Now, zombies come to Bollywood

Bollywood is readying to welcome a set of newcomers in its midst and  they are — zombies. Originally considered a part of the African folklore and already a popular subject in horror fiction in the West, zombies are now making inroads in B-Town, as filmmakers are in a race to make the first Bollywood zombie flick.

Actor Abhay Deol will be seen playing one himself in director Navdeep Singh’s (of Manorama Six Feet Under fame) dark comedy Shaadi Of The Dead. Also in the race are director duo Raj Nidimoru and Krishna DK (of Shor fame) who are making a zomcom tentatively titled Go Goa Gone reportedly for actor Saif Ali Khan’s production house. There are also talks of two more filmmakers working on similar themes.

For DK and Raj, the attraction lay in the fact that they wanted to experiment with a new concept in Bollywood. “We were toying with the idea for a long time now. It may have a risk element, but our audiences are ready to try new things on screen. So, once we finalised the script, we were sure that it would be interesting,” says DK admitting that it was legendary musician Michael Jackson’s iconic music video Thriller that got them interested in the genre in the first place.

Another filmmaker who’s working on the same concept reveals that it’s just a co-incidence that so many zombie films are being made at the same time here. Unperturbed about finding takers for a zombie film he adds, “We’re sure there’s a segment of audience that will find the concept of walking corpses interesting for sure.”

Trade analysts too agree that it’s an alien concept in Bollywood atleast as far as the masses are concerned, they however feel that it’s an interesting genre to explore. “The genre is quite popular in the West and it would be nice to have some Indian filmmakers attempt it too for sure,” says trade analyst Komal Nahta. Explaining what makes it a safe bet at the BO, he adds,

“The filmmakers are playing it safe by combining it with the comedy genre as that continues to reign in Bollywood. So it should be interesting to watch out for.” Even as he adds a word of caution, ‘they should avoid going over-budget,’ Nahta gives the concept a thumbs up.’

As DK says, “I think both the audiences and filmmakers are now ready to push the envelope. This is one more step towards it.”