Gehrayee

I consider Gehrayye the best Indian Horror movie till now. Being true horror movie fan, I have watched many Hollywood, Bollywood and Asian horror movies. Normally Bollywood horror movies are C grade, mostly soft porn and acted by C grade actors. Few very movies are really memorable. And Gehrayye is one of them. I really got scared when I first watched it. I still remember that night... I was not able to sleep. It's the Indian version of Exorcist. Every one acted brilliantly. Specially Umakka ( Padmini Kohlapuri) acted very convincingly. Ananth Nag, Sriram Lagoo and Amrish Puri were very good. The Story goes......The daughter, Umakka (Padmini Kolhapure) is a normal and sweet school girl, until a supernatural force enters the household. It targets the young girl. And thereafter strange things start happening which horrify the family. The background music was really haunting . The Screenplay and editing was perfect. Please don't miss this Indian Horror Master Piece. Switch off the light and enjoy!

Released in 1980's "Gehrayee" was a misfit given the realms of horror genre as defined by Ramsay's (read that as soft porn). Whilst audience were expecting to be titillated with skimpy outfits, deep cleavages, rape scenes here "Gehrayee" delivered none. Today when intelligent thrillers like "Manichithrathazhu/ Chandramukhi/ Bhool Bhulaiyaa" are appreciated, in comparison "Gehrayee" was ahead of its times.

The screenplay is awesome, within first 15-minutes you are sucked into the narrative. Authencity of the Kannada culture plays a vital role. Background score elevates the viewing experience. There is no over the top production values, the sets are down to earth and you almost feel moving around in them.

Shreeram Lagoo represents the logical/ rational mind within all of us. Indrani Mukherjee is the typical dutiful Indian wife for whom Pati is Parmeshwar. Anant Nag represents the hot young blood - opposer. Using the character of Padmini Kolhapure the director tags us into the path of unknown. Amrish Puri appears in a short role and leaves a lasting impact (was Maularam inspired from Puttachary?). Sudhir Dalvi does his part with utmost grace. Rita Bhaduri is practically in a special appearance. Anant Nag's girlfriend hardly contributed to the proceedings. Song by Kishore Kumar/ Laxmikant-Pyarelal/ Gulzar was of no use. The director duo have done a commendable job. A must watch intelligent thriller.

There are a few movies which have hosted themselves deep in my childhood memories. The Glory of Khan, The Perfect Murder(Ivory Merchant film) and Gehrayee are three of them. I watched Gehrayee for the first time when I was 14 or 15 I am not sure, on Doordarshan. It had scared me then. When I saw the DVD of this movie I grabbed it and watched it again. Today though the treatment of the film feels a little outdated, the movie can still haunt you. Gehrayee is one of those horror films which truly get under your skin. Chennabassapa (Sriram Lagoo) owns Betalnut grooves in Karnataka (I think it is South Canara). He has a loyal servant Basava who has spent his entire life nurturing these grooves. The movie begins with Chennapbasappa revealing the fact to Basava that he has sold his land to a soap factory and soon the farmland will be replaced by a soap factory. And then Chennabasappa leaves a devastated Basava behind to move to the city of Bangalore. Here he wants to live rest of his life with his wife Saroja (Indrani Mukharjee), son Nandu(Anant Nag) and daughter Uma(Padmini Kolhapuri). Soon Uma starts acting strange. Her academic performances decline. Sometimes she blurts out obscenities at length. And one night she even tries to seduce her brother Nandu. Chennabasappa consults a psychiatrist and Uma suffers through diagnosis and treatment which includes the dreaded 'shock treatment', but with little success. Now Saroja and Nandu realise that there is a supernatural element involved. With the help of their servant they seek help of Tantriks to put an end to Uma's misery. There is also in instance of Chennabasappa's infidelity in the story which complicates the plot further. Who was behind all this mayhem and does Nandu successfully find the culprit and get answers is a part that needs to be watched. The movie is almost shot completely in and around Bangalore. The Hindi composition in the movie is very South Indian which sometimes is a little irritating. But the art-house(Indian cinema saw this movement of Parallel cinema which was extremely popular during 80s) treatment given to the movie makes it one of its kind. Gehrayee is totally devoid of the loud jarry sounds, fast cuts, gory effects and campy camera work which are cornerstones of any horror movie that we know of. Do not expect an Evildead or Braindead. This is as we say in Bangalore 'Namma Exorcist'. LOL. PS: Long before the Shyamalans of Hollywood, Gehrayee introduced us to the true concept of unorthodox surprise endings!

Let me begain my review with the question, what is a Haunting or is meaning of being Possessed? Have you ever seen person in real life who is Posssessed? Are they any different from people who are under Mental Disorder?

Well if you watch this movie, it lies between that thin line of Mental Illness and Paranormal. As my fellow reviewers have mentioned this Movie has some exceptional performances esp by Anant Nag and Padmenee Kolhapure {who must be 12-13}.

Rare gem and Masterpiece of Indian Horror, not westernized "Ghostly Spokes" but Intellegent and logically derived Conclusions.

Must watch 8.5/10.

No special effects, no normal horror techniques used, but still this one makes its impact very effectively. Good acting from Padmini kolhapuri.

Scenes when girl gets possesed are tood good. The voice used when girl has possesion , makes very good impact. Still in awe how good ir was.

In the end, movie goes beyond expectation which gives us lesson to stay away from a problem , maybe just resolve it but dont go too deep.

Amrish puri has a cameo and does what he does best, scare the audience.

Somehow the final tantrik which resolves the issue has a different aura about him, he looks like a positive soul, completely opposite of the aura of Amrish puri.

Overall i can say it is one of the best hororo thriller of bollywood.