Hey, welcome to Weird House Cinema. This is Rob Lamb. We have another episode from the past for you here today. This one originally published six thirty, twenty twenty three. In it, we cover the Ramsey Brothers nineteen eighty four film Purana Mandar. This one is a lot of fun. This was our first dive into Bollywood horror. I say first, we haven't actually done a second Bollywood horror film yet. So as we mentioned in this episode, if you have suggestions Ramsey Brothers pictures or other examples of Bollywood horror or science fiction that we should cover, write in with your suggestions. Okay, let's go ahead and jump right in.

Hey, welcome to Weird House Cinema. This is Rob Lamb. We have another episode from the past for you here today. This one originally published six thirty, twenty twenty three. In it, we cover the Ramsey Brothers nineteen eighty four film Purana Mandar. This one is a lot of fun. This was our first dive into Bollywood horror. I say first, we haven't actually done a second Bollywood horror film yet. So as we mentioned in this episode, if you have suggestions Ramsey Brothers pictures or other examples of Bollywood horror or science fiction that we should cover, write in with your suggestions. Okay, let's go ahead and jump right in.

Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

Welcome to Stuff to Blow your Mind, a production of iHeartRadio.

Hey you welcome to Weird House Cinema.

Hey you welcome to Weird House Cinema.

This is Rob Lamb and this is Joe McCormick.

This is Rob Lamb and this is Joe McCormick.

Today. This is an exciting intrigue in the Weird House Cinema catalog because we are going to be covering our first film from India. It's always fun when we can dive into a new film culture, a new national film tradition. And I know for me personally Indian cinema, Bollywood in particular, this is a whole area of film that I really don't have much of any exposure to. So I was excited to watch this movie research it a bit because not only is it is it Bollywood, it is Bollywood horror. We're going to be talking about Purana mandir a if not only a horror movie, but like the horror movie from India from nineteen eighty four.

Today. This is an exciting intrigue in the Weird House Cinema catalog because we are going to be covering our first film from India. It's always fun when we can dive into a new film culture, a new national film tradition. And I know for me personally Indian cinema, Bollywood in particular, this is a whole area of film that I really don't have much of any exposure to. So I was excited to watch this movie research it a bit because not only is it is it Bollywood, it is Bollywood horror. We're going to be talking about Purana mandir a if not only a horror movie, but like the horror movie from India from nineteen eighty four.

This is also my first full viewing of a Bollywood movie. I've watched a lot of clips from them before. Often, like people will clip out really great musical numbers from them and put them online, so I've seen plenty of those, but yeah, this was the first time I've seen the whole thing. But man, this movie was mostly great, at some points awful, and really got my mind cranking about the what it means to have musical numbers in a film.

This is also my first full viewing of a Bollywood movie. I've watched a lot of clips from them before. Often, like people will clip out really great musical numbers from them and put them online, so I've seen plenty of those, but yeah, this was the first time I've seen the whole thing. But man, this movie was mostly great, at some points awful, and really got my mind cranking about the what it means to have musical numbers in a film.

Yes, because one of the if you don't know anything, or you don't know much about Indian cinema and Bollywood in particular, you may know that there are musical numbers. It's a big song and dance numbers. And I think at times this can be like knowing this can be kind of like a barrier to entry. You might think, well, I don't know if I'm up for that. I mean, I'm not a musical fan. Or even if you decide, oh, well there's a horror genre, I want to get into that, but then you realize there are musical numbers, maybe you're going to hold back. But yeah, it's interesting to sort of break that down, like, well, how different is that from anything we watch over here? You know, we have this have a genre of musical obviously it goes in various directions, but also we have strong musical segments in various pictures where you'll feature a particular track. It just maybe you don't have characters actually singing that song.

Yes, because one of the if you don't know anything, or you don't know much about Indian cinema and Bollywood in particular, you may know that there are musical numbers. It's a big song and dance numbers. And I think at times this can be like knowing this can be kind of like a barrier to entry. You might think, well, I don't know if I'm up for that. I mean, I'm not a musical fan. Or even if you decide, oh, well there's a horror genre, I want to get into that, but then you realize there are musical numbers, maybe you're going to hold back. But yeah, it's interesting to sort of break that down, like, well, how different is that from anything we watch over here? You know, we have this have a genre of musical obviously it goes in various directions, but also we have strong musical segments in various pictures where you'll feature a particular track. It just maybe you don't have characters actually singing that song.

Yes, I agree with all of that. I mean it really got me thinking, why don't American horror movies tend to have musical numbers in them? And if they did, why would we say, well, actually, this is just a totally different genre now it is a musical. Why couldn't all genres have musical numbers, Because, as you say, music features in other movies, diagetic and non diegetic music features in as long as the characters aren't singing, it's not a musical. But there's no particular reason I think of why. The fact that characters do sing in a movie should make that a separate genre from whatever the narrative content is. So yeah, I think we should have more fantasy, sci fi movies, whatever, horror movies that have characters singing songs, because songs are great. Now that I've experienced a Bollywood film, it in no way takes away from my enjoyment of this as a cheesy horror movie, and I don't really see why you would resist. I think maybe there's one impulse that says, like musical numbers could take away from the seriousness of the film. There's another that says it could take away from the quote realism. I'd say, if you're overly concerned with either of those, maybe you shouldn't be making a horror movie.

Yes, I agree with all of that. I mean it really got me thinking, why don't American horror movies tend to have musical numbers in them? And if they did, why would we say, well, actually, this is just a totally different genre now it is a musical. Why couldn't all genres have musical numbers, Because, as you say, music features in other movies, diagetic and non diegetic music features in as long as the characters aren't singing, it's not a musical. But there's no particular reason I think of why. The fact that characters do sing in a movie should make that a separate genre from whatever the narrative content is. So yeah, I think we should have more fantasy, sci fi movies, whatever, horror movies that have characters singing songs, because songs are great. Now that I've experienced a Bollywood film, it in no way takes away from my enjoyment of this as a cheesy horror movie, and I don't really see why you would resist. I think maybe there's one impulse that says, like musical numbers could take away from the seriousness of the film. There's another that says it could take away from the quote realism. I'd say, if you're overly concerned with either of those, maybe you shouldn't be making a horror movie.

I think another sort of barrier to entry, or sort of expectation is that might be for many and it was kind of this way for me. Is I expected going into a musical number to be clunkier and take me out of the picture more. And there are sections of the film that do manage to take me out of the picture and are clunky, but the musical numbers, like you get the impression like this is down to like an art, just in Indian cinema in general, and so if a movie's going into a musical number, they know what they're do doing, like you're gonna have a smooth takeoff and landing with the emotional arc of whatever that particular song happens to be.

I think another sort of barrier to entry, or sort of expectation is that might be for many and it was kind of this way for me. Is I expected going into a musical number to be clunkier and take me out of the picture more. And there are sections of the film that do manage to take me out of the picture and are clunky, but the musical numbers, like you get the impression like this is down to like an art, just in Indian cinema in general, and so if a movie's going into a musical number, they know what they're do doing, like you're gonna have a smooth takeoff and landing with the emotional arc of whatever that particular song happens to be.

Every time a song kicked in, I was like, Okay, now we're cooking. Even the kind of sad, slower paced songs.

Every time a song kicked in, I was like, Okay, now we're cooking. Even the kind of sad, slower paced songs.

Yeah, yeah, because it's not coming out of nowhere, It's coming out of what's going on emotionally with the characters, or especially towards the end of this picture, with like the driving nature of the plot.

Yeah, yeah, because it's not coming out of nowhere, It's coming out of what's going on emotionally with the characters, or especially towards the end of this picture, with like the driving nature of the plot.

Oh yes, the human Sacrifice song I think was my favorite song in the movie.

Oh yes, the human Sacrifice song I think was my favorite song in the movie.

All right, So again, this was my first Bollywood film. I'd never watched one in its entirety, like you had seen some clips, so I had to do a little extra reading about everything. There's a lot of things about Bollywood cinema that I was not familiar with and just did not know about. So, for instance, bear with me if you already knew all of this. But when we talk about Bollywood cinema, we're talking about films specifically coming out of the Mumbai Film industry Mumbai formerly known as Bombay. You get it, like Bombay plus Hollywood equals Bollywood. And while it's perhaps the most well known internationally of the various Indian film centers, Indian cinema is not a monolith like India itself. India cinema consists of various languages and cultures and in the different cinematic traditions and centers have like different strengths, different histories and so forth. So some of the various extras on the disc or discs that we looked at for this as well as some articles, it was a real learning experience for me to familiarize myself somewhat with this. I mean it goes beyond genre with this, just whole realm of cinema.

All right, So again, this was my first Bollywood film. I'd never watched one in its entirety, like you had seen some clips, so I had to do a little extra reading about everything. There's a lot of things about Bollywood cinema that I was not familiar with and just did not know about. So, for instance, bear with me if you already knew all of this. But when we talk about Bollywood cinema, we're talking about films specifically coming out of the Mumbai Film industry Mumbai formerly known as Bombay. You get it, like Bombay plus Hollywood equals Bollywood. And while it's perhaps the most well known internationally of the various Indian film centers, Indian cinema is not a monolith like India itself. India cinema consists of various languages and cultures and in the different cinematic traditions and centers have like different strengths, different histories and so forth. So some of the various extras on the disc or discs that we looked at for this as well as some articles, it was a real learning experience for me to familiarize myself somewhat with this. I mean it goes beyond genre with this, just whole realm of cinema.

By the way, just as one example of other film subcultures of India, I know, there is also the so called Tollywood, which refers to to Hollywood with a tea, referring to films made in the Telugu language, which is one of the many languages of India.

By the way, just as one example of other film subcultures of India, I know, there is also the so called Tollywood, which refers to to Hollywood with a tea, referring to films made in the Telugu language, which is one of the many languages of India.

Yeah. Yeah, And then likewise you have in Pakistan you have Lollywood that is centered in Lahore. I didn't know anything about Lollywood either until I started absorbing some of these extras on these discs. But this film Parana Mandha from eighty four is very much Bollywood. It is a Bollywood film, it is a Bollywood horror film, and it's going to be interesting to discuss exactly what all of that means, because, to a very large degree, the filmmakers here, the Ramsey Brothers, are pushing into an area that had traditionally been less successful and more of fringe within Bollywood cinema. But still it's going to have things in it that are very much part of the Bollywood blueprint, and that includes a compelling story of starcrossed lovers, a fair amount of family melodrama, multiple music numbers. Now this was interesting. I was looking at an excer where was an interview with a critic Omar Khan, and it out that eight or so musical numbers per movie is pretty standard.

Yeah. Yeah, And then likewise you have in Pakistan you have Lollywood that is centered in Lahore. I didn't know anything about Lollywood either until I started absorbing some of these extras on these discs. But this film Parana Mandha from eighty four is very much Bollywood. It is a Bollywood film, it is a Bollywood horror film, and it's going to be interesting to discuss exactly what all of that means, because, to a very large degree, the filmmakers here, the Ramsey Brothers, are pushing into an area that had traditionally been less successful and more of fringe within Bollywood cinema. But still it's going to have things in it that are very much part of the Bollywood blueprint, and that includes a compelling story of starcrossed lovers, a fair amount of family melodrama, multiple music numbers. Now this was interesting. I was looking at an excer where was an interview with a critic Omar Khan, and it out that eight or so musical numbers per movie is pretty standard.

Oh so this seems under the average, right. I think there were maybe five in this movie?

Oh so this seems under the average, right. I think there were maybe five in this movie?

Is that right? I lost count after a little while, just because I'm not used to seeing any in my heart, but I saw something where he was talking about a later Ramsey Brothers film where he's like, well, there are only four musical numbers in this which may seem like a lot too outsiders, but like really it's like a half load. But on top of the music, on top of the horror, which we'll get to, we also have martial arts action, you got a little dancing. You've got some comedic segments which we're probably not going to talk about too much other than to say they are awful. But all of this comes together into what felt to me it's kind of like a circus, right. It's like you go to a circus. They're going to be a number of acts. You may not be there primarily to see the clowns. You may be there to see the trapeze act, but the clowns are going to be there because somebody came with the expectation of clowns. Within talk of Bollywood film in particular, i've seen this described as Massala film. That is a reference to the spice blend. You know, you're going to the theater to see this show, and by golly, it needs to deliver a little something for everyone. A little of this spice, a little of that, all under the big top of cinema.

Is that right? I lost count after a little while, just because I'm not used to seeing any in my heart, but I saw something where he was talking about a later Ramsey Brothers film where he's like, well, there are only four musical numbers in this which may seem like a lot too outsiders, but like really it's like a half load. But on top of the music, on top of the horror, which we'll get to, we also have martial arts action, you got a little dancing. You've got some comedic segments which we're probably not going to talk about too much other than to say they are awful. But all of this comes together into what felt to me it's kind of like a circus, right. It's like you go to a circus. They're going to be a number of acts. You may not be there primarily to see the clowns. You may be there to see the trapeze act, but the clowns are going to be there because somebody came with the expectation of clowns. Within talk of Bollywood film in particular, i've seen this described as Massala film. That is a reference to the spice blend. You know, you're going to the theater to see this show, and by golly, it needs to deliver a little something for everyone. A little of this spice, a little of that, all under the big top of cinema.

Now, if it sounds like that's a lot to fit into one movie. It is. This is a long movie. This is definitely the longest movie we've covered on Weird House, right.

Now, if it sounds like that's a lot to fit into one movie. It is. This is a long movie. This is definitely the longest movie we've covered on Weird House, right.

Yeah, it beats out Blade by twenty minutes, which I think is it's important to keep that in mind because it's not absurdly long like they are longer. Plenty of longer Bollywood films, and there are plenty of longer Western films as well. Avatar two is longer than Piranha Mander, so you know, don't necessarily let the length, you know, keep you away from these films. And there's an intermission too, so you got that.

Yeah, it beats out Blade by twenty minutes, which I think is it's important to keep that in mind because it's not absurdly long like they are longer. Plenty of longer Bollywood films, and there are plenty of longer Western films as well. Avatar two is longer than Piranha Mander, so you know, don't necessarily let the length, you know, keep you away from these films. And there's an intermission too, so you got that.

Going for Love an intermission.

Going for Love an intermission.

Now, the disc we watched this on and I'll give a full mention of that and just a bit here has an introduction from Indian horror expert Tim Paxton. He provides the intro and he points out that Parana Mandir is one of the most important films in Bollywood history and probably the most important film in the history of Indian horror cinema specifically. In one of the interesting things here is produced on a very modest budget, but it was a colossal hit. I was looking at some of the numbers and if I was doing my math correctly, it multiplied its budget in revenue on the scale of something like Rocky or Blair Witch Project like that level of success. Just did an amazing business.

Now, the disc we watched this on and I'll give a full mention of that and just a bit here has an introduction from Indian horror expert Tim Paxton. He provides the intro and he points out that Parana Mandir is one of the most important films in Bollywood history and probably the most important film in the history of Indian horror cinema specifically. In one of the interesting things here is produced on a very modest budget, but it was a colossal hit. I was looking at some of the numbers and if I was doing my math correctly, it multiplied its budget in revenue on the scale of something like Rocky or Blair Witch Project like that level of success. Just did an amazing business.

Have you read anything from somebody who knows about the Bollywood market like what audience has responded to so much about this movie in particular? Like why was it so popular?

Have you read anything from somebody who knows about the Bollywood market like what audience has responded to so much about this movie in particular? Like why was it so popular?

Well, Omar Khan gets into this a little bit on some of the extras from this Blu ray set, and a lot of it kind of comes down to luck, you know, Like the Ramses at this point had been pumping out horror content since seventy two, I believe, and none of those films had certainly had anything like this success. But they were out there. It was on the fringes, you know, And so I mean, I guess part of it is like by this point they definitely knew what they were doing with a number of these elements. They knew how to put together things, they knew how to do them a sola film offering, So they did have a little bit for everybody. And I don't know, it was just like the right time, Like audience has just really responded to it. And he described it as being like a generational date movie. Like if you were going to cinemas in India during this time period, you saw this movie and it was also he points out, you know, probably going to be especially for how mainstream it became. It was offering things people just hadn't seen before because Western horror films could only really enter into like the general zeitgeist there so much because they weren't coming in on like satellite TV or anything. They were they were coming in on it. They weren't being shown in the theater for the most part. They were coming in on VHS tapes, and those were in rare you know, and there were those were hard to get. Only certain people had access to those. And so this is a film that has some really scary stuff in it, and you can just imagine how much more scary it is if you didn't have direct exposure to say The Exorcist or the first Evil Dead movie or something like that.

Well, Omar Khan gets into this a little bit on some of the extras from this Blu ray set, and a lot of it kind of comes down to luck, you know, Like the Ramses at this point had been pumping out horror content since seventy two, I believe, and none of those films had certainly had anything like this success. But they were out there. It was on the fringes, you know, And so I mean, I guess part of it is like by this point they definitely knew what they were doing with a number of these elements. They knew how to put together things, they knew how to do them a sola film offering, So they did have a little bit for everybody. And I don't know, it was just like the right time, Like audience has just really responded to it. And he described it as being like a generational date movie. Like if you were going to cinemas in India during this time period, you saw this movie and it was also he points out, you know, probably going to be especially for how mainstream it became. It was offering things people just hadn't seen before because Western horror films could only really enter into like the general zeitgeist there so much because they weren't coming in on like satellite TV or anything. They were they were coming in on it. They weren't being shown in the theater for the most part. They were coming in on VHS tapes, and those were in rare you know, and there were those were hard to get. Only certain people had access to those. And so this is a film that has some really scary stuff in it, and you can just imagine how much more scary it is if you didn't have direct exposure to say The Exorcist or the first Evil Dead movie or something like that.

I can also see how it would be such a great date movie since it has you know, it's like, it's like scary so the classic cliches. It gets you hugging clothes because you know, because the sam reas out here are about to do something evil.

I can also see how it would be such a great date movie since it has you know, it's like, it's like scary so the classic cliches. It gets you hugging clothes because you know, because the sam reas out here are about to do something evil.

But it's also got a great love story. Yeah yeah, you got again. You've got a romance at the heart of it. You've got family melodrama the heart of it. You've got the music, You've got the comedy, You've got the dancing girl. You've got all these things that that that any given viewer is going to be wanting to see out of a Bollywood film. But it's also offering something that is new, and that the newness ends up being key because this kicks off a horror boom in India. There the Ramsey Brothers end up coming out a lot of additional horror films. They have competitors, and also, you know, other folks just jump in to try and ride that bandwagon, and it actually they end up writing it out by something like I want to say ninety two, so the boom doesn't last too long. But during that time, everybody gets in there and and some of the films are supposed to be quite good, but there's a sort of sameness to everything, and after a while people seen it and it loses that new edge that this film seemed to have.

But it's also got a great love story. Yeah yeah, you got again. You've got a romance at the heart of it. You've got family melodrama the heart of it. You've got the music, You've got the comedy, You've got the dancing girl. You've got all these things that that that any given viewer is going to be wanting to see out of a Bollywood film. But it's also offering something that is new, and that the newness ends up being key because this kicks off a horror boom in India. There the Ramsey Brothers end up coming out a lot of additional horror films. They have competitors, and also, you know, other folks just jump in to try and ride that bandwagon, and it actually they end up writing it out by something like I want to say ninety two, so the boom doesn't last too long. But during that time, everybody gets in there and and some of the films are supposed to be quite good, but there's a sort of sameness to everything, and after a while people seen it and it loses that new edge that this film seemed to have.

I think a similar thing happened with some of the biggest money making horror films in the United States in the eighties. Also kind of the slasher formula got repeated and played out to death.

I think a similar thing happened with some of the biggest money making horror films in the United States in the eighties. Also kind of the slasher formula got repeated and played out to death.

Yeah, or the or later on the speaking of blair Witch, the found footage formula, because you know, that's a case where, for the most part, people hadn't really seen a film like this. It was produced on a very low budget, made tremendous money, and lots of folks jumped in there to try and recreate that success, and god goodness, off the top of my head, i'm not sure anybody really did, so, Yeah, I think it's a it's a good comparison, though only in terms of like sort of business and impact, not so much style.

Yeah, or the or later on the speaking of blair Witch, the found footage formula, because you know, that's a case where, for the most part, people hadn't really seen a film like this. It was produced on a very low budget, made tremendous money, and lots of folks jumped in there to try and recreate that success, and god goodness, off the top of my head, i'm not sure anybody really did, so, Yeah, I think it's a it's a good comparison, though only in terms of like sort of business and impact, not so much style.

I think following the blair Witch model, the Paranormal Activity franchise did pretty good, Okay, I think, hmmm, I'm trying to think of another one. I don't know. Yeah, I mean, the found footage style is obviously very appealing because it's cheap to make. But when people were trying to just make, you know, cash in on found footage movies with very uninspired ideas, I think a lot of them missed out on how creative the original blair Witch project actually was.

I think following the blair Witch model, the Paranormal Activity franchise did pretty good, Okay, I think, hmmm, I'm trying to think of another one. I don't know. Yeah, I mean, the found footage style is obviously very appealing because it's cheap to make. But when people were trying to just make, you know, cash in on found footage movies with very uninspired ideas, I think a lot of them missed out on how creative the original blair Witch project actually was.

Yeah. Yeah, and I mean that's that's kind of like written across the horror genre. Wherever you look, right, a successful horror movie comes out and somebody's gonna think I can do that. Horror is easy. Horror films can't be that hard to do, and there is an art to it. There is a certain amount of style, and then there's a certain amount of luck to hitting things just right. And that's what Perana Mandir seems to have done. Let's see just a couple of other notes. Paxton points out that this movie, which deals specifically with a resurrected, evil decapitated wizard, does draw heavily on two prior films, one American in one Spanish nineteen fifty eight is The Thing that Couldn't Die that stars Robin Hughes as the Wizard Gideon Drew, and nineteen seventy two's Horror Rises from the Tomb starring Paul Nashy as the Wizard Alaak Demarnac. This is a film, of course, we discussed on Weird House Cinema.

Yeah. Yeah, and I mean that's that's kind of like written across the horror genre. Wherever you look, right, a successful horror movie comes out and somebody's gonna think I can do that. Horror is easy. Horror films can't be that hard to do, and there is an art to it. There is a certain amount of style, and then there's a certain amount of luck to hitting things just right. And that's what Perana Mandir seems to have done. Let's see just a couple of other notes. Paxton points out that this movie, which deals specifically with a resurrected, evil decapitated wizard, does draw heavily on two prior films, one American in one Spanish nineteen fifty eight is The Thing that Couldn't Die that stars Robin Hughes as the Wizard Gideon Drew, and nineteen seventy two's Horror Rises from the Tomb starring Paul Nashy as the Wizard Alaak Demarnac. This is a film, of course, we discussed on Weird House Cinema.

I did not expect that. Yeah, Paul Nashy plays the Wizard. He's actually part of like an evil source of or power couple in Horror Rises from the Tomb, Right he has like a white for a girlfriend who's also a powerful wizard.

I did not expect that. Yeah, Paul Nashy plays the Wizard. He's actually part of like an evil source of or power couple in Horror Rises from the Tomb, Right he has like a white for a girlfriend who's also a powerful wizard.

Yeah. I mean the thing about Paul Nashy films is Paul Nashy monsters you're supposed to feel some sort of sympathy for, you know, That's where he's coming from. He's coming from that love of universal horror and sympathy for the monster the wizard. In this film, Samri is unlovable. He is just a complete monster. Every crime that is committable he has done. We are not meant to have any sympathy at all for Samri. And ultimately, I have to say, even though the early stages of the film do, like the historical opening does kind of mirror the opening of Horizons from the Tomb, it ultimately goes in its own direction as opposed to being anything like a clone of that movie.

Yeah. I mean the thing about Paul Nashy films is Paul Nashy monsters you're supposed to feel some sort of sympathy for, you know, That's where he's coming from. He's coming from that love of universal horror and sympathy for the monster the wizard. In this film, Samri is unlovable. He is just a complete monster. Every crime that is committable he has done. We are not meant to have any sympathy at all for Samri. And ultimately, I have to say, even though the early stages of the film do, like the historical opening does kind of mirror the opening of Horizons from the Tomb, it ultimately goes in its own direction as opposed to being anything like a clone of that movie.

Well, on one hand, yes, I agree, Samri is not sympathetic at all in terms of the narrative. He doesn't have like a tragic love story or anything like that. There's nothing likable about him except just his physical vibe. Like the presence of the actor who plays Summary in the opening is so cool.

Well, on one hand, yes, I agree, Samri is not sympathetic at all in terms of the narrative. He doesn't have like a tragic love story or anything like that. There's nothing likable about him except just his physical vibe. Like the presence of the actor who plays Summary in the opening is so cool.

Oh absolutely, Yeah. The performance here by aj Agarwal is tremendous and this is a role that launched him as like a true monster actor for Indian horror cinema.

Oh absolutely, Yeah. The performance here by aj Agarwal is tremendous and this is a role that launched him as like a true monster actor for Indian horror cinema.

We'll have to come back to him.

We'll have to come back to him.

Yeah, we'll come back to him for sure, because he's at a light. There are long stretches of the film where he's not there, but when he is there, he's tremendous. Right. Just a couple other small points before we get to the trailer. Basically the film is predominantly in Hindi, though the characters do throw in a little English here and there, and the action ventures into a rural setting, so you'll hear some characters speaking another dialect or language. It's referenced in the Hindi dialogue as well, but I couldn't find an indicator of which language this is.

Yeah, we'll come back to him for sure, because he's at a light. There are long stretches of the film where he's not there, but when he is there, he's tremendous. Right. Just a couple other small points before we get to the trailer. Basically the film is predominantly in Hindi, though the characters do throw in a little English here and there, and the action ventures into a rural setting, so you'll hear some characters speaking another dialect or language. It's referenced in the Hindi dialogue as well, but I couldn't find an indicator of which language this is.

I noticed something interesting in the movie where a couple of times somebody would say something in Hindi and then they would say the same thing again in Dash, almost as if for emphasis. And I don't know if that's like something specific to Bollywood movies or just a quirk of this movie in particular, or a convention of of Hindi language in general. I don't know, but I thought that was interesting.

I noticed something interesting in the movie where a couple of times somebody would say something in Hindi and then they would say the same thing again in Dash, almost as if for emphasis. And I don't know if that's like something specific to Bollywood movies or just a quirk of this movie in particular, or a convention of of Hindi language in general. I don't know, but I thought that was interesting.

Yeah, with that, with that specifically and just generally out there, we'd love to hear from listeners after this episode. If you have more experience with Bollywood cinema, if you, if you speak Hindi, if you certainly, if you, if you have experience with the theater, experience of going to these films, all of that is on the table because I've heard it pointed out that it's one thing to watch like a Bollywood film or Bollywood horror film in your living room by yourself. But that, of course was not how they intended a film like this to be viewed. No, this was to be viewed in the theater.

Yeah, with that, with that specifically and just generally out there, we'd love to hear from listeners after this episode. If you have more experience with Bollywood cinema, if you, if you speak Hindi, if you certainly, if you, if you have experience with the theater, experience of going to these films, all of that is on the table because I've heard it pointed out that it's one thing to watch like a Bollywood film or Bollywood horror film in your living room by yourself. But that, of course was not how they intended a film like this to be viewed. No, this was to be viewed in the theater.

Can you imagine how much fun it would have been to see this in a pact theater of like young people out on date night?

Can you imagine how much fun it would have been to see this in a pact theater of like young people out on date night?

Oh yeah? And can you imagine how how afraid people were? Again, if you hadn't seen many horror films and you had to see Sammar I mean, he's he's terrifying almost all the time on the screen. He's at least unnerving, if not just outright terrifying. All right, Well, I mean the elevator pitch on this one is basically it's the biggest Bollywood horror film of them all. It's the It's the granddaddy of Bollywood horror films. It's your basic evil wizard, multi generational family curse romance film with added music and comedy. We have a trailer here. I don't think we're going to play at all, but we'll play at least a nice sampling of this so you can get sort of an audio taste of what's ahead.

Oh yeah? And can you imagine how how afraid people were? Again, if you hadn't seen many horror films and you had to see Sammar I mean, he's he's terrifying almost all the time on the screen. He's at least unnerving, if not just outright terrifying. All right, Well, I mean the elevator pitch on this one is basically it's the biggest Bollywood horror film of them all. It's the It's the granddaddy of Bollywood horror films. It's your basic evil wizard, multi generational family curse romance film with added music and comedy. We have a trailer here. I don't think we're going to play at all, but we'll play at least a nice sampling of this so you can get sort of an audio taste of what's ahead.

May shut out of how many? How about all right?

May shut out of how many? How about all right?

Well, before we go any further, if you would like to watch this movie for yourself, if you'd like to check out here, go and see it and then come back to the rest of the episode. Well, you don't have to depend on some sort of weird stream to view this film, uh, Because there's a wonderful Bollywood Horror limited edition box set that is out from Mondo Macabre. And I checked out a couple of discs from this the disc for this film and then a disc for another movie that had some extras on it, and we rented these discs from Atlanta's own videodrome rental store.

Well, before we go any further, if you would like to watch this movie for yourself, if you'd like to check out here, go and see it and then come back to the rest of the episode. Well, you don't have to depend on some sort of weird stream to view this film, uh, Because there's a wonderful Bollywood Horror limited edition box set that is out from Mondo Macabre. And I checked out a couple of discs from this the disc for this film and then a disc for another movie that had some extras on it, and we rented these discs from Atlanta's own videodrome rental store.

It's a great print, though it does warn you that there will be some variable quality and different scenes of the movie due to just like storage issues with the film over the years, so the restoration is a bit patchy in places, but for the most part it looks great.

It's a great print, though it does warn you that there will be some variable quality and different scenes of the movie due to just like storage issues with the film over the years, so the restoration is a bit patchy in places, but for the most part it looks great.

Yeah, there's one particular I don't even know what to call it, but there's some sort of an error in the final print that we have on the disc here that has almost kind of a psychedelic quality to it, and I didn't really I don't think i'd seen it on a film before, this particular kind of noise. So it's very watchable. Nothing in this gets in the way of your enjoyment of the movie. All right, Well, let's jump into the people involved here. The main ones to really highlight here are the Ramsey brothers, the directors. It's impossible to discuss Indian horror cinema without discussing the Ramsey brothers. Again, they had been doing this since seventy two, and this is the movie that kicked off an enormous boom in Indian cinema for horror, and even like contemporary horror movies, they still have connections to the work of the Ramsey brothers here. Now, Ramsey Brothers, I think can at times refer to just different sons and grandsons of f U Ramsey. But in particular the directors here are Shyam Ramsey and Tulsi Ramsey. Shyam lived fifty two through twenty nineteen and Tulsi lived nineteen forty four through twenty eighteen. Other Ramsey brothers would get in on the directing game at times, like Kishu and Kieran. But yeah, these are the main two we're talking about. They're the ones who directed horror films in the early seventies, with a nineteen seventy two film. In the title for this one translates to two yards under the ground, so already like kind of a grim beginning there. They followed this up with a string of horror and creature films. There's one from eighty two mat Kasaya. I'm probably mispronouncing that, but it looks interesting to me because it has some sort of like big creature water monster in it. I'm not sure this one is available widely in the West, but I put it on my radar because it looks interesting. Neat monster anyway. But anyway, all of these films that they were putting out, these were outliers. The horror pictures just weren't viewed as culturally viable. They weren't seen as potentially anything that would make money at the box office, so it was more fringe stuff. And you know a lot of these pictures, particularly Ramsey productions at the time, they were also pushing boundaries of what was accepted in Hindi cinema at the time. As again, as omar Con points out, most Indian film viewers had little or no exposure to Western horror films and Indian horror films were barely a thing. In fact, I saw an interview with aj Aguah, the main monster actor in this picture, and he said that he didn't know the difference between horror films and regular films before being cast by the Ramses. Like that's how little horror was established in like the general audience's mind. But with this movie, again it hits it just the right time, takes off. Nineteen eighty four becomes a huge hit, a generational date movie, as Con describes, it sets off this massive boom that doesn't really subside till ninety two. The Ramses continue to apply their trade, tons of competitors and imitators trying to get in on the craze as well, until overexposure kicks in and the Boom ties out. The Ramses followed this movie up with nineteen eighty five's Telephone nineteen eighty five's three D Summary, which is obviously the Yeah, the three D sequel of sorts to this movie. Well, but I thought the evil wizard was destroyed at the end of this movie. If an evil wizard makes you enough money, there's no destroying him. He will come back. There's a nineteen and I'm not Also, I haven't seen three D Samary. I assume it's Samri because it's the title is the name of the character. But you know, sometimes a movie like this, maybe it's not a direct sequel. Maybe it's a spiritual sequel. I'm not sure. But there are a slew of interesting looking features that they came out with in the wake of Parana Mandhir, including Takhana from eighty six, Verana from eighty eight, Pirani Haveli from eighty nine, and nineteen ninety's Bond Darwazo, which is said to be quite good more of a traditional Dracula style film, and after that, the well kind of drives up. One of their last big films, if not their last big film, was a nineteen ninety four movie titled Mahaka, which a number of you might be familiar with because it is to be kind, it is very inspired by Nightmare on Elm Street. It is at least a strong homage to Nightmare on Elm Street and features a Freddy Krueger esque character on the cover. So I think this one has gotten some amount of traction. If nothing else, you might have seen some clips or the poster art.

Yeah, there's one particular I don't even know what to call it, but there's some sort of an error in the final print that we have on the disc here that has almost kind of a psychedelic quality to it, and I didn't really I don't think i'd seen it on a film before, this particular kind of noise. So it's very watchable. Nothing in this gets in the way of your enjoyment of the movie. All right, Well, let's jump into the people involved here. The main ones to really highlight here are the Ramsey brothers, the directors. It's impossible to discuss Indian horror cinema without discussing the Ramsey brothers. Again, they had been doing this since seventy two, and this is the movie that kicked off an enormous boom in Indian cinema for horror, and even like contemporary horror movies, they still have connections to the work of the Ramsey brothers here. Now, Ramsey Brothers, I think can at times refer to just different sons and grandsons of f U Ramsey. But in particular the directors here are Shyam Ramsey and Tulsi Ramsey. Shyam lived fifty two through twenty nineteen and Tulsi lived nineteen forty four through twenty eighteen. Other Ramsey brothers would get in on the directing game at times, like Kishu and Kieran. But yeah, these are the main two we're talking about. They're the ones who directed horror films in the early seventies, with a nineteen seventy two film. In the title for this one translates to two yards under the ground, so already like kind of a grim beginning there. They followed this up with a string of horror and creature films. There's one from eighty two mat Kasaya. I'm probably mispronouncing that, but it looks interesting to me because it has some sort of like big creature water monster in it. I'm not sure this one is available widely in the West, but I put it on my radar because it looks interesting. Neat monster anyway. But anyway, all of these films that they were putting out, these were outliers. The horror pictures just weren't viewed as culturally viable. They weren't seen as potentially anything that would make money at the box office, so it was more fringe stuff. And you know a lot of these pictures, particularly Ramsey productions at the time, they were also pushing boundaries of what was accepted in Hindi cinema at the time. As again, as omar Con points out, most Indian film viewers had little or no exposure to Western horror films and Indian horror films were barely a thing. In fact, I saw an interview with aj Aguah, the main monster actor in this picture, and he said that he didn't know the difference between horror films and regular films before being cast by the Ramses. Like that's how little horror was established in like the general audience's mind. But with this movie, again it hits it just the right time, takes off. Nineteen eighty four becomes a huge hit, a generational date movie, as Con describes, it sets off this massive boom that doesn't really subside till ninety two. The Ramses continue to apply their trade, tons of competitors and imitators trying to get in on the craze as well, until overexposure kicks in and the Boom ties out. The Ramses followed this movie up with nineteen eighty five's Telephone nineteen eighty five's three D Summary, which is obviously the Yeah, the three D sequel of sorts to this movie. Well, but I thought the evil wizard was destroyed at the end of this movie. If an evil wizard makes you enough money, there's no destroying him. He will come back. There's a nineteen and I'm not Also, I haven't seen three D Samary. I assume it's Samri because it's the title is the name of the character. But you know, sometimes a movie like this, maybe it's not a direct sequel. Maybe it's a spiritual sequel. I'm not sure. But there are a slew of interesting looking features that they came out with in the wake of Parana Mandhir, including Takhana from eighty six, Verana from eighty eight, Pirani Haveli from eighty nine, and nineteen ninety's Bond Darwazo, which is said to be quite good more of a traditional Dracula style film, and after that, the well kind of drives up. One of their last big films, if not their last big film, was a nineteen ninety four movie titled Mahaka, which a number of you might be familiar with because it is to be kind, it is very inspired by Nightmare on Elm Street. It is at least a strong homage to Nightmare on Elm Street and features a Freddy Krueger esque character on the cover. So I think this one has gotten some amount of traction. If nothing else, you might have seen some clips or the poster art.

It does have a guy with knives for fingers.

It does have a guy with knives for fingers.

Yes, yeah, yeah. And if you're not sure, like how to spell that title and you want to look it up, just do a search for like Bollywood Freddy Krueger and you will. You'll find it all right. The screenplay on this one was written by another Ramsey, Kumar Ramsey, who lived thirty six through twenty twenty one. He was the screenwriter and a number of their films. This is one of those situations where you know the brothers and the family here they'll often draw in some of the same talent, so this Ramsey also wrote Somari three D in a movie called Guest House. There are also three other contributors also credited here, but I couldn't find out much about them. But there's a story credit, there's a dialogue credit, and there's an assistant dialogue writer. All right, let's get into the cast. So we've talked about him already. But aj Agarwall I believe Aj is short for Annarud. He was born in nineteen forty nine. As of this recording is still out there. I think he's retired now, but yes, he plays our dark wizard of evil who's eventually going to rise from the tomb and get his head back and go on a rampage. He only acted in three Ramsey Brothers films. He played a monster in two of them, in Barana Mandir of course, in the follow up Samari three D or three D summary in eighty five. He also played more of a traditional dracula in that nineteen ninety film Band Do Waza, and he continued to act through twenty ten. Is retired now but mostly just almost exclusively in Hindi films. But he does have a role in Steven Summer's The Jungle Book from nineteen ninety four. I included a picture here for you, Joe. As you can see, he's playing heavy of some sort in this. He's standing next to the villain holding Lena Hetty by the arms.

Yes, yeah, yeah. And if you're not sure, like how to spell that title and you want to look it up, just do a search for like Bollywood Freddy Krueger and you will. You'll find it all right. The screenplay on this one was written by another Ramsey, Kumar Ramsey, who lived thirty six through twenty twenty one. He was the screenwriter and a number of their films. This is one of those situations where you know the brothers and the family here they'll often draw in some of the same talent, so this Ramsey also wrote Somari three D in a movie called Guest House. There are also three other contributors also credited here, but I couldn't find out much about them. But there's a story credit, there's a dialogue credit, and there's an assistant dialogue writer. All right, let's get into the cast. So we've talked about him already. But aj Agarwall I believe Aj is short for Annarud. He was born in nineteen forty nine. As of this recording is still out there. I think he's retired now, but yes, he plays our dark wizard of evil who's eventually going to rise from the tomb and get his head back and go on a rampage. He only acted in three Ramsey Brothers films. He played a monster in two of them, in Barana Mandir of course, in the follow up Samari three D or three D summary in eighty five. He also played more of a traditional dracula in that nineteen ninety film Band Do Waza, and he continued to act through twenty ten. Is retired now but mostly just almost exclusively in Hindi films. But he does have a role in Steven Summer's The Jungle Book from nineteen ninety four. I included a picture here for you, Joe. As you can see, he's playing heavy of some sort in this. He's standing next to the villain holding Lena Hetty by the arms.

Well, that's also Carrie Elwis. I know all three of these actors. I don't think I would have recognized a single one of them in the screenshots.

Well, that's also Carrie Elwis. I know all three of these actors. I don't think I would have recognized a single one of them in the screenshots.

Yeah, yeah, they're very young. I mean, especially Lena. I wouldn't have recognized her. But anyway, yeah, he's in it. He's very tall. He was like six four six', five, so especially among a lot of, actors he's pretty. Towering andy has just very pronounced. Features i've read this might have been due to like some sort of underlying medical condition as well that sort of gave him pronounced facial. Features. Also, yeah, again very tall and based ON i read an article about him AND i was looking at an interview conducted with, him and basically he made two goes at getting into acting before and after earning a civil engineering certificate or degree of some, sort but at both times he didn't have any. Luck until he had some sort of ill health or injury while working In, muntumbai and he looked even more haggard. Afterwards i'm not sure if he had some sort of like facial bruising or whatever the case may, be but someone came up to him and, said, hey you look pretty. Tough you should be in. Movies and he's, like, well that's What i've been trying to, do but nobody will hire. Me and they, said, say, well you know, what you need to go talk to The ramsey brothers because they will give you a. Chance and so he. Went he talked to The ramsey, brothers and The ramsey brothers at that point were apparently six months into Shooting Piranha, mandir but they hadn't done any of the horror sequences. YET i guess they didn't even have A samari. Castow and they leaned heavily on masks and makeup in previous, films but then in walks a man who who doesn't need as much, makeup you, know and like He's we've seen this in time and time again in various horror cinema periods and, settings where somebody comes in and they just have that unique look where you don't have to do much to, them you, know just a subtle amount of makeup and right lighting and the right lighting and effects and you're already in the horror. Realm and that's what he offered to them.

Yeah, yeah, they're very young. I mean, especially Lena. I wouldn't have recognized her. But anyway, yeah, he's in it. He's very tall. He was like six four six', five, so especially among a lot of, actors he's pretty. Towering andy has just very pronounced. Features i've read this might have been due to like some sort of underlying medical condition as well that sort of gave him pronounced facial. Features. Also, yeah, again very tall and based ON i read an article about him AND i was looking at an interview conducted with, him and basically he made two goes at getting into acting before and after earning a civil engineering certificate or degree of some, sort but at both times he didn't have any. Luck until he had some sort of ill health or injury while working In, muntumbai and he looked even more haggard. Afterwards i'm not sure if he had some sort of like facial bruising or whatever the case may, be but someone came up to him and, said, hey you look pretty. Tough you should be in. Movies and he's, like, well that's What i've been trying to, do but nobody will hire. Me and they, said, say, well you know, what you need to go talk to The ramsey brothers because they will give you a. Chance and so he. Went he talked to The ramsey, brothers and The ramsey brothers at that point were apparently six months into Shooting Piranha, mandir but they hadn't done any of the horror sequences. YET i guess they didn't even have A samari. Castow and they leaned heavily on masks and makeup in previous, films but then in walks a man who who doesn't need as much, makeup you, know and like He's we've seen this in time and time again in various horror cinema periods and, settings where somebody comes in and they just have that unique look where you don't have to do much to, them you, know just a subtle amount of makeup and right lighting and the right lighting and effects and you're already in the horror. Realm and that's what he offered to them.

Here it's interesting, because as we were saying, earlier this character is in no way likable or. Sympathetic they just make him an absolute, demon like pure, evil not like charismatic or, anything except in the opening sequence before he gets transformed into a More frankenstein type. Creature the Human somary evokes strong rock star. Charisma he has kind of a Shaggy Keith richard's, haircut and the back of his shirt. Sparkles it's got this Like Sequin wolfman. Motif it looks kind of like Something David bowie would have. Worn and he's just like tall and has a kind ofind, of you, know lead guitarist. POSTURE i don't, know he seems very.

Here it's interesting, because as we were saying, earlier this character is in no way likable or. Sympathetic they just make him an absolute, demon like pure, evil not like charismatic or, anything except in the opening sequence before he gets transformed into a More frankenstein type. Creature the Human somary evokes strong rock star. Charisma he has kind of a Shaggy Keith richard's, haircut and the back of his shirt. Sparkles it's got this Like Sequin wolfman. Motif it looks kind of like Something David bowie would have. Worn and he's just like tall and has a kind ofind, of you, know lead guitarist. POSTURE i don't, know he seems very.

Cool, yeah he's at least a head taller than everybody around. Him at, times he kind of felt like he had kind of A Boris karloff kind of of presence to, him you, know and you, know and also reminds me of various other you, know actors with unique. Appearances but, yeah very strong screen presence from this. Guy and and when he shows back, up he just keeps looking more and more, monstrous and the, lighting the effects are always just really on point whenever he's on. Screen so he's very. Terrifying so That's. Somary that's our. Monster but to have an effective, monster you have to have a bunch of mortals that are in peril or cursed by seid. Monster and so the next major character of note here Is Suman singh played By Ardi gupta's she's our HEROIN i guess you. Know she's the born into a long line along cursed lineage of sings. Here it's a very charismatic. Performance she's a lot of fun on the. Screen the actor, Here, gupta would come back for THREE d summary and also apparently produced a few films much, later including two thousand And seven's A Mighty heart Starring Angelina.

Cool, yeah he's at least a head taller than everybody around. Him at, times he kind of felt like he had kind of A Boris karloff kind of of presence to, him you, know and you, know and also reminds me of various other you, know actors with unique. Appearances but, yeah very strong screen presence from this. Guy and and when he shows back, up he just keeps looking more and more, monstrous and the, lighting the effects are always just really on point whenever he's on. Screen so he's very. Terrifying so That's. Somary that's our. Monster but to have an effective, monster you have to have a bunch of mortals that are in peril or cursed by seid. Monster and so the next major character of note here Is Suman singh played By Ardi gupta's she's our HEROIN i guess you. Know she's the born into a long line along cursed lineage of sings. Here it's a very charismatic. Performance she's a lot of fun on the. Screen the actor, Here, gupta would come back for THREE d summary and also apparently produced a few films much, later including two thousand And seven's A Mighty heart Starring Angelina.

Jolie, YEAH i Think Artie gupta is. Great she conveys a lot of, emotion especially in the musical. Numbers THOUGH i was, wondering do you know if the actors in this movie sing their own parts in the musical numbers or are they sort of lip singing along to professional.

Jolie, YEAH i Think Artie gupta is. Great she conveys a lot of, emotion especially in the musical. Numbers THOUGH i was, wondering do you know if the actors in this movie sing their own parts in the musical numbers or are they sort of lip singing along to professional.

Singers it is my, understanding and AGAIN i invite further education On bollywood by anyone out there, Listening but it's my understanding that it's almost it's usually not the actor doing the singing that that's added, Later AND i think that would make sense given that if you have if there's no real division between films and, musicals it just makes sense to do. That and of course this is not unprecedented In western musicals as. WELL i MEAN i think Of Oh, Brother We're Art, thou which is a tremendous, musical But George clooney is not doing his own singing in that.

Singers it is my, understanding and AGAIN i invite further education On bollywood by anyone out there, Listening but it's my understanding that it's almost it's usually not the actor doing the singing that that's added, Later AND i think that would make sense given that if you have if there's no real division between films and, musicals it just makes sense to do. That and of course this is not unprecedented In western musicals as. WELL i MEAN i think Of Oh, Brother We're Art, thou which is a tremendous, musical But George clooney is not doing his own singing in that.

Film and it works great in both. CASES i, MEAN i, know sometimes for some reason people talk disparagingly about lip. SYNCING i think they talk about it like that when it's like a band is faking doing a live, performance just like full on trying to trick people that they're playing. Live but in a, movie, no there's no problem at.

Film and it works great in both. CASES i, MEAN i, know sometimes for some reason people talk disparagingly about lip. SYNCING i think they talk about it like that when it's like a band is faking doing a live, performance just like full on trying to trick people that they're playing. Live but in a, movie, no there's no problem at.

ALL i like. It, Yeah AND i imagine there Are bollywood films where at least some of the actors are doing their own. SINGING i, mean it makes, sense BUT i did not get a sense of that from looking at the credits for this. Movie all, Right so we Have suman Sing she's our. Heroine her, Father Thakhor singh is played by Pra Deep, kumar who live nineteen twenty five through two thousand and. One this Is suman's, father a loving but overly protective, fare but he's overly protected for reasons that go beyond the norm and get into the realm of, supernatural multi generational, curses as we'll. Discuss But Kumar hero is a Veteran indian actor with credits going back to the late nineteen. Forties apparently highly, regarded though largely lacking in like highly successful. Roles he often acted in period dramas and seems to have just always boasted a meticulously trimmed. Mustache just a, real, real gorgeous and stylish mustache on this.

ALL i like. It, Yeah AND i imagine there Are bollywood films where at least some of the actors are doing their own. SINGING i, mean it makes, sense BUT i did not get a sense of that from looking at the credits for this. Movie all, Right so we Have suman Sing she's our. Heroine her, Father Thakhor singh is played by Pra Deep, kumar who live nineteen twenty five through two thousand and. One this Is suman's, father a loving but overly protective, fare but he's overly protected for reasons that go beyond the norm and get into the realm of, supernatural multi generational, curses as we'll. Discuss But Kumar hero is a Veteran indian actor with credits going back to the late nineteen. Forties apparently highly, regarded though largely lacking in like highly successful. Roles he often acted in period dramas and seems to have just always boasted a meticulously trimmed. Mustache just a, real, real gorgeous and stylish mustache on this.

Man and it's a mustache of the thin, style WHICH i feel like is hard to pull, off but it looks good on.

Man and it's a mustache of the thin, style WHICH i feel like is hard to pull, off but it looks good on.

Him, yeah kind of like a swashbuckling Old hollywood kind of a. Mustache. Yeah all, Right so we have the, daughter we have the, father but now it's time to talk about the daughter's secret, Boyfriend, sanjay played By Manish, bell who was born in nineteen sixty. One he plays a low born, photographer but he's, handsome he's a good. Lad you, know he's our lover. Boy this was only his fifth, credit but he went on to act in more than one hundred.

Him, yeah kind of like a swashbuckling Old hollywood kind of a. Mustache. Yeah all, Right so we have the, daughter we have the, father but now it's time to talk about the daughter's secret, Boyfriend, sanjay played By Manish, bell who was born in nineteen sixty. One he plays a low born, photographer but he's, handsome he's a good. Lad you, know he's our lover. Boy this was only his fifth, credit but he went on to act in more than one hundred.

PICTURES i think it's interesting that they try to what seemed to me to like fit in a very standard forbidden love, dynamic even though it's only like a red. Herring so, like for the first bit of the, Movie suman And sanjay understand That suman's father disapproves of their relationship because she is a rich. Girl she's from a you, know a high class, family and he's middle. Class he's not rich like. Them so that seems like a very standard kind of romance. Obstacle but then there's a twist which is, like, oh, no actually he's opposed to their romance because there's a curse on the family and if you, know she gets, married she may one day have a, child and that means she will. Die, well actually she will turn into like a witch and then. Die, yeah but it seemed interesting that it's almost like they were trying to fit like a second like short romance movie into the beginning of this.

PICTURES i think it's interesting that they try to what seemed to me to like fit in a very standard forbidden love, dynamic even though it's only like a red. Herring so, like for the first bit of the, Movie suman And sanjay understand That suman's father disapproves of their relationship because she is a rich. Girl she's from a you, know a high class, family and he's middle. Class he's not rich like. Them so that seems like a very standard kind of romance. Obstacle but then there's a twist which is, like, oh, no actually he's opposed to their romance because there's a curse on the family and if you, know she gets, married she may one day have a, child and that means she will. Die, well actually she will turn into like a witch and then. Die, yeah but it seemed interesting that it's almost like they were trying to fit like a second like short romance movie into the beginning of this.

Movie, well he lets viewers know where they. Stand it's kind of Like sons Of, anarchy, right you jump into Watching sons Of anarchy and it's, like, oh it's Like shakespeare. Bikers that doesn't really hold on to The shakespeare aspect of the. Thing for the most, PART i guess it comes back towards the, end but a little, bit but it's Still it gives you sort of an initial footing on which to proceed with the. Picture or in the case Of sons Of anarchy THE tv, series all, right we've got the, monster we've got the, father the, daughter the daughter's. Boyfriend now it's time for the boyfriend's best. Friend this is the Character anand played By Plunette isar born nineteen fifty. Nine, yeah he plays a best, friend martial arts and personal fitness. Enthusiast the actor here outside of, this is apparently well known In india for his role in The MAHABARAT tv show that ran eighty eight through nineteen. Ninety he Played duri, o'hanna eldest of the, caravas one of the two feuding houses in that. Epic he's also, written, directed and, produced and is especially known for his negative. Roles this is a TERMINOLOGY i was not familiar with UNTIL i started reading about Different bollywood. Actors but, apparently like when you talk about somebody being like a great villain or being great at villain, roles you talk about how they're great at playing negative, roles WHICH i thought was an interesting turn of phrase.

Movie, well he lets viewers know where they. Stand it's kind of Like sons Of, anarchy, right you jump into Watching sons Of anarchy and it's, like, oh it's Like shakespeare. Bikers that doesn't really hold on to The shakespeare aspect of the. Thing for the most, PART i guess it comes back towards the, end but a little, bit but it's Still it gives you sort of an initial footing on which to proceed with the. Picture or in the case Of sons Of anarchy THE tv, series all, right we've got the, monster we've got the, father the, daughter the daughter's. Boyfriend now it's time for the boyfriend's best. Friend this is the Character anand played By Plunette isar born nineteen fifty. Nine, yeah he plays a best, friend martial arts and personal fitness. Enthusiast the actor here outside of, this is apparently well known In india for his role in The MAHABARAT tv show that ran eighty eight through nineteen. Ninety he Played duri, o'hanna eldest of the, caravas one of the two feuding houses in that. Epic he's also, written, directed and, produced and is especially known for his negative. Roles this is a TERMINOLOGY i was not familiar with UNTIL i started reading about Different bollywood. Actors but, apparently like when you talk about somebody being like a great villain or being great at villain, roles you talk about how they're great at playing negative, roles WHICH i thought was an interesting turn of phrase.

There SO i Thought Punita sar was one of the highlights of the. Film, actually my favorite stuff about this movie is sort of like the, tall macho guys in. It SO i like the. VILLAIN i Love anon a Nod, Is so he's, yeah he's the main dude's best. Friend but in a, way it's a movie where the side the so called, sidekick actually does most of the. Heroism it's Like Big trouble In Little, china and every Time anon shows up to save the, day it is it's increasingly. Hilarious there's like an amazing scene Where sanjay is getting beaten up by twelve guys or you, know they're all were like these guys in fancy red footman's, uniforms these red, jackets and they're all ganging up On, sanjay and then suddenly A noond appears sort of over the top of a. Mountain he's, like comes up on this ridge overlooking the whole, scene and he's, like, oh my, friend and then charges down into the fracas to just slam, me just like beat beat all these guys, up which he can do pretty much single. Handedly he is the center of a number of martial arts scenes THAT i think are actually quite. Good and there's also a really funny scene where they have a they're on a road trip and they have a. Car they have a flat, tire and it's clear that they staged this just so a. Nod it could be, like, hey it's no problem that we don't have a, car, Jack i'll just lift the car while you fix the.

There SO i Thought Punita sar was one of the highlights of the. Film, actually my favorite stuff about this movie is sort of like the, tall macho guys in. It SO i like the. VILLAIN i Love anon a Nod, Is so he's, yeah he's the main dude's best. Friend but in a, way it's a movie where the side the so called, sidekick actually does most of the. Heroism it's Like Big trouble In Little, china and every Time anon shows up to save the, day it is it's increasingly. Hilarious there's like an amazing scene Where sanjay is getting beaten up by twelve guys or you, know they're all were like these guys in fancy red footman's, uniforms these red, jackets and they're all ganging up On, sanjay and then suddenly A noond appears sort of over the top of a. Mountain he's, like comes up on this ridge overlooking the whole, scene and he's, like, oh my, friend and then charges down into the fracas to just slam, me just like beat beat all these guys, up which he can do pretty much single. Handedly he is the center of a number of martial arts scenes THAT i think are actually quite. Good and there's also a really funny scene where they have a they're on a road trip and they have a. Car they have a flat, tire and it's clear that they staged this just so a. Nod it could be, like, hey it's no problem that we don't have a, car, Jack i'll just lift the car while you fix the.

Tire, yeah and he's, yeah he's he's he's basically the the the action star of the, film While sonjay is the romantic star of the. Film and Ann, yeah he's a lot of. Fun these martial arts sequences are. Cool he's got these really long, legs so he's one of these. Guys when he's throwing, kicks it's like he manages to kick around you and then kick you on the other side of your face kind of a. Thing and he's also able to somehow pull off the leather vest over a bare chest. Look he also wears a lot of FUN t, shirts but sometimes NO t, shirt just the.

Tire, yeah and he's, yeah he's he's he's basically the the the action star of the, film While sonjay is the romantic star of the. Film and Ann, yeah he's a lot of. Fun these martial arts sequences are. Cool he's got these really long, legs so he's one of these. Guys when he's throwing, kicks it's like he manages to kick around you and then kick you on the other side of your face kind of a. Thing and he's also able to somehow pull off the leather vest over a bare chest. Look he also wears a lot of FUN t, shirts but sometimes NO t, shirt just the.

Vest in the scene where he intervenes to Save sanjay and beats all the guys, UP i think he's wearing a sleeveless polo shirt tucked into.

Vest in the scene where he intervenes to Save sanjay and beats all the guys, UP i think he's wearing a sleeveless polo shirt tucked into.

Jeans somehow he makes it work all. Right, Now, anon his character has a, wife and the wife Is satna played by And i'm mostly sure on. This this character in this actor was not listed in some of the DATABASES i was looking, at so like not ON. IMDb i had to go to another. Database But Pretty Sapru walia born nineteen fifty, SEVEN i believe is the actor playing his. Wife she wishes he was a little less into martial arts and personal fitness and more into love, making which makes for at least one amusing sequence in the. Film you, know it's a fun. PERFORMANCE i think she has only a couple of scenes to really shine, in but she does. Shine oh, yeah she's.

Jeans somehow he makes it work all. Right, Now, anon his character has a, wife and the wife Is satna played by And i'm mostly sure on. This this character in this actor was not listed in some of the DATABASES i was looking, at so like not ON. IMDb i had to go to another. Database But Pretty Sapru walia born nineteen fifty, SEVEN i believe is the actor playing his. Wife she wishes he was a little less into martial arts and personal fitness and more into love, making which makes for at least one amusing sequence in the. Film you, know it's a fun. PERFORMANCE i think she has only a couple of scenes to really shine, in but she does. Shine oh, yeah she's.

Good it's a real bummer when the Evil wizard throws her off the top of a.

Good it's a real bummer when the Evil wizard throws her off the top of a.

Building, yeah going, away it's, like you, know she's SHE'S i guess she was, dimmed you know from the, start like, this somebody's got to be killed by the. Monster we've got to, give you, know the certain plot elements have to be put in.

Building, yeah going, away it's, like you, know she's SHE'S i guess she was, dimmed you know from the, start like, this somebody's got to be killed by the. Monster we've got to, give you, know the certain plot elements have to be put in.

Place the two main lovers go on a road trip with their two friends to go stop the Evil. Wizard what do you think is going to? Happen to the two.

Place the two main lovers go on a road trip with their two friends to go stop the Evil. Wizard what do you think is going to? Happen to the two.

Friends, yeah, now do we have a creepy groundskeeper in the, Film, yeah we kind of have two of, them because we also have a, creepy creepy. Woodcutter the creepy Woodcutter i'll mention really quickly Is sanga played By Satish shah born nineteen fifty. One, basically he's just a scarred woodcutter who really would like a bit of that. Treasure but the main grounds keeper at the haunted mansion where everyone ends up is this Character durjon played By sadashev A'm rapokur who lived nineteen fifty through twenty. Fourteen there's something about his. Performance at FIRST i didn't pick up on, it but you, know it has kind of like a nice haunted. Vibe he has kind of haunted eyes and WHEN i looked him, up apparently he made a name for himself playing villains or negative ones or negative roles in various. Films in, FACT i saw a twenty Fourteen Indian express article that called him Quote bollywood's most memorable. Villain so oh.

Friends, yeah, now do we have a creepy groundskeeper in the, Film, yeah we kind of have two of, them because we also have a, creepy creepy. Woodcutter the creepy Woodcutter i'll mention really quickly Is sanga played By Satish shah born nineteen fifty. One, basically he's just a scarred woodcutter who really would like a bit of that. Treasure but the main grounds keeper at the haunted mansion where everyone ends up is this Character durjon played By sadashev A'm rapokur who lived nineteen fifty through twenty. Fourteen there's something about his. Performance at FIRST i didn't pick up on, it but you, know it has kind of like a nice haunted. Vibe he has kind of haunted eyes and WHEN i looked him, up apparently he made a name for himself playing villains or negative ones or negative roles in various. Films in, FACT i saw a twenty Fourteen Indian express article that called him Quote bollywood's most memorable. Villain so oh.

Interesting, yeah not a villain in this, though, no just.

Interesting, yeah not a villain in this, though, no just.

More of he's the, local that, is the haunted local who knows more about goings on than the main characters in the.

More of he's the, local that, is the haunted local who knows more about goings on than the main characters in the.

Film at one, point he quite crucially hides a trident in a, chandelier AND i did not understand why he did, that but it comes in.

Film at one, point he quite crucially hides a trident in a, chandelier AND i did not understand why he did, that but it comes in.

Later he just knew that it would come in handy. Later somebody's going to need to drop this chandelier. Sometimes, yeah, SOMETIMES i guess it's just the film logic of the. Thing, now there are a lot of other actors in, this And i'm not going to go through all of them. HERE i will say that we do have a bandit character Name MACHAAR i, believe and he is played by this actor who went by the Moniker Jack. Deep this is An indian actor and comedian who appeared in more than four hundred, films INCLUDING i think some Various Ramsey brothers. Films this is our sort OF i don't, Know Benny hill esque misogynistic slapstick specialist that is brought in for at least, two maybe three long segments of the film that are concerned only with, comedy that do not really connect much at all with the rest of the film and are really difficult to.

Later he just knew that it would come in handy. Later somebody's going to need to drop this chandelier. Sometimes, yeah, SOMETIMES i guess it's just the film logic of the. Thing, now there are a lot of other actors in, this And i'm not going to go through all of them. HERE i will say that we do have a bandit character Name MACHAAR i, believe and he is played by this actor who went by the Moniker Jack. Deep this is An indian actor and comedian who appeared in more than four hundred, films INCLUDING i think some Various Ramsey brothers. Films this is our sort OF i don't, Know Benny hill esque misogynistic slapstick specialist that is brought in for at least, two maybe three long segments of the film that are concerned only with, comedy that do not really connect much at all with the rest of the film and are really difficult to.

Watch. AGREED i had read in multiple commentaries that the comedy segments are by far the low point of the, film and they are for the most, part extremely, unpleasant not funny and just like a lot of jokes about sex.

Watch. AGREED i had read in multiple commentaries that the comedy segments are by far the low point of the, film and they are for the most, part extremely, unpleasant not funny and just like a lot of jokes about sex.

Crimes yeah, yeah so's it goes beyond, like, oh this is out of keeping with the main vibe of the. Picture is just like content, wise it's. Gross SO i would advise if you're just casually watching this, movie you, know feel free to get up and get a snack during the comedy. Segments don't necessarily bother reading the subtitles during these, segments and feel free to skip them all. Right, finally the music For piranha Mandir Ajit. SINGH i don't THINK i was able to find any dates for, him but he worked on Subsequent ramsey pictures as, well Including takana in eighty, Six Perani haveli in eighty, nine and a friendly yetty movie that came out in ninety one that looked pretty interesting as. Well but the music in this picture IS i guess at times IT'S i loved. It it's a little, abrasive like at times the synth come on really, strong BUT i still can't fault it too, Much like it definitely gets in there and it comes at you with its.