Mar 02 2016

Grisly murders in Bollywood 

by   Shriram Iyengar

Blood, mystery, humanity pushed to its darkest corners; Hindi cinema holds a fascination for all things bloody and gory. These films are an examination of the extreme evil that humanity is capable of. Statutory warning: They are not for the faint hearted. 

1 Sholay

The greatest revenge saga in the history of Bollywood begins with a chilling massacre. The eerily calm setting of a family preparing a welcome turns funereal with the appearance of that dreaded man - Gabbar Singh. RD Burman's background score set the tone for an epochal movie that changed Bollywood forever. 

2 100 Days

This forgotten cult classic was one of the most popular films of 1991. Madhuri Dixit stars as the woman haunted with visions of her dead sister. She traces the evidence of the deed to a video cassette (Yes, those were the days), and discovers the body of her sister entombed in the wall of her own bungalow. 

3 The Stoneman Murders

In the 1980s, Bombay was stunned with a series of murders on its lonely footpaths. The police named the serial killer 'The Stoneman'. It remains one of the mysteries left unsolved by the famous Mumbai police. Kay Kay Menon plays the dogged policeman tracking the killer down. 

4 Paanch

Anurag Kashyap's debut venture was stalled at the censors for its gory content and plotline. The story of members of a rock band who get caught in a spiral of robbery, drugs and murder. It was based on the notorious Joshi-Abhyankar murders that shocked Pune in 1976. The film never released, but it marked the debut of a daring, new generation of filmmakers in India.

5 Not A Love Story

In 2008, a small time actress and her Naval officer boyfriend were accused of murdering a celeb manager in cold blood. They had disposed of the body by chopping it into pieces and burning it in a secluded spot. If the news had sent out shockwaves into the city of Mumbai, Ram Gopal Varma followed it up with a chilling film about the murder. Deepak Dobriyal and Mahie Gill played the roles of the infamous lovers.

6 Rahasya

Rahasya was the first film to be based on the mysterious Aarushi Talwar murder. Starring Ashish Vidyarthi and Tisca Chopra, it portrayed the frenzy and sensationalism with which the Indian media followed the case. 

7 Talvar

Meghna Gulzar's gritty take on the Aarushi Talwar double murder case earned rave reviews. The film earned a Filmfare award for Best Editing. The film did not provide any answers to the case, but its insight did raise some very interesting questions about the methods of investigation.