If getting spooked gives you a high and the thrill of supernatural encounters sends a welcome shiver down your spine, chances are you would remember the two seasons of Fear Files that were telecast in 2012 and 2015 on Zee TV.
The third season is now on air and Sukesh Motwani and Mautik Tolia, who created the show as the channel’s erstwhile heads of fiction and script, are back but this time as producers, helming Bodhitree Productions.
On the sidelines of a promotional event for the show, Motwani pointed out how the genre was introduced on Indian television in 1993 as Zee Horror Show. “The Ramsay Brothers, who produced it, were influenced by American horror films like The Evil Dead and The Exorcist, and depended a lot on props like masks. It was a weekly show that carried on for four-five years,” he said.
Fifteen years on, others have picked up the genre. “But in 2012, no one was doing horror in a credible way. The rush of fear was missing in TV viewing. We thought we could do it in a documentary style. So we collated real life accounts, true urban legends that had been printed in newspapers and other mediums, and got actors to narrate the stories in a video diary format.
“It was a new way to introduce horror on TV, through credible accounts of paranormal incidents. We were picking on actual events, going back to what seems to have happened,” Motwani added.
In the third season of the show, Motwani wants the scale to be grand. “Supernatural elements like rakshash are a part of our culture. We are treating the incidents as unexplained phenomena. Whether we believe it or not is a different matter. If I’m not spooked, it isn’t horror,” he said.
“Horror can be created through everyday objects. We are looking to create a weekend horror movie experience,” said Zee TV deputy business head Deepak Rajadhyaksha.
The third season of Fear Files features 30 episodes, airing every Saturday and Sunday at 10.30pm. Each episode recreates intriguing accounts of paranormal activity in settings such as a haunted skyscraper, an empty train bogie, a mysterious beach and a haunted hotel.
Sudeshna Banerjee
