Screaming Success

Now Funny, Now Scary, This Genre Has Come Of Age In Hindi Cinema, Pulling In Audiences And Monster Returns At The Box Office

- SUHANI SINGH

IN A DARK ALLEY IN CHANDERI, A YOUNG MAN IS LOST IN A sing-like-nobody's-listening, messed-up rendition of Nigerian singer Rema and Selena Gomez's hit track 'Calm Down'. He is waiting for his friend who seconds earlier has finished humming the lullaby 'Soft Chitti, Warm Chitti' (a nod to 'Soft Kitty' from The Big Bang Theory) to his girlfriend. Soon, a gross, ginormous headless monster, called what else but Sarkata, enters a room, hides his decapitated head under the bed and then abducts Chitti. As the audience rides this rollercoaster of laughs and scares, Stree 2 has casually strode on to become the second highest-grossing Hindi film of all time in India, projected to eclipse the Rs 554 crore Jawan. Made on less than half the budget of the Shah Rukh Khan-starring action-heavy spectacle, a riot of a cast, one-liners that keep coming feverishly and a subtle 'smash the patriarchy' messaging have seen the horror comedy mint Rs 530 crore already.

Stree 2 isn't even this year's first horror comedy success. Munjya, minus any discernible star and fronted by a VFX-created child monster, led the way in June, surprising all by earning over Rs 100 crore. Come November 1, you will have Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, the third part of one of the first horcoms. Expect it to open big, 2022's BB2 having collected Rs 180 crore. Safe, then, to say that 2024 is the year of the horror comedy.