I-Horror – a pioneering new genre of horror and paranormal films from India, coined and developed by Pritish Nandy Communications (PNC) and High Point Media Group – will kick off this year with The Accident. Directed by National Award winning director Abhijit Chaudhiri, The Accident, starring Shiney Ahuja and Soha Ali Khan, is just out of principal photography and starting in post-production.
In the meantime, plans are already underway between Pritish Nandy’s Mumbai-based PNC and Carey Fitzgerald’s London-based High Point Media Group for a number of other I-Horror genre titles. Three are all set to go into production in the coming months. Among them are The Pilgrim Express directed by Sanjay Khanduri and Of Brothers and Sisters by Kushan Nandy.
“The whole concept of I-Horror goes right to the very heart of what PNC and High Point share as a vision for bringing quality, uniquely-flavoured films from India to a wider, international audience,” says Fitzgerald. “As with the J-Horror phenomenon, for example, which is distinctly rooted in Japanese culture that is also exportable, I-Horror will be the new by-word distinguishing genuinely scary films that, by their vibrant colours and character, unmistakably herald from India but also tap into a wider consciousness,” she added.
High Point and PNC are consulting with each other on all aspects of development and editing for each I-Horror film, as Fitzgerald says, “to ensure the right balance is struck between appealing to an international audience while never forsaking the national identity that makes these films unique.”
Speaking from Mumbai, Pritish Nandy says: “I-Horror can be very exciting because it will open up an entirely new experience of scares. India offers a rich and unusual variety of sights and sounds that are entirely unique. We want to tap into them to create this genre and we are hoping that people across cultures will respond to them because of their universal idiom. That’s where the experience and expertise of High Point comes in, to reach these films to much larger audiences overseas than our traditional movies have addressed. Crossover may be too ambitious a word but if any kind of cinema can cross over easily, horror is the best example as we have seen in recent times with Japanese, Korean and Spanish films. I-Horror is India reaching out to a global audience.”
