Actor-filmmaker Satish Kaushik, who last directed Gangs of Ghosts in 2014, is set to return behind the camera once again. He has started work on his next directorial venture, titled Kaagaz. The film stars talented actor Pankaj Tripathi in the lead role.
Kaagaz, which started shooting in October in the Sitapur district of Uttar Pradesh, will be produced by superstar Salman Khan under his production banner, Salman Khan Films. The duo last teamed up for blockbuster film Tere Naam in 2003.
Based on a true incident, Kaagaz is set in Uttar Pradesh. It tells the story of a farmer called Lal Bihari who was declared dead on paper because his relatives, in cahoots with a corrupt official, wanted to snatch his land. Pankaj Tripathi will play the character of Lal Bihari in the movie.
“Satish Kaushik recently shot for a cameo in Bharat and that’s when he narrated the basic premise of his next to Salman. At the end of the narration, Salman was blown away by the concept and decided to produce as well as distribute the film under his banner,” reveals a source.
There is no update on the release date of the film.
Bollywood horror has gone mainstream: bigger budgets, big stars, family audiences.
Roots: Mahal (1949) to the Ramsay Brothers' cult run of the 1970s–80s.
Modern hits pair folklore with comedy, as seen in Tumbbad, Stree, Munjya, and now Thamma & Maa.
Technical leap: prosthetics and CGI have "gone to the next level"; budgets now reach mainstream scale.
Remember when Bollywood horror meant creaky doors in a haunted haveli and a woman in a white sari? Forget it. We are in an era where a ghost's main ambition is not revenge, but finding a wife, where ancient mythology collides with suburban kitchens, and a mother's love can literally summon a goddess. The genre has exploded into the mainstream, and clearly everyone is buying a ticket.
The horror revolution: How Bollywood turned ghosts, goddesses, and gore into gold Instagram/thammamovie/netflix_in/maddockfilms
Where did this all begin?
The lineage is long. Kamal Amrohi's Mahal (1949), a chilly, melodramatic original, is often cited as Hindi horror's starting point. The Ramsay Brothers then carried the torch through the 1970s and 80s, churning out roughly 30 low-budget creature features that made haunted havelis a cult staple. Their old formula was simple: lurid gore, sex, and cheap shocks because "blood and sex pulled crowds."
As Deepak Ramsay puts it, "There are new stories, fresh talent, and all of this is leading to a resurgence. Films that were once niche are turning out to be blockbusters."
Kamal Amrohi's Mahal Youtube Screengrab
Why is Bollywood horror trending now?
Two things: smarter storytelling and better tech. Filmmakers stopped copying Western ghosts and started mining local myths, as seen in Tumbbad and Stree, and they mixed scares with laughs.
"The moment you get scared, your first reaction after the shock is to laugh," Ram Gopal Varma says, and that laugh is the neat trick, making scares sharable.
Aditya Sarpotdar explains the appeal bluntly: "There is a huge audience wanting to watch such movies. When catering to mass audiences, humour becomes key." His Munjya proved it: "Children pulled their parents to theatres." You cannot get more mainstream than that.
For decades, horror was the B-movie cousin no one wanted to acknowledge. Big stars stayed away, the effects were cheap, and an 'Adults' certificate locked out half the family audience. But not anymore. Maa (June 2025) saw Kajol in a mythic, bloody role that shocked and thrilled the audience. Thamma (Diwali 2025) is being billed as "a bloody love story" with Ayushmann Khurrana and Rashmika Mandanna in a vampire-romance that pairs fangs with dance numbers. Sequels and studio universes hits like Stree 2, Chhorii 2, and lighter fare like The Bhootnii keep the pipeline full.
Deepak Ramsay even points to the tech shift: "From as little as £20,000 to make a horror film, now budgets are closer to £7.2 million."
Veterans say prosthetics and CGI have "gone to the next level," so monsters finally look convincing.
Bollywood horror is having a moment, and it's brilliant
However, the quick, messy truth is the genre still trips; it suffers from a tonal wobble and silly beats, but it is honest. Horror has stopped hiding at midnight and is selling tickets at matinées. Directors joke about the next move. "I would love to see Shah Rukh Khan attempt horror," says Sarpotdar, but the point is clear. What was once pulpy trash has become a lively, profitable stretch of mainstream cinema. It is rough around the edges, loud, sometimes ridiculous, and that is exactly why it is working.
By clicking the 'Subscribe’, you agree to receive our newsletter, marketing communications and industry
partners/sponsors sharing promotional product information via email and print communication from Garavi Gujarat
Publications Ltd and subsidiaries. You have the right to withdraw your consent at any time by clicking the
unsubscribe link in our emails. We will use your email address to personalize our communications and send you
relevant offers. Your data will be stored up to 30 days after unsubscribing.
Contact us at data@amg.biz to see how we manage and store your data.