Watch: A collector of 'B films' explains his love for the genre and what draws him towards it

Aseem Chandaver traces his love for Indian ‘B’ films to when he was 11 years old.

A TV show hosted by Sajid Khan was his starting point into the world of camp, and he says that no film was uninteresting after he had been initiated.

Another show on the subject, Channel V’s ‘Colossal Chaos Countdown’ that aired in 2002, further bolstered his interest.

“Since it was a purely B movie countdown, it felt like going down a rabbit hole, that’s the first time I saw this subterranean world of these movies. I would see posters  while going to school but they seemed to be isolated anomalies. After the show I was sure I want to see these movies and interview the directors”, Chandaver says.

His collection though started a few years later in 2005 when he was 18. While watching the Ramsay brothers Veerana he realised that he wants to collect these films, though he is quick to clarify, “Veerana wasn’t a B film, the Ramsays never made B films, they were fantastic directors”.

At first, he enjoyed these films just for the laughs, “how people would die, how they would act”, but that changed when he found films that were high concept wise, but poorly executed.

“Whatever Bollywood can’t do, these movies do… and it’s so experimental at times and the way they try to achieve their concepts is funny but also resourceful. At one point these films just become films, they are no longer “B’ films anymore, it’s pure thought brought on to celluloid and achieved by crunching whatever is possible in the small budget," he says.

Chandaver’s favourite film is Harinam Singh’s Khooni Dracula. The cover for the film’s CD – that was a collage of bad pictures – first drew him to it. It was also the first ‘D’ film he saw.

“The director was the hero, the kills were poorly done, actors lifted from the streets, the camera work was shoddy, and it was a delight to watch”.

Besides Harnam Singh, his favourite directors are Teerath Singh and Joginder. He calls Teerath Singh the David Lynch of B films, because the first half and the second half don’t match, and “Joginder’s films just got crazier as he got older”.

The 29-year-old writer and producer who works with a popular Youtube channel ‘Being Indian’ and has his own youtube page ‘ Tadpatri Talkies ’, is a fan of campy cinema from around the world, from Pashto horror films to Uganda’s Wakaliwood .

In the video above Chandaver takes us through his collection and motivations.