Filmmaker Shyam Ramsay passed away in Mumbai on Wednesday; he was 67 and suffering from pneumonia. The Ramsay Brothers — late Tulsi and Shyam, Kumar, Keshu, Arjun, Gangu and Kiran — produced a series of cult horror films, almost 30, through the 70s to the 90s. They have been referred to by Kartik Nair in his essay Fear on Film: The Ramsay Brothers and Bombay’s Horror Cinema, Sarai Reader as “a cottage industry of terror”.
Unapologetically low-brow
Tulsi and Shyam Ramsay were the leaders of the pack that altered the depiction of horror in Hindi cinema and provided it a new milepost with Do Gaz Zameen Ke Neeche that they helmed jointly in 1972. Till then horror in Hindi cinema was largely to do with the supernatural, mysterious apparitions in white and the theme of reincarnation, in films like Mahal, Woh Kaun Thi?, Mera Saaya, Bees Saal Baad, Gumnaam, Kohra etc. But the Ramsays lent it a new robust but unapologetically low brow, popular but low budget, B grade sensibility that made them inseparable from the genre. Tulsi and Shyam might have jointly done the directorial duties, but the films belonged to and were made with the support of the entire Ramsay family aka Ramsay House of Horror.
“Every few months, over the next two decades, cast and crew alike would be packed into buses and transported to the outskirts of Bombay for filming. Here, brothers Shyam and Tulsi Ramsay would dispatch directorial duties; brother Kumar would write the scenes while brother Gangu would lens them; Kiran Ramsay was usually in charge of sound and Arjun in charge of production; meanwhile, Mother Ramsay would cook for everyone,” writes Nair.
New blueprint
Do Gaz Zameen Ke Neeche was followed by Purana Mandir, Bandh Darwaza, Sannata, Tehkhana, Veerana, Dak Bangla, Purani Haveli, Saamri, Dahshat and many an episode of the Zee Horror Show, the extremely popular TV programme that ran between 1993 and 1998. Shyam also made a few episodes of Saturday Suspense, X Zone and Nagin for Zee TV.
Together they wrote a new blueprint for Indian horror. There were the familiar cliches: dark, wet nights, cobwebs and bats in descrepit havelis, scantily-clad and voluptuous heroines, hunky heroes, scary monsters in bad makeup and Dracula teeth and sex and sleaze within familial limits. What’s more, they circumvented the star system entirely, featured little known names in the cast. Like model-turned-actor Arti Gupta. They also gave us iconic characters, such as the devil worshipper Samri in Purana Mandir. There was also a sprinkling of elements like black magic, kaali vidya , tantra, occult practices and what have you thrown in. Not to mention, some memorable melodies to boot, like Wo beete din yaad hain ( Purana Mandir ) and Haan pehli baar ( Aur Kaun ).
The kitsch, sleaze and gore formula began to fade over time. Shyam Ramsay tried to make a comeback with Dhund, The Fog , inspired from the slasher film I Know What You Did Last Summer but it didn’t deliver at the box office. Neither did Ghutan, Bachao — Inside Bhoot Hai and Neighbours.
