Ghost stories going through scary times

The recent release ‘Love Me’ failed at the box office and joins the list of ghost stories like ‘Bak’, and ‘Geetanjali Mallivachindi’ along with the much-hyped ‘Chandramukhi 2’ crashed at the box office. Raising doubts about the box office potential of spooky thrillers. No doubt, some spooky thrillers like ‘Virupaksha’, “Masooda’, ‘Maa Oori Polimera 2’ and to some extent ‘Oori Peru Bhaivarakona’ did well at the ticket windows. “I believe that well-made spooky thrillers always work,” noted writer Gopi Mohan who claims that even ghost stories need ‘novel plots’ and says that filmmakers cannot pull in the audience by providing few goosebump moments and eerie sounds. “OTTs are loaded with terrifying spooky thrillers from varied languages and we need to match with them to stay ahead,’ he adds.

On mostly actresses headlining ghost stories in Tollywood, famed writer Kona Venkat, who roped in Anjali for ‘Geetanjali Malli Vachindi, explains Firstly, women’s ghost stories score over their male counterparts because of a better connection with the audience. Even in our epics and Puranas we read about spirits like Saakini and Daakini and also local tales about a woman walking in a white saree at midnight or another girl seen near a dilapidated well are well-known myths in real life. Fortunately or unfortunately ghost stories revolved around women. Hence, actresses playing a ghost in a movie is more relatable and believable to the audience and we do it,” he points out.

It is true since leading actresses like Anushka (Arundhathi), Charmee (Manthra), Nayantara (Mayuri), and Hansika (Chandrakala) mention a few who sent shivers down the spine Even Bollywood diva Kangna Ranaut played an evil spirit in her latest south film ‘Chandramukhi 2’. On mixing myth with ghost stories, producer Anil Sunkara says, “Even our ghost story ‘Oori Peru Bhairvakona’ did well because it connects ‘Garuda Puranas’ to justify the presence of spirits in this world. Why some spirits hover around even after death and it talks about vengeance being unresolved.”

Talking about upcoming sequels like ‘Virupaksha 2’ and ‘Maa Oori Polimera 3’, Anil Sunkara adds, “The advantage with ghost stories is that it is a bit easy to design sequels since spirits have no place or time restrictions and could come back at their will if they had a valid reason,’ he points out.

However, essaying the role of a ghost has its pain and stress. “We go through a lot of mental stress and body pain for all those screams and unusual antics and end up with sleepless nights,” says actress Nandita Swetha, who played a ghost in ‘Ekkadi Pothovu Chinnavada and her upcoming film ‘O Manchi Ghost’. “Even my family and friends used to point out differences in my behavior and also talk about unusual expressions on my face. Unlike other roles, we tend to carry the role to our home as it seeps into our daily lives. Frankly, it takes three months to wriggle out of the ghostly act to become normal again,” she informs.