Popular of Late

Forum Latest

Login / Logout

Bollywood Camp Classics Vol 1

Viewings

Written by Suresh S

Sunday, 19 August 2007 21:26

This is not an authoritative list but a refection of my personal preferences. However I would say, so long as you're interested in the genre, these will be worthy of your attention. Culled from various genres, some of these are well-known, others comparatively obscure. Some are unintentionally hilarious, while others are surprisingly atmospheric experiences. I will attempt to give brief descriptions and comments to each entry. Further installments will be added to include more titles into this hall of fame as it may be called. Without further ado I give you the first installment...

RAMSAY HORROR

Saboot (1980)

Suspense / horror in which a murdered man returns from the grave to take revenge on his killers. Hokey now but some sequences genuinely scared me as a kid (the negligee-clad moll being ruthlessly hunted down in the ice factory) and I say this movie is still quite entertaining with a great camp performance from Bolly-villain Prem Chopra (ramaramaramarama, indeed).

Dahshat (1981)

Brilliant reworking of the Jekyll & Hyde story with a scene-dominating performance from Ramsay regular and underrated character actor Om Shivpuri. In several parts the story is genuinely touching and Shivpuri strikes a chord as the none-too-ethical but still sympathetic scientist who becomes a victim of his own medicine. Great camp FX too.

Purana Mandir (1984), Saamri (1985), Bandh Darwaza (1990)

A trio of supernatural horror camp classics linked by one common factor - the fearsome Aniruddh/Ajay Agarwal, who plays the being of monstrous evil in all. Of towering physical dimensions and a face that truly defined malevolence, Agarwal, who was practically the Ramsay mascot of the time, carries these films magnificently, their other failings notwithstanding.
Purana Mandir is the most effective of all with its Gothic trappings and some truly memorable scenes, like the nocturnal hearse chase which culminates in the resurrection of the Beast by the joining of his severed head with the body. Saamri was the Ramsay's attempt at the then-fashionable 3D, so you have a lot of hilarious scenes where characters are throwing/pointing things at the camera. Bandh Darwaza is again one of the better Ramsay films. Here, Agarwal as the leather and cape-clad red-eyed magician-monster Nevla (aka Snake) plays the closest Indian equivalent of Dracula and does a thunderous job of it. BD is also notable for focusing on the horror and not having too many comedy/romance sidetracks, the anathema of most Bolly-horror.

Veerana (1988)

One of the last hurrahs of the Ramsay clan. Jasmin, the daughter of a thakur, is possessed by a Succubus and wreaks general havoc. The chesty actress playing Jasmin does a solid job of providing lo-fi seductive thrills and the movie works nicely as popcorn horror in the stereotype Ramsay vein.

Bollywood Camp Classics Vol 2

Bollywood Camp Classics Vol 3

Bollywood Camp Classics Vol 4

Bollywood Camp Classics Vol 5

< Prev		Next >

Our valuable member Suresh S has been with us since Monday, 02 July 2007.

Show Other Articles Of This Author

More where this came from:
Venture Bros - Season 3 Beowulf (dir. Robert Zemeckis) Ong-Bak 2 (dir. Tony Jaa) The Return (dir. Andrey Zvyagintsev) Seraphim Falls (dir. David Von Ancken)	Hulla (dir. Jaideep Varma) Zodiac (dir. David Fincher) Samurai aka Musashi Miyamoto (dir. Hiroshi Inagaki) Manorama Six Feet Under (dir. Navdeep Singh) Before the Idiot Box (part 2)

You need to login or register to post comments.

Discuss (4 posts)

Srikanth Panaman

Re:Bollywood Camp Classics Vol 1
Aug 19 2007 23:52:38

Great idea and I like it so far. We need to do more of these essentials type articles.

#23

Rahul Chacko

Re:Bollywood Camp Classics Vol 1
Aug 21 2007 19:50:20

Since I probably won't see those for a while, any campy scenes that deserve special mention that you can describe here?

#85

ravenus

Re:Bollywood Camp Classics Vol 1
Aug 21 2007 22:05:09

Well if you've seen any Ramsay movies you generally know the level on which they operate. That said, some of these films are quite atmospheric - I especially refer to Dahshat and Purana Mandir, so it would be quite unfair to mention only the hilarious moments and poke fun at them. And without doing a full-fledged review...I have done some of these in the past...they're somewhere on the runboard version of DC...it's really like trying to describe a painting to a blind man :p

#86

Srikanth Panaman

Re:Bollywood Camp Classics Vol 1
Aug 21 2007 22:22:18

I forgot to post, Veerana is the only film from that list that I've seen. IN TAMIL.<br><br>Post edited by: Srikanth Panaman, at: 2007/08/21 22:22

#87

Home