Bollywood explores horror comedy with new-age spin

MUMBAI: Moving away from regular horror, Bollywood is lately warming up to the idea of serving scares with a spot of humour. The horror comedy as a genre is suddenly in vogue among mainstream Hindi filmmakers.

The genre existed in the Hindi film industry for ages -- the old classic "Bhoot Bangla" and recent releases such as "Bhul Bhulaiyaa", "Bhootnath", "Go Goa Gone" and "Stree" come to mind. These films, however, were one-off cases. What is happening now is that Bollywood filmmakers have suddenly taken interest in the genre of horror comedy in a way that it seems like the genre is here to stay. Importantly, the new crop of films serve the funny scares with a new-age spin and a message.

IANS looks at a few horror comedy films that are all set to hit the screens.

"Bhoot Police"

The film stars Saif Ali Khan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Yami Gautam and Arjun Kapoor. The film, which sees the cast share screen space for the first time, is helmed by Pawan Kripalani, who is known for directing thrillers like "Phobia" and "Ragini MMS". Not much is known about the film, but it is being shot in various hill station locations such as Dalhousie and Dharamshala.

"Phone Bhoot"

Katrina Kaif, Siddhant Chaturvedi and Ishaan Khatter come together in "Phone Bhoot". It is scheduled for a 2021 release. The film is produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, and directed by Gurmeet Singh. Details related to the film are still under wraps.

"RoohiAfza"

This movie too will see the fresh pairing of Rajkummar Rao and Janhvi Kapoor. "RoohiAfza" also features Varun Sharma in a key role. The film, produced by Dinesh Vijan and Mrighdeep Singh Lamba and directed by debutant Hardik Mehta, also stars Varun Sharma. It is slated to release on March 20, 2020. This will be Rajkummar's third collaboration with Dinesh Vijan after "Stree" and "Made in China".

"Laxmii"

The Akshay Kumar starrer "Laxmii" released earlier this month. The horror comedy is a remake of the Tamil blockbuster "Muni 2: Kanchana". Raghava Lawrence, who had helmed the original, also helms the Bollywood remake co-starring Kiara Advani, Tusshar Kapoor, Sharad Kelkar, and Ashwini Kalsekar. The film has received overwhelming response among the masses.