Today is the 42nd day of lockdown in India, and nobody knows as to when COVID-19 restrictions will be lifted and things will return to normalcy. Talking about Bollywood in particular, several big-ticket films have missed their date with cinemas over the past few weeks.
With no clarity on how long the ongoing situation will persist, several filmmakers are eyeing a direct to digital release for their films which are completely ready. Recently, rumours emerged that Dharma Productions’ forthcoming production venture Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl will release directly on an OTT platform.
Aside from that, several media outlets also reported that Dharma Productions’ hugely anticipated release Brahmastra, which stars Ranbir Kapoor, Alia Bhatt, Mouni Roy and Amitabh Bachchan in lead roles, is facing financial constraints due to the number of delays it has incurred thus far.
However, Karan Johar has now hit back at a section of the media which have been spreading baseless news about the status of his forthcoming production ventures and whether they will go directly on digital platforms or not.
Taking to social media, Johar said, “My hugest request to my media friends not to reach any assumptions on our fraternity films. These are challenging times for the business and false news only makes the situation worse! Please wait for official news on any account! This is a humble request.”
Dharma Productions’ slate of upcoming films for the year 2020 include Sooryavanshi, Gunjan Saxena: The Kargil Girl, Shershaah, Dostana 2 and Brahmastra. Starring Akshay Kumar and Katrina Kaif in lead roles, Sooryavanshi was scheduled to arrive in theatres on 24th March. However, the makers postponed the film due to the Coronavirus lockdown. The new release date is yet to be finalized.
Bollywood horror has gone mainstream: bigger budgets, big stars, family audiences.
Roots: Mahal (1949) to the Ramsay Brothers' cult run of the 1970s–80s.
Modern hits pair folklore with comedy, as seen in Tumbbad, Stree, Munjya, and now Thamma & Maa.
Technical leap: prosthetics and CGI have "gone to the next level"; budgets now reach mainstream scale.
Remember when Bollywood horror meant creaky doors in a haunted haveli and a woman in a white sari? Forget it. We are in an era where a ghost's main ambition is not revenge, but finding a wife, where ancient mythology collides with suburban kitchens, and a mother's love can literally summon a goddess. The genre has exploded into the mainstream, and clearly everyone is buying a ticket.
The horror revolution: How Bollywood turned ghosts, goddesses, and gore into gold Instagram/thammamovie/netflix_in/maddockfilms
Where did this all begin?
The lineage is long. Kamal Amrohi's Mahal (1949), a chilly, melodramatic original, is often cited as Hindi horror's starting point. The Ramsay Brothers then carried the torch through the 1970s and 80s, churning out roughly 30 low-budget creature features that made haunted havelis a cult staple. Their old formula was simple: lurid gore, sex, and cheap shocks because "blood and sex pulled crowds."
As Deepak Ramsay puts it, "There are new stories, fresh talent, and all of this is leading to a resurgence. Films that were once niche are turning out to be blockbusters."
Kamal Amrohi's Mahal Youtube Screengrab
Why is Bollywood horror trending now?
Two things: smarter storytelling and better tech. Filmmakers stopped copying Western ghosts and started mining local myths, as seen in Tumbbad and Stree, and they mixed scares with laughs.
"The moment you get scared, your first reaction after the shock is to laugh," Ram Gopal Varma says, and that laugh is the neat trick, making scares sharable.
Aditya Sarpotdar explains the appeal bluntly: "There is a huge audience wanting to watch such movies. When catering to mass audiences, humour becomes key." His Munjya proved it: "Children pulled their parents to theatres." You cannot get more mainstream than that.
For decades, horror was the B-movie cousin no one wanted to acknowledge. Big stars stayed away, the effects were cheap, and an 'Adults' certificate locked out half the family audience. But not anymore. Maa (June 2025) saw Kajol in a mythic, bloody role that shocked and thrilled the audience. Thamma (Diwali 2025) is being billed as "a bloody love story" with Ayushmann Khurrana and Rashmika Mandanna in a vampire-romance that pairs fangs with dance numbers. Sequels and studio universes hits like Stree 2, Chhorii 2, and lighter fare like The Bhootnii keep the pipeline full.
Deepak Ramsay even points to the tech shift: "From as little as £20,000 to make a horror film, now budgets are closer to £7.2 million."
Veterans say prosthetics and CGI have "gone to the next level," so monsters finally look convincing.
Bollywood horror is having a moment, and it's brilliant
However, the quick, messy truth is the genre still trips; it suffers from a tonal wobble and silly beats, but it is honest. Horror has stopped hiding at midnight and is selling tickets at matinées. Directors joke about the next move. "I would love to see Shah Rukh Khan attempt horror," says Sarpotdar, but the point is clear. What was once pulpy trash has become a lively, profitable stretch of mainstream cinema. It is rough around the edges, loud, sometimes ridiculous, and that is exactly why it is working.
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