Gehrayee (1980)

Cast:

Padmini Kholapure
Shreeram Lagoo
Amrish Puri
Anant nag


Analysis:

While the basic plot of the movie is about Possession, 'Gehrayee' is more about a happy family pushed into tragedy because of  past deeds of the Family head. It's a movie with a very serious tone which is very rare among the Bollywood horror flicks released during the 70's and 80's. Nothing really happens in the movie for the whole time other than crying, family dinners, breakfasts and occasional weird behavior from the Possessed.

The Possession of the young girl slowly starts to put the family apart,constant son & dad fights, long discussions about to which doctor the girl should be taken to and what treatment she needs to have. As the movie progresses towards the end the intensity reaches the next stage as all the plans to cure the girls illness start to fail. Well the girls possession comes to an end ,she is fine and everything looks green but still there are 20 odd minutes left in the movie which sort of act like a revelation behind the evil happenings and a climax which  made me think of a David Fincher classic.

'Gehrayee' is an absolute delight if you are looking for some serious acting in the 80's Bollywood horror.Starring Anant nag (Introduced in a 'Shyam Benegal' movie) ,Shreeram Lagoo, the talented Padmini Kholapure as the possessed teen, and a brief role by the greatest villan of Bollywood 'Amrish Puri' this movie was bound to be acted well.The Directorial combo Vikas Desai-Aruna Raje did a great job in making a 2 hour long intriguing supernatural horror. The music needs a special mention as it transforms from a brighter happy tone into a tragic unsettling tone as the movie progresses.

Overall 'Gehrayee' is the best movie about Possession that came out from Bollywood and needs to be seen by every genuine fan (everyone I say) of Bollywood horror flicks.