Bollywood horror comedies on the rise: Old and new spooky films to watch

Moving away from regular horror, Bollywood is lately warming up to the idea of serving scares with a spot of humour. The horror comedy as a genre is suddenly in vogue among mainstream Hindi filmmakers. Importantly, the new crop of films serve the funny scares with a new-age spin and a message. Here are a some classic horror comedies and new ones on the block.

Bhool Bhulaiyaa: This 2007 movie starring Akshay Kumar, Shiney Ahuja, Vidya Balan, Ameesha Patel, Paresh Rawal was a hit when it released. It was about an NRI and his wife who stay in his ancestral home despite being warned about spooky events.

Bhootnath: This comedy horror film from 2008 had a stellar cast of Amitabh Bachchan and Juhi Chawla, among others (Shah Rukh Khan also had a special cameo). An adaptation of Oscar Wilde’s 1887 short story ‘The Canterville Ghost’, the movie was popular among adults and kids as well. The plot revolved around a couple and their son who move into a new house but have to deal with an unfriendly ghost.

Go Goa Gone: Considered India’s first zombie film, 2013’s ‘Go Goa Gone’ featured Saif Ali Khan, Kunal Khemu, Vir Das, Puja Gupta and Anand Tiwari. It got mixed reviews at the time, but is still one of the most innovative and funny horror comedies to come out of Bollywood in recent times.

Stree: An excellent cast and great plot come together in this 2018 horror comedy starring Shraddha Kapoor and Rajkummar Rao. The people of the Chanderi village believe that an evil female spirit Stree attacks men at night during festivals, but one man wants to get to the bottom of this supernatural occurance.

Bhoot Police: The film stars Saif Ali Khan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Yami Gautam and Arjun Kapoor. The film, which sees the cast share screen space for the first time, is helmed by Pawan Kripalani, who is known for directing thrillers like “Phobia” and “Ragini MMS”. Not much is known about the film, but it is being shot in various hill station locations such as Dalhousie and Dharamshala.

Phone Bhoot: Katrina Kaif (pictured), Siddhant Chaturvedi and Ishaan Khatter come together in “Phone Bhoot”. It is scheduled for a 2021 release. The film is produced by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, and directed by Gurmeet Singh. Details related to the film are still under wraps.

RoohiAfza: This movie too will see the fresh pairing of Rajkummar Rao and Janhvi Kapoor (pictured). “RoohiAfza” also features Varun Sharma in a key role. The film, produced by Dinesh Vijan and Mrighdeep Singh Lamba and directed by debutant Hardik Mehta, also stars Varun Sharma. It is slated to release on March 20, 2020. This will be Rajkummar’s third collaboration with Dinesh Vijan after “Stree” and “Made in China”.

Laxmii: The Akshay Kumar starrer “Laxmii” released earlier this month. The horror comedy is a remake of the Tamil blockbuster “Muni 2: Kanchana”. Raghava Lawrence, who had helmed the original, also helms the Bollywood remake co-starring Kiara Advani, Tusshar Kapoor, Sharad Kelkar, and Ashwini Kalsekar. The film has received overwhelming response among the masses.