In 1972, Tulsi Ramsay directed Do Gaz Zameen Ke Neeche, with his family members providing technical, material and moral support. It will go down in Hindi cinema history as the film that helped the Ramsay family kick-start its own successful house of horror. Purana Mandir (1984), Veerana (1985), Saamri (1985), Tehkhana (1986), Dak Bangla (1987), Purani Haveli (1989), Band Darwaza (1990) followed. Since then, the Ramsays have been identified with scary monsters and restless spirits, haunted havelis and eerie graveyards.
However, few would know that besides delving into the world of horror, the Ramsays also made a few mystery thrillers. These films had it all: a spooky backdrop, inexplicable events, couple of red herrings, and the real culprit finally revealed in the end. Very predictable and now forgotten, those Ramsay thrillers are important for a couple of reasons. First, they were actually well-made films, and second, not all of them were Ramsay productions. The family-run team had worked for other producers too; it wasn’t just all about loving their own family.
Ghungroo Ki Awaaz (1981)
This is produced by Vijay Anand who also acts in it with Rekha and Shreeram Lagoo in the other lead roles. While the film is supposedly loosely based on Hitchcock’s Vertigo, the story is not quite the same. This film is about protagonist’s obsession with his dead lover and worth a watch for a very satisfying climax.
Aur Kaun (1979)
It remains a personal favourite for its cliffhanger. Bappi Lahiri’s music is excellent, especially Kishore Kumar’s track ‘Haan Pehli Baar ’. Although mainly a suspense thriller, the film is a nuanced coming-of-age story too. With great actors, special mention is deserved for Padmini Kapila’s governess-cum-seductress.
Saboot (1980)
Its the only Ramsay thriller where guessing the real identity of the murderer is a head-scratcher. It’s a film about serial killing, that later turns out to be a revenge saga. Big names in the cast included Vinod Mehra, Vidya Sinha, and Navin Nischol.
Sannata (1981)
Although a poorly made murder mystery, this film had a good comic sub-plot. It chronicles the tale of a murdered couple played by Mehmood and Jayshree T, who haunt an old lodge. It is not too often that we see a thriller with a horror-comedy sub-plot, and the only other example I can think of is Mehmood’s Bhoot Bungla (1965). The Ramsays, later, in their horror films, always did a fairly competent job of weaving in comic sub-plots that had absolutely no connection with the main story.
Andhera (1975)
The last on the list. Its premise is good; revolving around a man who is wronged by villains, even losing a hand to them. Later, with his artificial limb, he goes on to kill the miscreants. However, the execution is haphazard and the editing is very poor, which is tragic because the plot is novel, and doesn’t follow the conventional whodunit pattern.
In Filmfare’s September 1980 edition, filmmaker Sriram Raghavan wrote about Bollywood’s inability to use ‘suspense’ in films. He’s been largely right. In many ways, the Ramsay thrillers tried to fill that lacuna, whether or not they were successful is a thought for another day.
The author is a freelance writer.
