TFI Horror Journey: Pathala Bhairavi To Raja Saab!

Horror is one of the safest bets in the film industry to score success. We have seen many successful horror films across various languages in the world, and most of them follow a definite pattern. If one cracks that pattern well, then they can score a hit with a horror film. Even in the Telugu film industry, there is a proven pattern for every decade of successful horror films. Here is a look at them.

During the early days of Telugu cinema, many horror films had a “Mantrikudu” (sorcerer) as an antagonist. Filmmakers used to give creepy costumes to these roles to make actors look scarier. Director Vittalacharya is known for delivering horror films with a sorcerer as the antagonist. Films from the 1930s to the early 1990s had many sorcery-based horror stories. Movies like Pathala Bhairavi and Bhairava Dweepam also have this concept.

When we reached the 90s and early 2000s, we got to see many horror films where humans turned into ghosts to seek revenge. Films like Rathri, Deyyam, Muni, Arundhati, Kanchana, 13B, and Chandramukhi deal with this concept. This has proven to be the most successful horror formula in Telugu cinema.

Over the last decade and a half, many films have with sorcerers doing black magic not in isolated caves or secluded places but in human spaces. Films like Polimera, Masooda, and Virupaksha came up with these concepts and scored hits.

Looking ahead, upcoming films like The Raja Saab are set to experiment further with horror elements. It remains to be seen how audiences will receive them and what new layers the genre will add in the years to come.