Saasha Shyam Ramsay: I think the horror content created by my family is legendary – Times of India

Most movie buffs have seen at least one of the horror movies made by the Ramsay Brothers – who created an entire brand of horror films and were known as the pioneers of that genre in India. Settled in India post-partition, the family was led by FU Ramsay, who had made several films before he was inspired by a sequence in his production, Ek Nanhi Munni Ladki Thi (1970), to make horror films. He made Do Gaz Zameen Ke Neeche in 1971, based on a story his daughter Asha had narrated. Made on a shoestring budget, the film ran to packed houses. Over the years, the Ramsay family, which consisted of seven brothers, made about 30 films, including films like Guest House (1980), Veerana (1988), Purana Mandir (1984), Purani Haveli (1989), Darwaza (1979) and Bandh Darwaza (1990), Saboot (1980) and also the TV series Zee Horror Show. Most of these films were co-directed by brothers Shyam Ramsay and Tulsi Ramsay. We spoke to Saasha, Shyam Ramsay’s daughter, about her family’s legacy and how she plans to keep it alive.

“The content my family has made is legendary,” says Saasha, adding, “I don’t care what people have to say; they are entitled to an opinion, but I am proud of the work my uncles, my dad and my grandfather have done. In fact, I have completed a feature film called Motel and a short film, Leakage, whose post-production is underway. I’m also making another horror feature with a popular producer. I’m learning from my father’s work. I still remember we were in school at that time when dad was making Veerana and Purani Haveli. He had once seen a melted eclair which gave him the idea to create the witch’s hairdo. He had heard the sound of the hot tawa’s sizzle in the kitchen with droplets of water on it. It gave him ideas about sound design. It’s amazing how my dad and uncles created all the stuff that you can easily download from the internet today. It took so much creativity to do that. I remember one day, a friend of mine came home and saw the witch’s attire from Veerana being dried on a balcony. ‘Tere ghar mein witch hai kya,’ my friend asked me. Another time, we came to the breakfast table to find the witch’s dentures kept in a glass bottle on the table to be taken to the set. We grew up in a house seeing these visuals, which to us were quite funny.”

With the turn of the millennium, the number of films made by the Ramsay family dwindled. After a point, Shyam Ramsay continued to run the show, making movies as and when he was excited by an idea. He passed away in September 2019, after which Saasha has stepped in to create content. Subsequently, earlier this year, it was reported that producer Priti Sinha and actor-producer-director Ajay Devgn had acquired rights for a biographical drama about the Ramsay Brothers. “My family is huge, but Priti managed to convince them all. It was my father’s dream project, and now, when I know how well it is shaping up, I really miss him because he would have been so proud of this content. Finally, people will get to know the real story behind what it took to create the Ramsay brand of horror.”