Fear through horror has been provoked for more than a century now. Frightening imaginary of ghosts eliciting cruelty have played hard on our primal fears, but the thing to wonder is, whether this is the only kind of horror we know today? Perhaps there’s more. Suraj Prasad, the founder of Lightcube Film Society, has pondered deep on the subject and his findings are for everyone to see through a film festival called, Horror in the Bylanes, which encapsulates many kinds of horror, one such being urban horror. “The idea is to expand the definition of the word in the modern context and liberate it from its popular associations. It should be seen as an emotional or, in certain cases, ethical response to a situation,” says Prasad.
The films present a narrative on modernity of industries, apartment complexes, institution premises, office campuses and landfills, which automatically elicit both confusion and terror for a new entrant. “The screenings, introductions, reading sessions and discussions that comprise the series identify the city as an alive, vital, shape-shifting beast, which mutates its physical form on a daily basis, and as a result quickly renders itself unrecognisable even to those who are its long-term residents,” he explains.
Expanding on the meaning of the word horror, Prasad exposes audiences to its other meanings. Needless to say, ghosts form a small part of that exposure. The festival too, does not contain only films with ghouls and ghosts, but also those about the city inducing in its citizens a feeling of being afraid. The idea is inspired from day-to-day living, survival and engagement with one’s own environment in the city.
The stories being screened are Jagte Raho, about the life of a poor peasant who relocates to Bombay; The Face of Another, a story about a businessman who, once scarred in a laboratory fire, obtains a lifelike mask; A History of Fear, about a hot summer, a private district with a park, an abandoned plot of land, and how an uncontrollable wave of smoke sparks uncertainty, and many more. Different people will connect with the films differently, but Prasad personally loves the Neighbouring Sounds, a human story full of frailties and strengths. “It’s neither overwhelming nor dry. It is grounded in everyday reality and yet feels foreign. It’s definitely a film that needs patience, but what does’t? I am also excited about The Tenant,” he says smiling.
Till September 7, every Wednesday, at Greenr, Shahpur Jat. 7 pm onwards.