The unexpected box office collections of Haunted 3D: Echoes of the Past, a supernatural film that made over ₹17 crore at last count without boasting of any big stars or marketing and promotional budgets, reinforces that horror is a theatrical-friendly genre in India.
Experts said the figures of low-budget titles like Haunted or Hollywood flick Obsession, which crossed ₹80 crore in India, and Munjya ( ₹107 crore), prove the genre doesn’t depend on star value. It is also easier to recover investments in such films, even in a volatile business environment.
“Horror has always travelled in India, but historically it travelled on the back of established properties. Shaitaan, Tumbbad, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Stree, the Conjuring universe and Final Destination worked because audiences already knew them. What is new is that films with no recognizable face, modest budgets and no franchise are now doing the same thing, and that is the shift worth noticing,” said Ashish Misra, head of commercialization at theatre operator Cinepolis India.
Audiences are picking scripts and storytelling over scale, Misra added. The community experience horror offers is hardly true for any other category or scale of cinema across languages.
“Horror also happens to be one of the most theatrical experiences you can have. A scare lands differently in a full hall than it does on a phone, and that shared reaction is a big part of why these films spread by word-of-mouth rather than by marketing spend,” he said.
Sanjeev Kumar Bijli, executive director of multiplex chain PVR Inox Ltd, agreed that watching a horror film in a packed cinema is fundamentally different from watching it alone at home. The collective reactions, the suspense and the emotional engagement make the experience more immersive, which is why horror performs exceptionally well on the big screen, Bijli pointed out.
Risk-reward
“We’re also seeing audiences become far more content-led in their choices. Younger moviegoers, in particular, are increasingly willing to discover new talent and original stories if the premise is exciting and the storytelling is convincing. Horror lends itself well to this because it relies more on atmosphere, emotion, and execution than on star power,” Bijli said.
From a business perspective, the genre offers a strong risk-reward equation. Horror films are often produced on relatively modest budgets, allowing them to deliver healthy returns even without blockbuster openings. They generate conversations across social media, with audience reactions and memorable moments encouraging organic word-of-mouth, Bijli added.
In the case of Obsession, momentum was built almost entirely through audience recommendations and social media conversations. Films like Backrooms have shown that when the idea is compelling, audiences are more than willing to embrace fresh filmmakers and new faces.
Experts said the trend is not only about horror. Any film built on a strong premise, one that gives people a reason to watch it in a room full of strangers, can do the same thing. Word-of-mouth does not care about genre. It rewards films that get talked about. The titles most likely to benefit are concept-first ones, where the idea itself is the draw and not the cast or the campaign.
“What we can learn from the success of small or mid-budget films in any genre is the importance of a big idea that has not been explored before. When an idea succeeds, it opens doors for several fresh concepts,” said Anand Pandit, co-producer of Haunted. “We need to look at literature, folk tales, mythology, urban myths, survival stories in post-apocalyptic scenarios and other unexplored areas to find new ideas for horror films.”