Shyam Ramsay's Neighbours is about vampires in a city. He tells Karan Bhardwaj why he still believes in the combination of sex and fear
A ketchup-covered face or a creepy masked man chasing a curvaceous half-naked woman to suck her blood or a woman turning into a horrifying witch. These were the pivotal elements of Ramsay Brother’s horror tales that ‘groped’ the Indian audience for decades of 70s and 80s. After a lull, the deadly combination of sex and horror, which was pioneered by the Ramsay Brothers, is back with their latest film Neighbours. But director Shyam Ramsay says that the movie is cutting-edge for them since they have upgraded all those ‘elements’. “From the content to narration and treatment, everything is modern. However, I have retained what we are known for — combining sex and horror. I don’t believe in making non-commercial arty films. Our films have always been mass entertainers,” says the director.
Neighbours is a story of a couple who discovers vampires living next door. “This is the first vampire film made by any Indian director. I have revamped our style according to the sensibilities of the young audience. The pacy narration is supported by unique special effects. We have focussed on technology. Earlier, we used to make films for single screens. This is for the first time that we are catering to multiplex audience too,” says Shyam, who first directed Do Gaz Zameen Ke Neeche in 1972.
Ramsay say Neighbours is an original idea. “People think we are drawing inspiration from Twilight series which is not true. Twilight is a romantic film, ours is a scary movie. Plus we have songs, music, man-eating vampires which are not the case with Hollywood flicks,” he says. Initially in the 70s, the makers were inspired by Hollywood stories on mummies and draculas. The formula was an instant hit in the Indian markets. “But when you repeat something over and again, people get bored of it. So it died gradually. But people are not bored of Ramsay Brothers’ treatment of these stories. Filmmakers like Vikram Bhatt and Ram Gopal Varma are only following what we did,” he says.
What does he make of modern horror flicksIJ “I liked Raaz 1 which was very commercial. But films like Go Goa Gone and Paranormal Activity had less takers because people don’t identify with these ideas,” he says.
After Neighbours, Shyam is planning another film, which will be directed by his daughter Saasha. “We are happy that the third generation of family has decided to take the legacy forward,” he says.