30 August,2026 10:35 AM IST | Mumbai | Tanisha Banerjee
Still from Madhu Sudan Acharya’s horror reel Don’t Blink
Remember when Indian horror would make your mind curl? A familiar tune from Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007) creeps into the theatre, or perhaps it's the eerie silence before the knock on the door in Kaun? (1999). For many Indian moviegoers, horror once made you sit on the edge of your seat, leaving corridors darker and bedrooms a little less comforting. Somewhere along the way, though, the genre lost its bite in mainstream Indian films. Instead, international films like Obsession, Backrooms, Colony, and Weapons (2025) became the hype of the horror world. But in the indie space, filmmakers are experimenting and owning fear through intimate, low-budget stories such as Waagh (2026), Ghormaal (2025) and Chait (2023), proving that genuine horror does not need spectacle. Simply imagination.
"The best horror films aren't simply trying to scare you. They are using horror to talk about the anxieties of the world we live in. That's what makes horror very interesting," says writer-director Mukti Krishnan, whose psychological horror short Waagh (2026) was screened at one of the Mumbai Film Festival's screenings this year. Krishnan believes Indian horror is witnessing a revival, but one that is unfolding largely within the independent filmmaking space. "There's a lot of very interesting work coming out of the Malayalam film industry, and they are really delving into horror," she says.
Krishnan believes indie filmmakers have an advantage because they are not chasing scale. "Indie films have an enormous opportunity because we don't necessarily need bigger monsters or bigger set pieces. We have a reservoir of folklore, landscape, superstition, and reality to draw from. I feel the more culturally specific we allow our horror to become, the more distinctive it can be internationally, which is happening in the South."
What prevents mainstream Hindi cinema from following suit, she argues, is its reluctance to experiment. "We're still looking at horror as horror-comedy. We aren't exploring atmosphere. Actually, we're not exploring it at all." Instead, she says, producers continue chasing whatever is commercially successful. "We're not taking risks. We are going with what is working. Last year there was Saiyaara (2025). Everybody was looking for a Saiyaara. Then it was Dhurandhar (2025). Everyone was looking for a Dhurandhar. We're not taking risks."
"I've been watching horror movies since I was a child. It started with my father introducing me to horror films, and I've been obsessed ever since," says 23-year-old Juhi Manjrekar. A self-professed horror enthusiast, she watches everything from South Indian horror to international franchises, but says mainstream Hindi horror has rarely lived up to its potential. "I feel like there's a certain reputation Indian horror cinema has built. It's not pure horror. Whatever I've seen has always leaned into horror-comedy or this very typical, cheesy kind of horror. It's not gore, it's not slasher."
While she credits Tumbbad (2018) for breaking away from conventional horror tropes, she admits she's hesitant about its sequel. "The first film was just so beautifully made. It was so great because it strayed away from the typical Indian horror cinema." Although she enjoys independent horror, Manjrekar says most such films remain difficult to find. "They're not easily available on OTT, so it's really hard to access them. I would love to see films like this made."
Founder and director of Without Ticket Films and a fan of the genre as well, Madhu Sudan Acharya says, "In horror, the hero is horror. You don't need a face for the horror."
He runs the Instagram page @withoutticketfilms and has recently begun making horror films himself. He believes the genre is one of the few where storytelling should outweigh star power. "But when you have to market films today, known faces become important because most of the revenue comes from publicity. How will you market horror? In India, horror also has a smaller fan base."
Acharya argues that what audiences are craving is originality, not another formula. "There is nothing new in the horror space. It's become a package now. It is the same ghisa-pita (overused) storyline and jump scare. You already know the jokes and what the horror is because they don't let the tension build up with the film." He points to films like Chhorii (2021) and as a rare example that embraces "day horror".
"A good director knows how to scare an audience with daylight." Until mainstream cinema learns to trust atmosphere over packages and trends, India's most exciting scares may continue to emerge from its independent filmmakers rather than its biggest studios.
