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Trapping Ghosts Of Urban Legends In Films: What Makes Horror Successful by Divya Goyal
If you're in the state of Karnataka in southwest India, plan a quick trip to Uttara Kannada, a coastal district in the state. In some parts of the city, you may walk past eerie-looking and abandoned homes in tattered condition, with paint peeling off the wall and. Look closely, and you'll read this faded phrase "ನಾಳೆ ಬಾ" (Naale Ba, meaning come tomorrow) written across the main door. If you ask one of the locals to explain the context, they'll narrate the story of 'Koogumaari,' a spirit who would knock on doors in the voice of a known person, and should the resident answer the call, the ghost will bring in bad luck or worse, death. The solution - residents wrote "Naale Ba" on their doors to ward off the ghost. The story of 'Koogumaari' is one of the many stories passed on from generation to generation through oral tradition. With time, it transformed into an urban legend, and this one went on to inspire a Bollywood film titled Stree.
"The purpose of ghost stories has always been to instill fear, but they were based on actual happenings where a problem or an issue is personified or made metaphorical to impart a lesson. This (Naale Baa) story was essentially a lesson in safety and security; to teach people to be careful of strangers," author and storyteller Krishnarjun Bhattacharya told Bangalore Mirror in an interview.
Over the last decade, Bollywood has tapped the popularity of urban legends to weave a horror narrative. Filmmaker Dinesh Vijan used the legend of Naale Ba as a framework for his movie, which is based in Chanderi, a town in Madhya Pradesh. He reinvented parts of Koogumaari's narrative and gave her a background story - a courtesan who was murdered along with her husband on the night of her wedding by jealous men. She is now a spirit searching for true love and has vowed to kill all men in the village. The ghost targets men wandering alone and calls them by their names. If they respond, she takes them for herself. Like in Uttara Kannada, the residents of Chenderi write "O Stree Kal Aana” (O Stree, come tomorrow) on their doors and walls to ward off the evil spirit. On a deeper level, Stree was an intelligent commentary on the patriarchy. With power-packed performances by Rajkummar Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Aparshakti Khurana, Abhishek Benerjee, and Pankaj Tripathi, Stree performed exceedingly well in theaters.
Folklores, passed on by generations as a part of the oral storytelling tradition, generate curiosity and interest in movie-goers. In the hands of a worthy filmmaker, these urban legends and folklore become a helpful plot device that can be converted into spectacular horror films when presented on screen with spooky and evocative effects.