Wednesday, May 01, 2002

Remember the Ramsays?

It wouldn't be a stretch to call the Brothers Ramsay (Tulsi and Shyam, as opposed to Andy and Larry Wachowski) India's answer to Sam Raimi and Roger Corman. The pioneers of the horror B-film, they shaped the genre and nurtured it. They even had box office hits. They made stars of people (well, at least made some faces more well-known than most mainstream personalities). They gave the cult horror flick its own identity. Any mainstream director who approached this genre to make a contribution got his hands burnt (Mahesh Bhatt with Junoon, Ramgopal Verma with Raat). Do Gaz Zameen Ke Neeche (1972) established the Ramsay Brothers and the horror genre in Hindi cinema. Although mainstream cinema and the golden age were responsible for 'respectable' entrants into the horror clique (Mahal, Woh Kaun Thi, Bees Saal Baad), the Ramsays had no hurdles to stop them ... it was no-holds barred, all stops pulled cult horror complete with ill-dressed ghosts, scantily-clad belles ready to become the next victims ... you name it, they had it.

Indian Horrors: The Ramsay Speciality

Horror: Bollywood style

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