Purana mandir

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.

After destroying a deadly demon, a royal family trying to guard the release of the demon to continue a horrific curse on their lineage learns the daughter and her friends are heading to the area to investigate the claims and inadvertently awaken the demonic entity locked away forcing them to stop it.

There's quite a lot to like with this one. Among the more impressive aspects to it is the grand backstory that manages to incorporate plenty of likable elements into the story. Involving plenty of fun with the story involving the original means of the curse being inflicted against them due to the opening prologue featuring the race to capture him and detailing what type of demonic being he is before being put to death with the curse over the family, this starts with a rather intriguing starting point. By then tying this with the incorporation of the demonic entity resurrected to take the family down and forcing the relative to capture it before the curse that strikes his family throughout the generations which comes into play here with the current generation aware of everything that's transpired and determined to prevent the demonic entity from being released. This includes the treatment towards the boyfriend who's an outsider and unaware of what's going on and the resulting trip to the fateful location to ensure the storyline comes off well-integrated overall. With the introduction of their trip out to the palace to put an end to the curse once and for all, the switch into more ethereal and ardent genre territory becomes rather fun. The mindset of the curse playing heed to their journey makes the attack on the father or their struggles to reach the location start on a nice note, while the Gothic ambiance that occurs once they arrive sets this off on a chilling note. The investigation through the fog-shrouded countryside that allows for creepy visions and hallucinations to play out is a fine touch as that carries over into the continuing visions she has the longer they stay where the distorted face of the demonic entity appears to her over and over in various places. When it finally dawns on everyone what's going on as the body is stolen and reunited with the severed head, the film picks up considerably with the action in the finale as the reborn figure attacks the house which leaves this one with a frantic race to stop him involving a series of elaborate dances and rituals to control his power once and for all. Overall, these all make for a solid genre outing, even though this one does have a few drawbacks holding it down. One of the main factors with it is the unnecessary use of including the third storyline about the best friend making a deal with the criminal to keep escaping custody of the village tribe looking to secure his punishment for numerous crimes around the village. This serves no purpose in the film with the characters not needing to be featured at all for not interacting with the main cast, offer up nothing but cringe-inducing attempts at comedy with the mugging, exaggerated voices, and comic misunderstandings, and the sheer incompetence of the criminal is matched only by the incompetence of the village who fail to catch him. That they can't spot what's going on with the constant rescues and attempts to return him for more money makes little sense, and in the end, all it does is drag the running time out by featuring this unnecessary subplot. The other slight issue here is the seemingly bizarre means of acceptance that goes on with how the boyfriend is brought on board with the curse as the entire first half is spent getting him away from her only to accept him out of nowhere after witnessing them on a date so their sudden reversal makes for a bizarre change of behavior to what's been established. Otherwise, there's not much holding this down.

Rated Unrated/R: Violence and Language.

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.

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!!!.

Purana Mandir review :

A game changer for Bollywood horror genre as well as for Ramsay Brothers themselves; Purana Mandir became the standard template for horror movies for most part of the '80s and early '90s. An evil force from the past is relieved from a curse or bond and then wreaks havoc on the unsuspecting cast, heroine taking a shower at midnight, the signature tune which even made it to Zee Horror show and above all, Anirudh Agarwal as the monster. Here he was called Saamri and achieved such cult status that Ramsays made a spinoff called 3D Saamri, a year later.

Aarti Gupta looked absolutely ravishing in swim suits. She was another major contributor to the film's success. Mohnish Behl was her hero and seems he regretted doing this film later as it pushed him in to the B grade category....until Maine Pyar Kiya (1989) rescued him.

For Ramsay Brothers, Purana Mandir turned out to be a gold mine as it not only became one of the biggest hits of 1984 but also gave them a readymade plot which they milked dry for the next two decades.

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.