. “There are new stories, fresh talent and all of this is leading to a resurgence,” said director Deepak Ramsay of the renowned filmmaking family, which has created around 30 horror titles over the decades. “Films that were once niche are turning out to be blockbusters.” Once dismissed as pulp, bigger budgets, sophisticated special effects and A-list casts are pulling Bollywood horror out of the shadows. “There is a huge audience wanting to watch such movies,” said director Aditya Sarpotdar, whose film Thamma – touted as India’s first

From as little as US$25,000 (RM106,000) to make a horror film, “now budgets are closer to US$9 million”, he said. Bollywood’s horror history runs deep. The 1949 black-and-white hit Mahal is widely regarded as the first Hindi horror film, when Kamal Amrohi’s supernatural tale of a reincarnated lover introduced a striking aesthetic. ‘Get scared’ The Ramsay Brothers pushed the genre forward in the 1970s and 1980s,

Bollywood actress Shraddha Kapoor (second from right) attends the launch of the comedy horror film Stree 2 ’s first song in Mumbai.

second weekend out, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Sean Penn, who are both already earning Oscars buzz. DiCaprio stars as a washed-up far left revolutionary who is dragged back into action to help his daughter, while Penn plays his ruthless military nemesis. The film, loosely based on Thomas Pynchon’s novel Vineland , also stars Benicio del Toro, Teyana Taylor and Regina Hall. The Smashing Machine – the true story of mixed martial arts fighter Mark Kerr, played by a transformed Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson – with low-budget “creature” features in the style of Britain’s Hammer House of Horror . But despite occasional standouts, horror became associated with shoestring budgets, cheap effects and lesser-known actors. “None of the big stars would be interested because the budgets were small,” Deepak said. And with horror films often restricted to adult viewers, “almost 50 per cent of the audience would be cut off”, he added. Even so, the Ramsays had a winning formula: Blood and sex pulled in crowds with lurid gore and scantily clad women. A slow shift began in the 2000s, with Ajay Devgn starring in the 2003 success Bhoot (Ghost), while Akshay Kumar led cult hit Bhool Bhulaiyaa in 2007, a landmark that mixed psychological thriller and comedy. The broader popular rise began in 2018 with Tumbbad – the first Indian film to open Venice Critics’ Week – and Stree , which drew on folklore and mythology to captivate audiences. Today’s filmmakers are increasingly blending genres. “There’s a very thin line between horror and comedy. The moment you

Actress Radhika Apte poses during an event for the promotion of her Netflix Indian horror series Ghoul in Mumbai.

debuted in third place with a disappointing US$6 million. “Johnson and Emily Blunt are strong leads who have elevated bigger pictures. It’s not happening here,” said Gross. Gabby’s Dollhouse: The Movie , a live-action/animation hybrid based on a popular Netflix children’s series, came in fourth with US$5.2 million in its second week. And in fifth place was horror franchise film The Conjuring: Last Rites , which earned US$4 million. Overall, it has grossed US$167.8 million in the US and Canada. – AFP get scared, your first reaction after the shock is to laugh,” Ram Gopal Varma, who directed Bhoot , said. Biggest star Aditya said the lighter approach broadened the appeal. “When catering to mass audiences, humour becomes key,” he said. His 2024 hit Munjya , a 12A-rated tale of a vengeful spirit who wants to get married, turned into a family outing.

“Children pulled their parents to theatres,” he said. Despite recent success, Aditya believes Indian cinema has yet to give the genre its full due. “We always looked at horror as pulpy,” he said. He now has his eye on the ultimate prize: Bollywood’s biggest star. “I would love to see Shah Rukh Khan attempt horror. If these films are fun and entertaining, why not?” said the director. – AFP

Kajol at the trailer launch of her Indian Hindi-language mythological horror film Maa in Mumbai. – PICS FROM AFP

Taylor Swift rules box office with Showgirl event TAYLOR SWIFT is having a very good weekend: after the also was screened in cities around the world, but international totals were not immediately available.

OTHER TOP-RAKING FILMS:

blockbuster release of her new album The Life of a Showgirl , she triumphed at the North American box office with her special movie theatre event. The Official Release Party of a Showgirl raked in an estimated US$33 million (RM140 million) in the Friday to Sunday period in the US and Canada, Exhibitor Relations said. The three-day-only event – which featured the debut of her first music video from the album, behind-the scenes footage and lyric videos –

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle (US$3.5 million) Avatar: The Way of Water - 3D reissue (US$3.2 million) The Strangers: Chapter 2 (US$2.8 million) Good Boy (US$2.3 million) Kantara: A Legend – Chapter 1 (US$1.8 million)

“No other musical artiste on the planet can do this,” said analyst David A. Gross of Franchise Entertainment Research, noting that Release Party was only announced on Sept 19. “The picture would double its box office from here if it continued to play in theatres, but this is it – it’s finished now.” In a distant second place with US$11.1 million in ticket sales was Paul Thomas Anderson’s action thriller One Battle After Another , in its