Horror comes easy to filmmaker Aditya Sarpotdar who is currently on a roll after two back-to-back hits with Munjya and Kakuda, both in the same genre of thriller horror. Having been engrossed with both projects in terms of direction and script writing, Aditya’s life has pretty much revolved around these stories for the last four years now.
Now that those years have come to fruition, Aditya speaks to WION about the success of the two films, whether we can expect Munjya 2 and the art of perfecting a horror film that doesn’t fall flat with the audience or becomes too comical.
Here are the edited excerpts of our chat:
Q: First Munjya and now Kakuda, you’re on a roll with hits in the horror comedy space. How does it feel?
A: It feels great to be appreciated for your work. It has been a long patient wait and looking at the response I can say that the timing has worked out well. The theatrical success that Munjya has got has surely helped Kakuda. It just shows that the appetite of the Indian audience to watch horror comedies is massive and the fact that there haven’t been many films made in this genre has surely helped Kakuda and Munjya.
Q: Do you think audiences get more scared with an entity they can’t see? How do you craft a ‘perfect’ ghost?
A: I feel people watch horror comedies because it promises a perfect blend of entertainment, where there are just about enough moments of scares followed by a lot of humour. With both Munjya and Kakuda, we tried to keep the films as local as possible, where even the humour and the horror came from the folklore world that we created. So while directing both the films, I focused more on generating fear and humour from the inherent world of the story which in itself was unique.
In fact, with Munjya and Kakuda, I have revealed the ghosts in the very first half of the film by showing them right upfront, therefore not keeping them the unseen.
How do you make a perfect horror comedy?
Q: As a director, what makes or breaks a horror film?
A: One needs to know the target audience that the film is being made for, so that the level and style of horror can be defined. With both my films, I intended to make films that entertained the family audience. So I had to be extremely well aware of the level of horror that I was creating. The dynamics of a horror film as opposed to a horror comedy are extremely different.
One builds the mood for a jump scare and has to follow it immediately with a humorous moment, therefore, alternating between two genres in one film. What makes or breaks such a film is the timing that you create from the written words to the final edit when doing both horror and comedy in one film.
Q: Both films are high on emotional value and have a social message. Was that a conscious decision of layering up a message behind horror?
A: Yes. I do feel that a good horror comedy needs to have a larger emotional quotient and messaging which is very subtle, but yet true to the story. As our comedies are more treatment-oriented, what works at the end of the day is what their inherent stories are. My core decision to make both these films depended on their respective stories, which had a certain level of emotion and a larger message that I was sure a family audience would like to watch and relate to.
Q: Munjya takes on patriarchy, talks about an individual’s freedom of choice, defines new meaning for a modern woman who wants to be liberated in her choices. How did Sharvari’s name crop for that role?
A: For Bela’s character, I was looking for an actor who was young, independent and had a Maharashtrian background as she was a girl from Pune who had seen the world, yet was connected to her roots. With Sharvari as an actor, she gave me the correct blend of an individual who knew her craft well and also was extremely connected to her culture.
Why are women often depicted as evil spirits in horror films?
Q: Mostly in urban legends, folklore we attribute a woman or a female character as the villain, witch, churail, often ostracising her from the society and giving her these labels. Is it time to break that stereotype?
A: With Munjya and with Kakuda, I was clear that I did not want the women to be the ones who were the victims in their stories which eventually made them the villain of these films. I feel it is high time we tell these stories differently. In both my films, the women are leading the men into battle against these entities.
In Munjya, it was the grandmother and the mother who stood as strong, brave women with Bittu and gave him the courage to fight Munjya and in Kakuda, it was Indira who led the battle against Kakuda in order to save her husband from its curse.
Q: Who is Munjya? Is it a demon that we battle every day?
A: Munjya is indeed the demon that we carry on our shoulders every day. It is this demon that whispers into our ears as we make important decisions in life. A true test of our character is when we can fight this demon and shut him off. He is the Betaal to our Vikram, always enticing us onto the wrong path.
When can we expect Munjya 2?
Q: Is Munjya 2 in works? Will it take the story forward of the characters in Munjya?
A: The closing scene of Munjya clearly indicates that there will be a follow-up. There are many elements in the story yet to unfold, as we saw a much more confident Bittu ready to take on Munjya with his magical cane. How Munjya will retaliate and in what direction the story will progress will surely be exciting for viewers to watch.
Q: What other films are in the pipeline?
A: I have been working on an action-adventure series for Hotstar as a show-runner and have directed it too. It is a modern-day treasure hunt, an exciting and unique genre that has not been attempted in the Indian OTT space. We plan to release this series in the next couple of months, after which I will go into production on my next film from the Maddock supernatural horror comedy universe.
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