Arundhati, Pizza, Raat: Ahead of Anushka Sharma's Pari, here are the scariest Indian horror movies to watch

Horror flicks are always everyone’s favorites, even when they don’t accept it. Yes, people might be scared of watching a horror movie alone, and sometimes even with company, but the thrill of watching a truly scary movie is unbeatable. The list of truly terrifying Hollywood movies is a long one. Be it The Conjuring series, the Insidious series, the original Exorcist and its subsequent spin-offs, Paranormal Activity, It, or the Oscar nominated Get Out, horror movies have entertained us for decades. These movies have filled us with paranoia, unexplainable fear, and a lingering sense of someone always being around. While Hollywood keeps on producing a stream of popular horror movies — a lot of these turning into franchises — Indian cinema, too, has had its share of horrifyingly scary movies. Some of the more popular Bollywood horror flicks include the Raaz series, Darna Mana Hai and Darna Zarori Hai, Bhoot, and the 1920 series, among others. Before Anushka Sharma’s Pari hits the screens, here are some of the scariest Indian movies ever made. Bees Saal Baad (1962)

Starring big names such as Biswajit Chatterjee and Waheeda Rehman, Bees Saal Baad struck fear into the hearts of hundreds of thousands of Indians almost 56 years ago. Loosely based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s The Hound Of Baskerville, Bees Saal Baad boasts of one of the most eerie sounding songs ever written for an Indian horror flick: ‘Kahin Deep Jale Kahin Dil’. The story is about Vijay; a man who returns to his hometown only to be warned to stay away due to a vengeful spirit responsible for killing his ancestors. Vijay, on the other hand, decides to investigate the matter and hires a private detective. Kohraa (1964) [caption id=“attachment_4372415” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  A still from Kohraa/Image from YouTube.[/caption] Another movie starring Biswajit Chatterjee and Waheeda Rehman, Kohraa was based on the 1938 novel Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. Kohraa‘s story revolves around Rajeshwari who moves into a huge mansion after marrying a rich man named Amit. One day, when Amit goes on a trip, she learns of his ex-wife Poonam, whose spirit haunts the mansion. The same novel, Rebecca, was later adapted on screen by Alfred Hitchcock for his Academy Award winning movie of the same name. Many believe that the the Indian adaptation was way better than Hitchcock’s and swear by Kohraa’s famous climax scene. Raat (1992) [caption id=“attachment_4372453” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  A still from Raat/Image from Twitter.[/caption] Directed by Ram Gopal Varma, Raat is often considered to be one of the best Indian horror movies ever made. Starring actors such as Revathy, Jeethendra Reddy, Om Puri and Rohini Hattangadi, Raat was a bilingual supernatural thriller which is often cited as the best movie Ram Gopal Varma ever made. The movie starts with the death of a cat, followed with the leading lady being possessed with the spirit of the aforementioned cat. A cult classic, Raat is deeply distressing, and you’ll never look at cats the same away after you’re done with this movie. Arundhati (2009) [caption id=“attachment_4372467” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  The poster for Arundhati/Image from Twitter.[/caption] A Telugu dark fantasy horror, Arundhati was both a commercial as well as a critical success. Starring an ensemble cast of Anushka Shetty, Sonu Sood, Arjan Bajwa, Sayaji Shinde and Manorama, Arundhati was directed by Kodi Ramakrishna. The movie’s plot was about a girl named Arundhati who, during a visit to her native place, learns that she looks eerily similar to her great-grandmother, Jejamma. Soon, Jejamma’s battles become her own as she fights a black magician who wants to kill her. Because of it’s staggering success at the box-office, Arundhati was dubbed into Tami, Malayalam, Oriya and Hindi. Yavarum Nalam/13B: Fear Has a New Address (2009)

Released in 2009, Yavarum Nalam, or 13B: Fear Has a New Address is a Tamil psychological horror movie starring R Madhavan, Neetu Chandra, Poonam Dhillon and Sachin Khedekar. The movie was directed by Vikram Kumar and has a story-line which is very unlike any other Indian horror flick before. The story revolves around Manohar who moves with his family into a new apartment on the 13th floor. Soon, the family discovers that strange things are taking place inside the the house. Things take a turn for the worse once the women in the family get hooked to a new TV show Yavarum Nalam. They soon discover that the events unfolding on the show are the same as the things happening in their actual lives!

Ragini MMS (2011)

Long before Rajkumar Rao became a mainstream darling, he delivered an outstanding performance in Ragini MMS. This was also before the Ragini series turned into a non-scary skin-fest starring Sunny Leone (and spawned the hit single ‘Baby Doll’). The story of the movie revolved around a couple, Ragini and Uday, who go to a farmhouse for the weekend. The girl is unaware about the house being rigged with hidden cameras and that Uday plans to record their intimate moments. They soon learn that the house is haunted. The movie was directed by Pawan Kripalani, and received praise from the critics upon its release. It was inspired by the Hollywood movie Paranormal Activity. Pizza (2012) [caption id=“attachment_4372531” align=“alignnone” width=“825”]  A still from Pizza/Image from YouTube.[/caption] Starring Vijay Sethupathi, Pizza was a truly different horror flick in terms of Indian cinema. Directed by Karthik Subbaraj, this Tamil mystery-horror movie is about a delivery boy named Michael who arrives at a bungalow to deliver pizzas when strange and mysterious things start to take place. Michael lives with Anu, an aspiring writer of horror-fiction, and the movie follows the dramatic changes that take place if the lives of the lead characters. Pizza was a huge commercial and critical success and was dubbed into Telugu. The movie was also remade in Kannada as Whistle and as Pizza in Hindi. Pisaasu (2014)

This highly acclaimed Tamil movie was directed by Mysskin. A truly disturbing plot, the story is about a young violinist who finds a little girl lying in a pool of her own blood. He tries to save her, but fails and a feeling of depression grips him. He even keeps one of the girl’s shoe and drives aimlessly around town trying to help homeless people. He starts to feel a supernatural presence in his house, and the mystery only intensifies when he meets the girl’s father. The film was remade in Kannada as Rakshasi. This one is a must watch.