Mahal(1949)
Cast: Ashok Kumar, Madhubala
Director: Kamaal Amrohi
Mahal is probably India’s first suspense drama and “ghost” film, still remembered for its richly-textured visuals, imaginative use of sound and haunting music. It marked the debut of director Kamal Amrohi while Madhubala’s ethereal beauty in the film and Aayega aayega aanewala, the signature song, continue to “haunt” people even today!
It tells the story of Hari Shankar (Ashok Kumar) who arrives to claim his inheritance, Shabnam Mahal, and comes face-to-face with his own portrait on the wall of the palatial bungalow. The housekeeper tells him the story of the man in the portrait, and his tragic end with his mistress, Kamini (Madhubala). Soon Hari Shankar is haunted by Kamini’s spirit which sways on the garden swing and vanishes when he tries to get close. But soon she confronts him and orders him to either die or marry her incarnation, a servant’s daughter named Asha. And Shankar continues to be obsessed by the beautiful face.

Madhumati (1958)
Starring: Dilip Kumar, Vyjanthimala, Pran
Director: Bimal Roy
Vyjayantimala played the ethereal ghost in this reincarnation saga, a role for which Madhubala was cast earlier but her father opposed her affair with co-star Dilip Kumar and forced her to give up the film half-way through. Though criticised as a lightweight formula for a heavyweight like Bimal Roy, it became his greatest commercial succes and music director Salil Chaudhary’s career-best musical score.
On a stormy night, Devendra (Dilip Kumar), an engineer, drives down a hilly road with his friend to fetch his wife and child from the railway station. A landslide blocks their path and the friends take shelter in an old mansion just off the road. Devendra finds the house uncannily familiar. In the large front room he finds an old portrait that he recognizes. His friend and the old caretaker join him, and Devendra, amidst flashes of memory from another life, sits down to tell his story of how as Anand he had come to Shyamnagar Timber Estate as its new manager and fallen in love with Madhumati (Vyjayantimala) and her haunting voice.
Anand is sent away on an errand by his employer, (Pran) and returns to find that Madhumati has disappeared. One day he meets a girl who looks exactly like Madhumati and asks her to help him nail Madhumati’s killers.

Gehrayee (1981)
Starring: Padmini Kolhapure, Shreeram Lagoo
Director: Aruna-Vikas
Padmini’s backless shot with the tantrik had created furore in those days. She also turned in a remarkable performance for a 12-year old. The film is remembered as one of most realistic films made with subtlelty and a lack of hackneyed scenes.
A well-to-do family of four is settled in Bangalore and all is normal until a supernatural element inflicts the house and targets the school-going daughter (Padmini Kolhapure). Since the girl is under psychological malady, the mother wants to get a tantrik. She and her son seek spiritual help are duped by two, but get third time lucky with a saintly priest. In the climax, they realise that it is their old servant’s vengeful spirit who chooses to wreak havoc.

Ghazab (1982)
Starring: Dharmendra, Rekha
Director: C.P.Dixit
This film probably had India’s first “good” ghost, and had a topline macho hero play both a spirit and a weakling. Dharmendra essayed the dual role of two brothers, one of whom is buck-toothed and retarded. The latter witnesses a crime and is bumped off, but returns as a ghost and helps the normal brother avenge his own murderers.
Based on a South Indian film, the Hindi version also starring Rekha was produced by veteran N.N.Sippy.

Purana Mandir (1984)
Starring:Mohnish Bahl, Aarti Gupta, Puneet Issar
Directors:Tulsi & Shyam Ramsay
The film was a roaring success and spawned Bollywood’s first home-grown monster in the form of Saamri. The film opens two centuries ago with the prince struggling to rescue his princess who goes wandering off to a nearby dilapidated mandir (temple) where she is assailed by the monstrous, bloodthirsty Saamri. Later, the Rajkumar’ss men manage to apprehend the dreaded Saamri and convict him for a series of heinous crimes including murdering and eating little children. Saamri’s head is lopped off and then he is roasted in a large, crackling fire, but before he departs he curses the Raja’s family and swears that he will rise once again to destroy their entire clan. Meanwhile Saamri’s severed head is stashed away in a black box and hidden away in the dark environs of the Purana Mandir.
Purana Mandir has all the trademark ingredients of a typical Ramsay horror potboiler…the flesh show, cheap double entendres, mists, blue- and red-tinted lighting, over-the-top performances, a hairy monster, an old dark house…yet it remains one of their few moments of glory. It is a vintage Ramsay shocker.

Bhoot (2003)
Starring: Ajay Devgan, Urmila Matondkar, Fardeen Khan, Nana Patekar, Tanuja, Rekha
Director: Ram Gopal Varma
A horror film starting on a romantic note, it took the formula away from the haunted bungalow to a posh apartment. As the terror-stricken, possessed lady, it was one of Urmila’s finest performances.
Vishal (Ajay Devgan), a stock analyst and his wife Swati (Urmila Matondkar) find the perfect place on the 12th floor of a high-rise apartment building. However, the apartment has a horrifying past. The previous occupant of the flat, a young woman had killed her child and jumped from the balcony and died. Swati learns about this incident shortly after moving in and becomes oddly fixated with the story. Then a series of inexplicable experiences drive Swati to near madness. The hapless Vishal consults a psychiatrist, Dr. Rajan (Victor Banerjee). The couple’s maid (Seema Biswas) believes Swati is possessed, and calls in an exorcist (Rekha). Inspector Liaqat Qureshi (Nana Patekar) is sent to investigate the murder at the building as neither the psychiatrist or the exorcist makes much progress with Swati.

Kaal (2005)
Starring: Ajay Devgan, John Abraham, Vivek Oberoi, Lara Dutta, Esha Deol
Director: Soham Shah
With Kaal producer Karan Johar moved into new territory as a filmmaker. Though it had the realism and rawness of Ram Gopal Varma’s style (Soham had been Varma’s assistant) and Johar’s flamboyance with a novel story authenticity with tigers and an unexpected twist, it ended up as an average grosser. A motley group of youngsters comprising Viveik, John, Esha Deol and Lara are on a mission to find the reason behind the mysterious deaths caused by man-eating tigers in the Jim Corbett National Park. They find themselves caught in a strange web of incidents where the groupies start vanishing one by one.

Paheli (2005)
Starring: Shah Rukh Khan, Rani Mukerji
Director: Amol Palekar
A genre not attempted before Paheli was a fantasy joyride for family show. The film was also talked about for it’s authentic Rajasthani ambience, romantic scenes especially the one where Shah Rukh owns up that he is a ghost, and M.M.Kreem’s fabulous music. This is the story of a ghost who falls in love with Lachchi (Rani Mukerji) and thinks of a ploy to replace her newly-wed husband when he leaves home for work just after the wedding.
Lachchi is devastated, but to her pleasant surprise, the ‘husband’ returns within a few days, and informs his dad that he had met a holy sage who had instructed him to return as he will find five gold coins every morning. Then Lachchi gets pregnant and on the day of the child’s birth the family finds out to their horror that the husband is actually an impostor when the real husband returns. The family and the town are unable to decide who is the second Kishanlal and what possible motive could he have for coming to claim Lachchi as his wife?

Om Shanti Om (2007)
Starring : Shah Rukh Khan, Deepika Padukone, Arjun Rampal
Director: Farah Khan
One of the big-budgeted and outlandish ghost films, OSO mixed it with reincarnation.
Delectable Deepika played a vengeful ghost in the film where Om (Shah Rukh Khan) is a junior artiste of the ‘70s who falls madly in love a top star of his time Shantipriya whois burnt to death by her rich producer lover, Mukesh Mehra when he finds out that she is pregnant. Om too dies prematurely and is reincarnated as a superstar who is haunted by the memories of his past. Shantipriya’s ghost wants to avenge her death - and with the help of Om succeeds in her mission.