The horror factory

For someone forbidden from watching Ramsay movies — one suspects it was more due to the scantily-clad women than the monsters displayed on cheesy posters — reviewing Shamya Dasgupta's Don't Disturb the Dead felt like an act of rebellion. The past week, the book has been conspicuously placed on the bedside, the dining table, near the reading corner, to show to the family that I have finally, and proudly, joined the motley and growing community of Ramsay fans.

They have been called cheesy, B-grade and cheap, even. But the truth remains that the horror movies genre created by the Ramsay family found enough takers for them to churn several hits, and have a cult following of sorts now. The book is the result of intensive research, as well as interviews only a stubborn journalist could have extracted. The result: a book replete with anecdotes, such as the one where they scare a distributor into negotiating a deal; the tender love story between Keshu and Kavita Ramsay; and the occasion when the filmmakers themselves got scared. There's information, too, not only about how the family made it big and created its own genre but also about the Hindi film industry in general, which works on dodgy money sources, clout and double standards.

The book tracks the journey of the seven Ramsay brothers who learnt the ropes of filmmaking not from a film school or mentors, but from acclaimed cinematographer Joseph V Mascelli's book, The Five C's of Cinematography (1965), which their father, FU Ramsay, asked them to read, discuss and debate while on a working holiday in Kashmir. One of the brothers, Shyam, tells how their father would stop their pocket money if the brothers didn't finish the chapters on time. If you thought this was interesting, consider this: the family took the plunge not for the love of filmmaking, or because they just had to tell a story, etc., but because there was money in it. And everyone in the family admits it with nonchalance.

The result: Movies such as Do Gaz Zameen ke Neeche and Dahshat, which encouraged the family to continue making movies in Mahabaleshwar, and hits such as Veerana and Purana Mandir, the latter said to be the second-highest grossing film of 1984. Then there was the Zee Horror Show, which made the Ramsay brand popular with a new generation of horror lovers. Without labouring the point, the book compares the Ramsay family's past success and hit movies with attempts — without much positive outcome — by the current crop to make a mark in the industry.

The book also points repeatedly to the Ramsay brothers' claim that they never cared much about awards and recognition from the film fraternity, that the love of their audiences was enough. It can't have been true. How can it not hurt to be sidelined by mainstream cinema, and to not be recognised by way of awards?

Thanks to Deepak, the son of Tulsi Ramsay (one of the seven brothers), most Ramsay movies are available on YouTube. I still haven't watched any of them from start to finish. Horrifying, if you ask me.