Scary movies!! Not scary anymore

Fear is not what scary we see; fear is what we can’t see. It’s all in the mind. 

Gone are the days when Horror movies scared the hell out of us. Haunted Havelis, Old temples, ruined post offices and forts were the residences of ghosts – Especially white gown was the favorite outfit of female ghosts J May be even ghosts wanted to stay in trend. Were these white gowns designed by Manish Malhotra?  The ghosts were categorized in various forms – the cursed ghost, the avenger ghost and the waiting ghost. The waiting ghosts are mostly romantic, waiting impatiently for their soul mate who has taken birth somewhere in rich mansions. The most popular of this category of movies was ‘Bees saal baad.’ It featured the gorgeous Dimple Kapadia as ghost waiting for her lover Mithun Chakraborty. She looked more as a model, less as a ghost. The scariest of them all was ‘Woh kaun thi’. Though it was a suspense movie, the settings and storyline looked spookier. Nowadays, even such female ghosts will be noticed, our young kids will ask for Wi-Fi password from her. According to the current trends, even ghosts have to stay net-savvy. May be, they too click selfies with their ghost friends in haunted bungalows and share it on FB. Earlier, the hairy ghosts in movies like ‘Jaani Dushman’ looked more like beasts. Maybe the appearance of these hairy beasts evolved into a mutant named ‘Wolverine’. The arrival of new horror genre with Ramsay Brothers changed the face of scary movies. It had sensuality, steamy songs, haunted bungalows, spooky faced servant named ‘Ramu Kaka’ and comedy scenes to add more entertainment value. Most importantly, the ghost had to be disfigured, grotesque and fearsome. The ghost preys on his victim mostly at nights. The night has to be ‘Amavasya’. Rest of the nights, the ghosts are working in haunted call centers J Ramsay Brothers gave several hit movies like ‘Darwaza’, ‘Purana Mandir’, ‘Saamri’, ‘Veerana’, ‘Tehkhana’ etc. These movies ran to packed houses in 80’s and 90’s. With the passing times, people got fed up of seeing the same disfigured ghosts in Ramsay Movies. More the ghosts tried to scare audience, more it started getting hilarious. Sad part is that Ramsay Brothers didn’t change their movie making according to current trends. Their movies looked more humorous. The most tragic part is that even kids are not scared of watching their movies.

Directors like Ramgopal Verma and Vikram Bhatt created their own horror movie franchise with movies like Bhoot, Darna Mana Hai, Phoonk, Raaz series, 1920 etc etc. The ghosts in these movies were caricatures of ‘Exorcist’, ‘Unborn’, ‘Conjuring’ and ‘Insidious’. The movie ‘Raaz’ was based on Hollywood movie- ‘What lies beneath’. 

The most fun-filled horror movie to date 

Majority of the Indian horror movies are copy of Korean horror movies. The heroines in Indian scary movies don’t do anything except screaming and running helter skelter. The funnier part is that the ghost can be killed only through some divine trishul, knife, or fire. To save his heroine from the spirit, our hero will go to any length to kill the ghost with the divine weapon.

Movies like ‘Conjuring’, ‘Insidious’ and ‘Ring’ have changed the concept of fear. May be there will be a time when these Hollywood movies will turn hilarious. No one will want to play the video cassette and wait for the wet ghost to arrive from TV. Our kids are brave enough to kick her back in TV. The recent movie that I watched was 1920: London. What a fun-filled spooky movie!! May be the makers will come up with more series like 1920 Bengal, 1920 Bihar, 1920 Africa etc. The recent movie to hit the theatres this month is ‘Raaz Reboot’.  How funny!! Was the director running short of ideas for the movie title?

It is time for Indian makers to re-invent their style of horror movies and give some scope for our desi ghosts. Like the tigers, even our ghosts are getting extinct. Please save our Indian ghosts :) 

Yeh Dil Maange More - Remembering Captain Vikram Batra

‘Yeh Dil Maange More’ – lines spoken by Captain Vikram Batra





These lines aren’t written by any advertising copywriter. These lines were coined by Major Vikram Batra which he used as a coded message after conquering every point from invaders. Captain Batra showed his dare devilry in Kargil War, facing the bullets and attaining martyrdom at age of 24. When civilians like me were pursuing degree to become a corporate slave, Captain Batra had already become a legend. Very few people are blessed to become war heroes and Vikram Batra was one of them. Batra’s code name was ‘Shershah.’ Military officers are given this code name to communicate with their senior authorities. Instead of opting for a luxurious government job, Vikram enrolled for army at Indian Military academy in Dehradun. His dare-devilry raised him to the position of Captain. In 1999, when Kargil was invaded by Pakistan, Captain Vikram Batra was assigned to recapture the peak 5140. Captain Batra with his team ‘Delta company’ ascended the highest peak 5140 confronting chilling cold, fatigue, exhaustion with only one goal in mind – free Kargil from the invaders. While climbing this peak, Batra and his team faced the bullets from the enemies. Despite all this, Captain Batra and his team reached the top and threw grenades. Captain Batra slayed three soldiers in deadly combat which left him seriously wounded. The mission of capturing point 5140 was successful. Along with his delta team, Batra went on to recapture several points – 5100, 4700 and 4875.

‘Every man dies, not everyone really lives’ – lines from movie Braveheart

Capturing Point 4875 and final martyrdom – This was one of the most challenging and toughest peaks to capture for Captain Batra and his team. Climbing a 16,000 feet high peak was highly impossible task for any ordinary person. Braving the obstacle of heavy fogs, Captain Batra and his team climbed the 16,000 feet high peak on 7^th July 1999. The delta team attacked the enemies and took control of point 4875. The large heartedness of Captain Batra was witnessed by his team when he took bullets on himself while saving one of his members from delta team. During the attack, he pushed aside his Subedar friend and faced the enemies’ bullets because he cared for his friend who had wife and children. This brave tiger of Kargil breathed his last while capturing the point 4875. His uttered the last words ‘Jai Mata di’. Operation Vijay wouldn’t have been successful without the efforts of Captain Vikram Batra and his delta team.

The Amar Chitra Katha Book - Paramvir Chakra featured story of Vikram Batra during kargil war

 Captain Anuj Nayyar was one more brave heart who laid his life in Kargil war along with Vikram Batra.  Captain Anuj Nayyar was recently engaged. During the war time, Anuj handed over his engagement ring to one of his friends to keep it safe till he returns. He never wanted the ring to fall in hands of enemies if he was killed. Sadly Anuj never returned back to get his engagement ring. He was the only child of his parents. It was very traumatic experience for his parents to bear the loss of their son. Unfortunately government never pays heed to the family of the soldiers who laid their lives for country.

Photo of late Captain Anuj Nayyar

Even Vikram Batra had plans to get married to his fiancée once he returned from war. But good fortunes were not in side of Vikram. He returned wrapped in Tri-color flag. Before going to war, he had promised his parents that he would return either by hoisting the flag on Kargil or come wrapped in ‘Tiranga’. His fiancée never got married. She devoted her life to teaching. Vikram’s gifts and letters were prized possessions to her.  Sadly, no one bothers to know what happened to a soldier’s family after his death. Batra’s parents were badly collapsed after hearing the news of his son’s death in Kargil war. They had twin sons – Vikram and Vishal. Vikram’s parents realized why God had given them twins. One would serve for country while other would take care of them. Vikram Batra was awarded ‘Paramvir Chakra’ for his sacrifice defending Kargil from invaders. 

On the 10^th death anniversary of Vikram, his twin brother Vishal Batra visited Leh Ladakh. He took a gaze at the high peaks of Kargil where Vikram Batra died fighting with the invaders. Vishal Batra in his interview with Barkha Dutt mentioned about the last letter of Vikram.

‘Life is at total risk. Anything can happen here. Take care of yourself and Mom & Dad. My picture has appeared in Times of India’. Keep a copy for me. I want to see it once I am back.” – Excerpt from the letter of Captain Vikram Batra to his brother Vishal.

The photo of Captain Vikram Batra featured on front page of Times of India on 2^nd July 1999. He was standing with an anti-aircraft gun and weapons in the photo.

Vishal Batra even met Sub Major Raghunath Singh, the survivor of Kargil war. He broke in tears when he saw Vishal Batra. Since Vishal was twin brother of Vikram, everyone saw the reflection of their commander Vikram in him. Raghunath recalled the moments of war. Actually it was Raghunath who was rushing to save a junior officer during the firing, but Vikram stopped him and took the initiative to save the junior officer. Since Vikram knew that Raghunath was a family man, Vikram couldn’t risk the life of Raghunath. In the action of rescuing the junior soldier, Vikram was fatally shot with a sniper rifle by the enemy. Even Vishal Batra had dreams to join armed forces, but later settled on to become a banker. 

A letter enclosed in an envelope is a precious gift for a soldier who reads this letter and even narrates the letters to his friends. He is far away from his family, friends but his heart is always close to them. Sadly, today’s youngsters won’t realize the value of letter because they are too busy messaging on Whatsapp. Only a soldier like Captain Vikram Batra can realize the emotions of words written in the letter.

The role of Captain Vikram Batra was played by actor Abhishek Bachchan in J.P.Dutta’s movie – LOC: Kargil which was based on Kargil war. Amar Chitra Katha released a comic book on Indian soldiers in which Captain Vikram Batra’s story was presented. Hope someday a full-fledged biopic is made on life of Captain Batra and his fellow soldiers – Anuj Nayyar, Manoj Kumar Pandey who died for nation’s pride.

This is a small effort on my side to remember Captain Batra and all other soldiers who freed Kargil from the invaders. Please do share this article with all your friends.

Jai Hind
Prashant Badiger