Purana mandir

Purana Mandir is without any doubt one of the greatest, if not the greatest, Bollywood horror movie ever made. Directed by the famous Ramsay Brothers, it has a powerful story that grips your attention right from the start, and never let's go.

The story concerns a demonic curse bestowed on a royal family, which forbids its daughter (Aarti Gupta) from marrying. However, she falls for Monish Behl. Before they can marry, they visit, with two friends, the old palace and the nearby temple where, hundred of years ago, an extremely macabre event had taken place...

Much of the credit for the huge success of this masterpiece has to go to the perfect musical score provided by relatively unknown music director Ajit Singh. The music is essential in making this movie genuinely frightening at times. Monish Behl and Aarti Gupta both give very sincere performances, Ajay Agarwal has a very strong screen presence as Samri, and it is a pleasure to also see veteran actor Pradeep Kumar.

The DVD recently released by Mondo Macabro (part of a 2-disc release including also Badh Darwaza) is the best this movie has looked for years. Unfortunately, it is presented in 4:3 aspect ratio, but this is how the movie was originally made.

I would rate this movie right up there with Raaz as the best Bollywood has given its audience in terms of horror.

And, oh, did I forget to say that Purana Mandir also has the most beautiful and haunting love song ever to grace the Indian silver screen, sung by no other than...Ajit Singh himself.

We did not have other option than ramsay for horror genre all movies had the same haveli, one thakur, ghost with cheap face mask, few sex scenes, one comedian with double meaning dialogue, one cabaret, and most important the trade mark dialogue " ye kai saal pehle ki baat hai '. This movie did scare me specially when actors stop their car to ask address to Satish shah hw did look scary and it is a very good scene. The ghost to this time had a good get up and looked scary. I enjoyed the comedy scene of lalita pawar, jagdeep and rajendra nath. Over all you should watch this ramsay horror it's fun entertaining.

I remember my parents renting this from our local Hindi video library in the 1980s. I remember seeing the poster in the shop window and Saamri's grotesque face staring lustfully at Arti Gupta's body. We used to love this movie when we were kids because it was really scary. I hear it was a tremendous hit and people in Bombay were crazy for it. The Ramsay Bros. are fantastic filmmakers and know exactly which buttons to push in order to get the right response from the audience. More than this, they had really fantastic stories that were based on old Indian myths and superstitions and delivered them with plenty of style and energy. Much like the Hammer Horror films of Britain, the Ramsay Bros. had a visual aesthetic that was uniquely their own and has never been replicated. It's a shame that they no longer make movies and have chosen instead to concentrate on India's burgeoning television market. At a time when I really couldn't hack watching glossy Bollywood musicals or listening to soppy Hindi love songs, the Ramsay Bros. movies were about the only thing we could watch collectively and really enjoy. 'Purana Mandir' is a perfect example of good Hindi commercial movie-making and deserves to be hailed as a Horror classic.

I first saw this in the late 80s on a vhs. Revisited it recently on YouTube. The print is good. I consider this inferior to Mithun's Bhayaanak. Bhayaanak relied more on atmosphere n the sinister nature of men. This movie is scary only cos of the monster Samri n he became very famous n he is still known as Samri n not his real name. In real life too, his personality is creepy.

A devil worshipper Samri is put on trial aft he kills a king's daughter. (So nobody cared while he committed the heinous acts on non royal fellas). He has raped virgin brides, he has sacrificed young kids, he has exhumed corpses n eaten their flesh n his method of overpowering his victims is hypnotizing em by sucking out their life force through the eyes, causing their natural eyes to be replaced with demonic white ones. All the heinous activities r never shown onscreen except for the hypnotizing ones. Before his execution, Samri puts a curse on the king's dynasty. Samri is beheaded aft the king's order n his head is kept in the catacombs of the palace while his body is buried behind the purana mandir (Old Temple). The story moves 200 years forward n we r introduced to the great great descendants of the king. After this initial good start, the film has unnecessary songs, lousy sub plots to inject some comedy n bad fight sequences cos one of the character is a body builder. Towards the end when the film picks up the pace n starts getting creepy then again v r served two lousy songs. The editing is atrocious. In one scene a guy runs to the terrace to face the monster, it is a night scene. The moment he reaches the terrace, he gets a slap on his face by jus a hand shown n the next scene cuts to broad daylight n the guy is jus cryin while the monster jus disappears.

It has some gory scenes, not thru the demon but the fight sequence r nasty, a guy puts his fingers in his opponent's eyes, a person's face get smashed like a watermelon by another one's foot, ther is some lousy sword fight, a creepy horse chariot chase scene, zero nudity but lots of cleavages n fatty thighs, lots of fogs n one of the best location, the mansion. I have personally visited the mansion, it is located in Murud Janjira. The mansion is on top of a foothill next to a beach. (My aunt stays nearby n the place has some lovely childhood memories).

Very generous with an 8 cos of Samri n to encourage obscure n forgotten Bollywood horror films.

This is the best horror film made in India with "Saamri" as India's answer to its western counterparts Freedy Kruger,Jason.It is time for the next generation of Ramsay clan to make films with fresh story ideas catering to the present generation.There has been never been such a favorable time to make horror films in India.Ramsay's have been the creator of this genre in India and what is needed is a fresh start with a gripping story, better special effects and great production values to match the international standards.If they were successful in times when the funds were limited and a limited market they can be successful now with the markets opening up and corporates backing fresh ideas.Calling RAMSAY'S WE WANT YOU BACK!!!.