In a tête-à -tête with Tanmaya Das, before the theatrical release of his forthcoming horror-comedy, Bhoot Police, Pawan Kripalani sheds light on his fascination with the horror genre
Through the ages, people have always believed in supernatural powers and elements. The unworldly — some prefer to give it the rather cold name of the underworld or the Hades — images have haunted people all their lives and, in certain cases, across generations. Today, the movie-makers have started fusing different genres together. One of the most everlasting genres that impacts our minds is horror. The powerful genre can stimulate, rather tingle, almost every sense one can think of. The latest in the series is Bhoot Police.
On the shoot for the horror-comedy, director Pawar Kripalani says, “It was a great experience, to be honest. We shot the movie amid the raging pandemic and we had to face a lot of hurdles but, despite that, we had a rather fulfilling and satisfying experience.”
Despite the restrictions, the pandemic didn’t hinder their schedule. “We really didn’t waste too much time. We were extremely lucky that we found a window, we found a part of the country that was less infected by the virus and we just went for it,” Kripalani adds.
Upon being asked about his fascination and deep love for the horror genre, he explains, “My fascination with the genre is that, for me, it is like my go-to genre, it is something that I as an audience will like to consume. It is something that I have been watching since I was a kid. I have always enjoyed horror; reading horror, making horror, watching horror... it has been a part of who I am, what it does, and deeper sub-textual narratives that it also gives. The horror genre branches out into many subgenres. Within that, you get to explore a variety of things that you otherwise don’t get to do too much of.”
Furthermore, he recounts, “Two movies that really scared me; one was Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho that really freaked me out and then there was this Steven Spielberg movie called Jaws. Jaws left a long-lasting phobia of water in me. I was scared of even a bathtub. That was the beginning of my association with horror. I was so taken in by what Jaws had done to me, done to my mind. This genre really grips you in ways that no other genre can. It can really affect you. I was kind of consumed by that, then I explored The Shining, Rosemary’s Baby, Exorcist, and all other great films that were made, but Psycho and Jaws were the two impressions that really pushed me.” Moreover, he goes on to say, “I have watched Psycho and The Birds and all of these other movies over a thousand times by now. I have watched them without sound, I have watched them only for the visual, I watch every version of these available.”
However, he laments the lack of elements of scenography in horror movies in the Indian cinema. “In our country, we have not really explored horror too much, to be honest. I still love Mahal, Madhumati and movies like that. There were a couple of other movies in that space that I have really been big fans of and I enjoyed some of them. But I think generally we don’t have really good scenography when it comes to horror films. Abroad, there are so many that I kind of worship and they are kind of ideals for me, and I look up to them and I see the filmmakers have kind of studied the subjects exhaustively.”
On watching movies from an analytical point of view, he says, “These movies still move me, scare me even now. Even now I am mesmerised by them; the way these have been put together. I think every couple of years, I still watch The Shining. You lose yourself in these movies.”
The conventional approach of making horror movies in Indian cinema has always been commercial. He says, “It has got its own perspective, its own voice which is something that I have cultivated over the years. So it’s a projection of all things. Tips has taken it because it is inherently commercially accessible. With the actors, with the packing, we push it to make it a little wider.” Kripalani said that all the actors were thorough professionals and excited to work together. “As I say, it was a comedy, adventure, light-hearted and fun. There was a lot of goofing around, a lot of fun, inherently everyone was kind of enjoying the absurdity. Saif (Ali Khan) has given his all and Javed Jaffrey is an extremely hilarious person. It was a delight to work with him. Yami (Gautam) and Jacqueline (Fernandez) were extremely fun. They are such fine actors. It was kind of a chill set,” he says.
There were also other people on the set who made a mark. “We had other people as well, we had Johnny Lever’s daughter Jamie (Lever), such a funny actor. We had Amit Mistri, who recently passed away. He was also a fascinating actor. It was a fun cast and they were all really fun to work with.”
Presented by Tips Industries Ltd, in association with 12th Street Entertainment, Bhoot Police is all set to release on Disney+Hotstar today, September 10. Starring Saif Ali Khan, Arjun Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez and Yami Gautam, the film is a brave attempt to raise high the flag of the horror-comedy genre in our country.