Bollywood bitten by zombies

Horror isnrsquot new to Indian cinemamdashwe have a legacy of bloodcurdling ghosts spooky invisible spirits who make things fly about and then there were the Ramsays who went overboard with imagination but made it work at timesu00a0Enter zombies The undead who must roam the Earth spread terror and bite you into being one of them Last week Rise of The Zombie the countryrsquos first zombie film released in cinemas across the country On May 15 a zomcom Go Goa Gone will release too Is India ready to be terrorised and humoured by an army of screeching vacanteyed zombies thenu00a0 Saif Ali Khan in Go Goa Gone More than a year ago over a casual chat with director Devki Singh actorfilmmaker Luke Kenny in fact wondered about what was keeping zombies way from Indiau00a0ldquoGermany Francemdasheven Cubamdashhave zombiethemed films And here we celebrate 100 years of Hindi cinema and horror for us still means the supernatural and wandering spiritsrdquo Kenny tells SMD Kennyrsquos film Rise of The Zombie released on April 5 and looks at a wildlife photographerrsquos life death and his transformation to a zombie ldquoI am aware we are bringing a rather new concept to Indian cinema although the zombie genremdashin literature and cinema mdashis not new across the world I didnrsquot want to replicate whatrsquos popular abroad Since my film is the first of a trilogy Irsquove started out by introducing the concept of a zombiemdashwhat really happens to a human being when he loses control over who he is Luke Kenny in Rise Of The Zombie File Photos Kenny says he feels the country is ready to see something new and be terrified in a way it hasnrsquot been terrified before He is also clear that he wants to introduce the genre in the countryu00a0The concept he feels is here to stay because it is gripping and only waiting to be explored ldquoTherersquos so much being done with zombies across the worldmdashstories of zombies amid leaked viruses epidemics aliens and so onmdashand the genre is evolving rapidly But you donrsquot have to know anything about zombies to understand whatrsquos happening in Rise of The ZombiemdashI want the world to be able to watch it without knowing what Bollywood is all about This isnrsquot a typical Bollywood movie It is an Indian zombie filmrdquo says Kennyu00a0 Go Goa Gonersquos directors Krishna DK and Raj Nidimoru The film is be gory Kenny can promise that ldquoOh I am not going to cheat the audiences of the gore I know people will come to the theatre expecting to be horrified and gore naturally is expected when zombies are on the loose I donrsquot want to alienate the audiences by sanitising the filmrdquo smiles Kennyu00a0Trade analyst Komal Nahta says he would like to wait and watch to see how the trend of zombie films pans out adding that it will all depend on how the two filmmakers handle the subject ldquoThe audiences love something new and I think zombies in Indian cinema will excite viewers I hope neither film however assumes that the viewers know everything about zombiesmdashbecause many do not And when someonersquos paying to watch a new concept at a multiplex they donrsquot want to deconstruct the concept first The filmmakers will have to do it for them and not in documentarystylerdquo says Nahta He adds it would be exciting to see the Saif Ali Khanstarrer Go Goa Gone too because humour is welcome in any form ldquoI know a zombiecomedy comes as a bit of a surprise but I think it is a good marriage And why notrdquou00a0Raj Nidimoru codirector of Go Goa Gone jokes that he has been amid a lot of zombies when he lived in Detroit US ldquoI knew a man who had made eight zombie films with his familyrdquo he smiles Both Nidimoru and the codirector Krishna DK say they are glad they got the ldquoridiculousrdquo idea of making a zomcom ldquoWe are taking it seriously though and I think the Indian audience is ready for something like this The biggest proof is that an Alist actor like Saif Ali Khan agreed to be a part of the projectmdashwhy can it not workrdquo Nidimoru says they might have combined zombies and humour but arenrsquot breaking any zombieland rules ldquoThey donrsquot have emotions they wont light up a cigarette or anything It is an authentic zombie film when it comes to detail The USP of the film is not the gore but the humourrdquo he says And of course there are the zombies u00a0