Bollywood: Horror comedy movies like ‘Street 2’
Stree 2, directed by Amar Kaushik and starring Rajkummar Rao and Shraddha Kapoor, perfectly captures this dynamic. It’s a film that will make you laugh while also sending chills down your spine. The movie, a sequel to the 2018 hit Stree, brings a new ghost to haunt the town of Chanderi. It’s a continuation of the quirky, supernatural events that made the first movie a standout.
Here are some of the best Bollywood horror-comedy films, ranked by IMDb ratings. Even those with lower ratings are still highly enjoyable!
Scary and funny: Bollywood’s 8 best horror comedies
IMDb Rating: 6.6
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 71 percent
director: Krishna DK, Raj Nidimoru
cast: Saif Ali Khan, Kunal Kemmel, Vir Das, Anand Tiwari
Movie duration: 1 hr 51 min
Synopsis: Two friends, Hardik (Khem) and Luv (Das), are going through a difficult time in their lives. Hardik has lost his job and Luv has broken up with his girlfriend. To cheer themselves up, the two go on a holiday to Goa with his roommate Bunny (Tiwari). Soon, the two find themselves stranded on a zombie-infested island. Along with other survivors, including an alleged Russian gangster, Boris (Khan), the two try to make it to the mainland, only to find it too has been overrun by zombies.
Why it’s great: The film isn’t as witty or smart as some of Hollywood’s zombie horror comedies, but there’s enough gory thrills and humor to satisfy all but the most discerning movie fans, and the fantastic locations provide an intriguing backdrop to all this mayhem.
IMDb Rating: 6.7
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 62 percent
director: Amar Kaushik
cast: Varun Dhawan, Kriti Sanon, Abhishek Banerjee, Parin Kabak
Movie duration: 2 hr 36 min
Synopsis: Bhaskar (Dhawan), a road worker, travels with his cousin Janardhan (Banerjee) to Arunachal Pradesh in northeastern India for a massive construction project that involves the felling of large amounts of trees. One night, he is bitten on the buttocks by a wolf and transformed into a werewolf. Forced to hide his condition, he is told that the local “Yapum” legend has come true. Together with Janardhan, his new vet acquaintance Anika (Sanon) and his liaison officer Jomin (Kabak), Bhaskar embarks on a frightening yet hilarious adventure to solve the mystery.
Why it’s great: Bhediya It has a social message about environmentalism and sustainability, but thankfully doesn’t come across as too preachy, and once you get over the inherent silliness of the premise, there’s plenty to laugh at here.
IMDb Rating: 6.7
Rotten Tomatoes rating: N/A
director: Pawan Kripalani
cast: Saif Ali Khan, Arjun Kapoor, Jacqueline Fernandez, Yami Gautam
Movie duration: 2 hr 9 min
Synopsis: Brothers Vibhuti (Khan) and Chiranji (Kapoor) pose as professional paranormal investigators and ghost hunters but are in reality con artists who perform fake exorcisms to extract money from gullible people. They are hired by a woman named Maya Kulbhushan (Gautam) to exorcise an evil spirit named Kikhkandi that is terrorizing the workers in her father’s tea estate. To their surprise, the ghost is real. Will the brothers be able to find a way out of the situation?
Why it’s great: This is one of those films where the actors make the script look smarter than it actually is, and while I’m still not convinced by Kapoor’s acting skills, Khan and Kapoor work together really well.
IMDb Rating: 7.2
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 56 percent
director: Aditya Sarpotdar
cast: Sharvari, Abhay Verma, Mona Singh
Movie duration: 2 hr 3 min
Synopsis: Bittu (Verma) is a shy young man who loves his childhood sweetheart Bela (Sharvari) but is too timid to propose marriage. To make matters worse, he is possessed by an evil spirit that lives in a sacred fig tree. Decades ago, Munja was once a boy who, just like Bittu, died trying to win the love of his life, Munni, using black magic. Now, Munja wants Bittu to help him marry Munni, who, in a twist of fate, is Bela’s grandmother.
Why it’s great: Like many other horror comedies, Munja The film falls far short of its potential, and it also commits the genre’s most cardinal sin: a horror comedy can’t work without strong elements of both horror and comedy. Munja’s spirit is more about fun than it is about genuine horror. But despite its flaws, Munja It offers pretty decent entertainment value.
5
/8
Bhul Bhulaiya (2007)
IMDb Rating: 7.4
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 33 percent
director: Priyadarshan
cast: Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Shiney Ahuja, Ameesha Patel, Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Nauran Yadav, Manoj Joshi
Movie duration: 2 hr 39 min
Synopsis: Newly married couple Siddharth (Ahuja) and Avni (Bhalan) move into Siddharth’s ancestral home. Siddharth’s uncle Badrinarayan (Joshi) protests, claiming that it is haunted by the vengeful spirit of a Bengali dancer named Manjulika. When unexplained occurrences start occurring, Badrinarayan’s innocence seems to be vindicated. However, Siddharth suspects that Radha (Patel), his childhood friend who had a crush on him, may have something to do with the “ghost”. He invites his psychiatrist friend Aditya (Kumar) to cure her ailments. But when supernatural entities are involved, can a scientist like Aditya really do anything?
Why it’s great: A remake of a Malayalam film. Manichitrathas The horror-comedy appeal of (1993) is mainly centered on the revelation of the truth behind the big incident at the end, and frankly, the rest of the story is pretty tepid. But Kumar’s performance and several comical characters, especially Chhote Pandit (Yadav) and Batukshankar Upadhyay (Rawal), make it an enjoyable film from start to finish. Though it does have its creepy moments, it is actually a complete comedy.
IMDb Rating: 7.5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 79 percent
director: Amar Kaushik
cast: Rajkummal Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Abhishek Banerjee, Aparshakti Khurana
Movie duration: 2 hr 8 min
Synopsis: In the town of Chanderi, men live in fear of an angry female ghost called Stree, which means “woman” in Hindi. Apparently, Stree kidnaps men and never sees them again, so the men don’t go out at night. A tailor, Vicky (Rao), befriends a beautiful girl (Kapoor), but she’s a bit odd, having kidnapped one of Vicky’s friends, Janna (Banerjee). Vicky teams up with his friends Rudra (Tripathi) and Bittu (Khurrana) to find Janna and defeat Stree – if they can. The story is loosely based on the Naale Bagh legend from Karnataka.
Why it’s great: Street It cleverly flips the story on its head by highlighting the fears women face when they go out alone at night. In the film, men find themselves living in constant fear. The acting is superb. The sequels are great, but the original feels uniquely fresh. It also offers some good laughs. There’s been a lot of murders in the building. It’s full of energy, mostly funny and upbeat, but with just a few dark moments.
IMDb Rating: 7.5
Rotten Tomatoes rating: N/A
director: Vishal Bharadwaj
cast: Shabana Azmi, Makrand Deshpande, Shweta Basu Prasad
Movie duration: 1 hr 30 min
Synopsis: Somewhere in North India, the inhabitants of a village live in fear of a 100-year-old witch called Makudee (Azmi). Legend has it that if you enter her, you will come out as an animal. A mischievous girl named Chunni (Prasad) lives with her twin sister Munni, who she often dresses as. One day, she plays a prank on the local butcher Kalu (Deshpande), putting Chunni in danger. Will she be able to save her sister from the witch’s clutches?
Why it’s great: Incredibly, this film was the directorial debut of Bharadwaj, who went on to direct a groundbreaking and daring Shakespeare adaptation set in India. Maqbool (2004), Omkara (2006) and Hider (2014). Again, his distinctive touch – his keen observation of detail, his deep understanding of the human condition and his unique way of telling a story – are all on display.
IMDb Rating: 7.8
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 67 percent
director: Amar Kaushik
cast: Rajkummal Rao, Shraddha Kapoor, Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana
Movie duration: 2 hr 27 min
Synopsis: Instant setup Street (2018), a new threat is introduced to the townsfolk of Chanderi – a headless creature who abducts women into another dimension. Vicky (Rao) misses his girlfriend (Kapoor) and dreams about her. But all hell breaks loose when his friend Bittu’s (Khurrana) girlfriend becomes the headless ghost’s latest target. Vicky, Bittu and Rudra (Tripathi) decide that they need Stry’s help to defeat the headless ghost, who they call ‘Sarkata’.
Why it’s great: Street 2 It’s got big ideas but struggles to execute them properly, but the performances from Rao and Tripathi, along with a strong supporting cast, make it a lot of fun.
(Main character and featured images courtesy of AA Films)
Notes:
The information in this article is accurate as of the publication date.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Which horror movies are the best?
Many horror movies are entertaining. Usually, such movies are called horror comedies. Examples include Shaun of the Dead (2004), What We Do in the Shadows (2014), and Jennifer’s Body (2009).
What is the best horror movie in the world?
While there is no general agreement as to which is the greatest horror film of all time, lists of “Top 10 Horror Films of All Time” usually rank The Exorcist (1973) at the top.
What is the comedy-horror genre called?
The genre is simply called “horror comedy.”
Which is the scariest movie?
Some of the scariest horror movies of all time include The Exorcist (1973), The Shining (1980), The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974), Halloween (1978), Silence of the Lambs (1991), and Hereditary (2018).
