Bhayaanak

This was again a new experiment in everyday horror. Under the shade of various strange horror films of the west, the Indian directors like the Ramsays' and several others began looking for better ideas. 'Bhayanak' is perhaps inspired by several 70s western horror flicks, but successfully carves its own identity. I watched this one years ago with my uncle at a local theater and recollect getting goosebumps and hiding my face behind my uncle's shoulders whenever a creepy scene was thrown. This is just one straight great delivery by S.U. Syed, who lost his mind in course of time. His another flick 'Saat Saal Baad' that was a shameless copy of Friday the 13th (1980) shows that Syed was caught in a downward spiral.

Bhayanak begins with a beautiful woman (Ranjeeta) being manhandled by some goons outside a local cemetery. The goons are interrupted by a police inspector (Mithun). Since Mithun is not in his police uniform, the goons take him for a nerd and try to scare him away from the scene. Mithun beats them mercilessly and saves the girl. The girl has no relatives and is new in the town. Mithun and Ranjeeta come along on the same note and begin dating each other. Soon they decide to get married and settle down. It's not very long when Mithun is transferred to another town (Mangalpur?). Promising his newly wed wife a quick reunion at Mangalpur, Mithun leaves for his destination. Few days later, Ranjeeta receives a telegram from Mangalpur. She comes to know that unable to pick her up, Mithun has asked her to come to Mangalpur all by herself. Ranjeeta takes a bold decision of going to Mangalpur, but on her arrival finds that Mangalpur is a desolate town with strange people. She decides to continue her further journey by foot, but ends up at a large wilderness where a strange Tonga is waiting for her. Bewildered by the reigning silence of the wilderness, Ranjeeta decides to board the Tonga but goes helpless when the Tonga takes her to a creepy grove, where she is murdered. When Mithun comes to know of her arrival and later death, he decides to investigate the matter. Ranjeeta's corpse is devoid of blood and this looks strange to Mithun. With a special permission from his superiors, Mithun begins to look for the clues. His investigation ultimately leads him to the deranged family of Thakur (Nilu Phule), who with his brothers lives a secretive life. They say that those who tried to sneak into his Haveli were never seen again. Whenever Thakur or his family members are out on streets, they are barked upon and chased by the street dogs. Something is seriously different about this family that happens to have a plan of exploiting their victims for a common but highly sinister cause.

Bhayanak has a crispy storyline with several twists. What begins like a typical Mithun film becomes grimmer and darker minute by minute. This film has a subtle amount of atmosphere and that too at a mediocre budget. I guess they found a story that was nifty enough to demean the budget. Nilu Phule, Om Shivpuri and the other roughnecks need an honorable mention here for their shares. Although Bhayanak is inspired by western vampire tales, it has been molded uniquely to impress the local audience. This is certainly S.U. Syed's first and last best film.

Bhayaanak review :

The first Bollywood film to be based on vampires; Bhayaanak was made when Mithun Chakraborty was not a star and Ranjeeta Kaur, the only saleable star in the film, had a special appearance. They both play a couple but Ranjeeta gets killed when she ends up alone one night in a bhayaanak haveli where blood sucking vampires live in human form. Marathi veteran Neelu Phule is fantastic in the negative role and while our very own Mithun da doesn't get much scope, he nails it in the action sequences - something he made a career out of in the '80s and '90s.

Later, Ramsay Brothers made Bandh Darwaza (1990) which was about a vampire bat called Nevlaa and repeated the formula in their 2014 film Neighbours: They are vampires. But then Bhayaanak is far more scary and gripping than these inspirations..

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

This horror movie is a mediocre production that is styled after the same old horror movies. The same mansion, the eerie background music, the forest, and the circling eagles and falcons all recur. Mithun Chakraborty, Ranjitha, and Neelu Phule are the main actors. Except Mithun, no one impresses with their acting. A seasoned artist like Neelu Phule has been wasted. Ranjeeta is playing a kind of guest role. Reena Roy has been roped in for only one song. Actors like Ranjan Garewal, Sadu Meher, Om Shivpuri, Chandrashekar & Jagdish Raj failed to impress with their roles.

The movie's plot is solid, but the terrible storyline and direction made it into a headache.

The movie is neither a horror nor a thriller-mystery.

I first saw this in the late 80s on a vhs. Revisited it recently on YouTube. The print quality, especially the sound ain't that good. This film needs a blu ray release for fans of obscure horror films. In fact it shud be remade minus the songs n with better editing.

The film starts with a very lousy, typical Bollywood scene, in the middle of nowhere, that too during the wee hours, a woman's car stops due to some damage, she steps down to seek help, with full make-up n titillating dress. She screams aft seeing a group of thugs busy digging a grave in a nearby cemetery to hide something. Ma'am, they didnt do anything to u, u cud have easily moved away from there. Aft hearing her scream they run aft her n since this is a Bollywood film, the entry of the male lead actor has to be dashing n voila, here enters the hero (Mithun - a versatile actor who can dance, do karate, can do boxing n sometimes he turns into a guy who can fight like a Cheetah) to save the heroine from the goons n later they fall in love. O i forgot Mithun is the original Bollywood spy with an amazing nickname, G9. A song takes place in the bright sunlight n then suddenly it starts pouring. Do we get to see any cleavage? Nope. But we get to see their dresses change, weather change n a marriage ceremony in that entire song. While they r making love, we get to see flowers, leaves n a tiny rotating bed. Who wants to do love making on that awful bed. Ther is a shower scene but still ther is no nudity.

Aft all this lousiness the film changes gears n gets atmospheric, suspenseful n creepy when our heroine travels to a small town aft her husband gets transferred. She is joining him later. While our hero is again busy showing off his karate skills, our heroine gets down on a secluded railway platform with fog all around. She doesn't get any transport or helper so she starts walking thru a forest. The director added some lousy stock footages of animals to create a forest feel. Anything more will spoil the film so sit back n enjoy this rare Bollywood horror film.

Mind u, the film gets tedious aft creating some good atmosphere n suspense. They added an annoying tribal song n dance to introduce some more characters, known as king n queen. Man, the heavy make up n rouge on the tribal girl's face, her costume, her dance with her male lover, that too on top of a waterfall is so lame. Her boobs gets covered during a shower scene due to her long hair.

The cinematography is like Tobe Hooper's Eaten Alive n Funhouse, more on the red color palette inside the creepy mansion. The moment the lousy songs arrive, the film loses its tension. The film got ruined due to abysmal editing, some lousy overacting by the three cultists, bad lighting, unnecessary comedy n songs. It has zero nudity n the gore is almost nada. It cud have been a creepy n suspenseful gothic horror film if the editing was done properly.

Watching Mithun's films is always my guilty pleasure n this one is a rare film as it is a horror film with some creepy atmosphere. Mithun did only two horror films. The other one Bees Saal Baad is more supernatural with a lousy reincarnation theme.

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

Bhayaanak Directed By S.U. Syed is A Horror / Mystery Drama. Script Has Same Instruments Like Deserted Village, Creepy Mansion, Scary Strange People, Horse Driven Vehicle & Mysterious Death Pattern. Screenplay is Good But Only in Parts. Editing is Weak. Direction is Very Mediocre. Horror Element is Not Existent. Dialogues & Action Are Less Effective.

Inspector Vijay(Mithun Chakraborty) Saves Renu(Ranjeeta Kaur) From Goons. They Fall in Love And Get Married. Vijay is Transferred To Mangalapur. He Arrives in Mangalpur. Followed By Renu After Few Days. Upon Her Arrival She Finds That Mangalpur is a Desolate Town With Strange People. She Decides To Continue Her Journey By Foot, But Ends Up At A Large Wilderness Where A Strange Brougham is Waiting For Her. It Takes Her To A Creepy Grove, Where She is Murdered.

Vijay Comes To Know About Her Death, Corpse is Devoid Of Blood And This Looks Strange To Him. He Begins To Look For the Clues. His Investigation Leads Him To The Deranged Family Of Dharam Pratap Singh (Nilu Phule), Who With His Brothers Lives A Secretive Life. More People Die in A Bizarre Pattern. With Few Twists & Turns It All Ends.

Acting Wise, Mithun Chakrabotry Alone Carries The Whole Movie On His Shoulders By His Natural Acting. Rest Of The Cast is Weak. Ranjeeta Did Well in Cameo.

Music By Usha Khanna is Average. "Bheega Bheega Mausam" By Hemlata & "Dhuan Sa Utha" By Suresh Wadkar Are Fine Compositions.

Overall Avoidable Flick For The Genre. Strictly For Mithun Fans.