Horror sets cash registers ringing for Bollywood movies
NEW DELHI : With Ajay Devgn’s latest horror film Shaitaan having crossed the ₹130 crore mark in domestic box office collections alone, theatre owners say there is much untapped potential in horror as a genre for Indian films. And with Kartik Aaryan’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 to arrive this Diwali, things could be looking up for the Hindi horror genre. For that matter, Hindi horror movies have been doing rather well in recent times, even though there have not been many releases in the past two years.
When released in 2022, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 had made over ₹180 crore in domestic box office collections. Devgn’s Golmaal Again had crossed the ₹200 crore mark when released in 2017, and Shraddha Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao-starrer Stree had made ₹124 crore in 2018. All box office data is sourced from trade website Box Office India.
But it’s not all smooth sailing. While competition from Hollywood with higher budgets remains fierce, there are several on-ground challenges as well. “The horror genre continues to grapple with the production of predictable and formulaic films that restrain innovation in the field," Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, executive director, PVR INOX Ltd said.
“Filmmakers are hesitant to experiment with horror, given that a significant portion of the target audience, comprising families in theatres, includes children who get excluded due to censor certification." Film distributor and exhibitor Sunny Khanna said, “The success rate of horror films is pretty high, but it requires a lot of effort to get the sound and visual effects right. Top actors also don’t commonly get drawn to it. The genre is also not picked up for satellite television, which means at least a 30% revenue loss and higher dependence on theatrical." Many see
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