50 — (^) JULY 2019
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Ahead of the release of his Netflix series Typewriter, film-maker and
horror junkie Sujoy Ghosh click-clacks down memory lane – and it’s
lined with strange encounters of the creepy kind
A
ghost story always has a place in
everyone’s heart,” Sujoy Ghosh says,
“because it’s about hope; it’s a sign of
something very positive.” The director, best
known for boundary-pushing suspense
thrillers like Kahaani, Ahalya and, most recently,
Badla, is explaining why he thinks horror cinema
resonates with people everywhere, of all ages, across
generations. “If you believe in ghosts, in the afterlife, in
the supernatural, it takes the fear out of your heart.”
With the Netflix series Typewriter, which he’s
written and directed, Ghosh is venturing into the
darkness for the first time. “Typewriter’s about four
kids trying to find a ghost in their neighbourhood [in
Goa], and the adventures they have in the process,”
he summarises. Before you ask, he adds that it’s
inspired by Stranger Things (“Such fun, so scary and
adventurous; it’s the best thing I’ve seen in recent
times!”) as much as by “Enid Blyton and Alfred
Hitchcock, Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys.”
Ghosh does not care to read too deeply into the
metaphorical underpinnings of a horror story, but
he does know what makes a good one. Take James
Wan’s The Conjuring: “It’s the bible of horror. It
ticks all the boxes on the list of what a horror story
should have: A family comes to a city, they’ll sense
something’s off but they’ll ignore it, there will always
be kids who’ll see things differently from the adults;
there’ll always be one Gandalf-type character. And, of
course, lots of pets.”
Not impressed by Asian horror, Ghosh says
the ones that’ve stuck with him are the films and
film-makers that “force you to see things or think
differently. I mean, who’d have thought a video
cassette or a restored car could give rise to a series of
unfortunate events?” Ghosh laughs, referring to Gore
Verbinski’s The Ring and John Carpenter’s Christine.
“And who’d think something as inanimate and basic
as a typewriter could be haunted? It’s when things
become unexpected that the magic begins.” WORDS: NIDHI GUPTA. IMAGE: ALAMY (MOVIE POSTERS)
A still from Typewriter;
(Below) Sujoy Ghosh and team on set
joyce
(Joyce)
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