HORRO RETURNS TO TV WITH A VENGANCE!

The horror genre is back with a vengeance this season on television! Leading the pack is Sony's Khaufnaak , which replaces Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin next Monday. Although Khaufnaak follows a tried and tested formula, in the pipeline are shows that will explore uncharted horizons of the horror genre in the coming weeks.

The horror genre has seen a lot of changes since the Ramsays' Zee Horror show, where the terror came from chopped off body parts, blood and gore. The actors were usually not from mainstream television. To compete with this Zee show, Sony launched Aahat. Produced by Fireworks, the show started off as a pure thriller but later, the stories started having a paranormal touch. Then in Aahat 2 or Aachanak 37 Saal Baad, there was nothing new on offer, except that known faces stared at us with blood on their faces.

But times have changed and so have sensibilities. Horror is no longer about victimised spirits coming back to earth to avenge their deaths; or huge banyan trees housing evil spirits. Horror now is more subtle and makers are now not averse to experimenting with the genre.

Zee's Kaun Hai, due for launch in the next few weeks, is an example. Complete with an original format, this is a reality show based on the paranormal.The show's format is bound to raise a few eyebrows. "It's the craziest thing ever attempted on television," says producer Girish Mallik, who has already canned seven episodes of the show.

"We have researched on haunted destinations and we have a huge amount of testimony to support the show. We will be using high tech equipment to gauge the heartbeat and anxiety levels of contestants who will be in pitch dark houses....houses that are said to be haunted. There will be unbelievable visuals as we'll be tracking the contestants through radio frequency cameras and GPRS technology," adds Mallik.

Kaun Hai isn't the only show this season that deals with the paranormal. Fireworks has a heavy dose of the supernatural in its soon to be launched show, Akeyla. Talking to Tellychakkar.com, supervising producer, Fireworks, Yash Patnaik says, "This is something that has never been tried before. It's a blend of the supernatural and the thrilling. It's the biggest show that we have done so far. I am sure that it will set some high standards." There is a big shift from horror shows that we were kept away from and the shows that will soon occupy our homes this season.

This shift is similar to the one that's currently in vogue in Bollywood. Picturisation, sound effects and camera angles will play a very important part of these shows which will depend on high definition softwares to get the desired effects. "Khaufnaak has been picturised very well and that is it's USP. It will deal with different aspects of the supernatural...including things like witchcraft!" says director, Kanchan Adhikari.

Khaufnaak features tales of horror - super natural entities, black magic, evil spirits, the dead rising from their graves to avenge themselves - the usual dose of the conventional time tested formula for those who are happy with plain old fear!

Here's a heady mix of very 'chilling' content that's sure to glue viewers to their television sets. Fear will have a whole new meaning this season and if you have a weak heart....stay away!