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he entire country seems to be under a cold spell. Shivers, screams and chattering teeth. No thanks to the weather, this current chill spell is the result of Ram Gopal Varma’s Bhoot. After a long time, a horror film has evoked such a queasy response from the audience. One can literally sense the fear in the theatre, as Varma mercilessly unleashes ‘shock and awe’ on the viewers. Surprisingly, it’s been a while in arriving, considering that over a year ago, another horror flick Raaz, which had the audiences squirming in their seats, and was a big hit, notwithstanding the absence of big names.

But the songless Bhoot, with its nerve-wracking background score, is only a prelude. A slew of films, which promise to give you sleepless nights and days, are on the anvil.

After a year filled with more flops than hits, and an estimated loss of rupees 300 crores, Bollywood seems to have got its act together and chanced on a winning combination -- that of making a low budget film which scares the daylights out of you. Varma’s Bhoot has been made in a budget of 6.5 crore rupees, which, it reportedly raked in during the first three days of its opening.

Saaya

After an overwhelming dosage of shaadis, love triangles and Switzerland, the emphasis has now shifted to fear, horror and terror. Earlier, in the Eighties and Nineties, we were subjected to horror films, mainly from the house of Ramsays, which, many felt were more funny than scary. These horror shows later left the big screen, and shifted to television sets, where we had teleserials like Zee Horror Show and Aahat’, which did reasonably well. Even now, Star Plus airs Ssh Koi Hai, every Friday night, which shows the protagonist Vikraal chasing the ghosts.

When the Ramsays were lying low with their horror films, there was a dry spell, with an occasional release like Junoon. For sometime love stories and gang wars ruled the roost. Having exhausted its stock of these subjects, Bollywood is now focussing on horror again. Raaz opened the proverbial can of worms, so to speak, and others are following suit. After the recent success of Bhoot, lined up for release are more than half a dozen films, which dwell on the supernatural. Varma Corporation itself is making two films, namely Darna Mana Hai and Nimmi. While Darna Mana Hai is purported to be six different stories with a common ending, Nimmi is about a tiger which pursues a child in a jungle.

Darna Mana Hai has in its cast Vivek Oberoi, Nana Patekar, Sanjay Kapoor, Shilpa Shetty, Aftab Shivdasani, Saif Ali Khan and Isha Koppikar. Saaya with John Abraham and Tara Sharma in the lead is also due for release, and is about love and life after death. Another chiller Hawa, starring Tabu and inspired by the Hollywood hit The Entity, is about a spirit which is out to molest the heroine. Like Bhoot, Hawa too is devoid of songs. Contrary to popular belief, the Indian audiences do not mind a film without songs, provided it offers value for money. Anjaane - The Unknown is another film which is sure to give you goose-pimples, and stars Sanjay Kapoor and Manisha Koirala. Rudraksh, shot in Sri Lanka, is based on a mythology, where the lead characters unearth Ravana’s lost palace, and in the process acquire demonic powers. It stars Sanjay Dutt, Bipasha Basu, Sunil Shetty and Isha Koppikar.

How many of these films are original and how many have been copied from Hollywood? One will have to watch these new films to compare. The English films which inspired our filmmakers earlier were The Exorcist (which was made as Jadu Tona in the Eighties), I Know What You Did Last Summer (which was made recently by Ekta Kapoor as Kucch To Hai), What Lies Beneath (which was made as Raaz) and others.

Definitely not for darpoks, these ghost films do carry a warning at the beginning -- pregnant women and those with a weak heart, please beware. So, the next time you step into a theatre showing any of these new films, take care.