A horrow show

In a cinema-frenzied country like India, it is interesting how very few filmmakers ventured into the horror genre. But there were the Ramsays. In the 1970s and ’80s the Ramsay brothers burst on to the scene with their horror filmmaking spree. They were “subaltern” and “disruptive too”. However, the industry refused to acknowledge them but the audience took to them with gusto.

Shamya Dasgupta’s book Don’t Disturb The Dead, which was launched in the city on Saturday, is the first-of-its-kind book on the lesser known filmy family — The Ramsays. As he said, “There is only one Ramsay family.” Present at the event were some of the family members who shared their memories of filmmaking. Also present was the iconic actor Ajay Agarwal (born Anirudh Agarwal), the man who would play the iconic monster in many of their films. Speaking on his experience working with the Ramsays, Ajay recalls a certain scene that was shot inside a coffin. “I was quite nervous. I constantly feared that they would leave me inside and forget about it,” he said eliciting a lot of laughter from the audience. But the interesting part, added Amit Ramsay, son of Arjun Ramsay, “Mind you it was being shot in a real graveyard. A real grave was dug and Ajayji was lowered inside and was covered with soil,” he remarked. Considering the risky ways the Ramsays often functioned, it was interesting that they got away with a lot
of sleaze in their film. With half-joking inhibiton, Arjun Ramsays said, “We would not mention the length of the film roll, so for the screening, we would chop the problematic scenes.”

Among others present at the event were Gangu Ramsay, the chief cinematographer for most Ramsay films and his son Chander. Although Gangu had been interested in photography, he read a particular book (5 C’s of Cinematography, a classic text for cinematographers) to learn everything about cinematography. “Every day I had to read a few pages and only then would get my pocket money from our father (F.U. Ramsay),” he said.

When asked to spill a few beans about his techniques, he revealed how he would make his monsters look taller than they were. “I would use the low angle technique. Put the camera low and point it upwards. In a film where I had shot Pritviraj Kapoor for Rustom Sohrab, where we had made special shoes which were 2-3 inches taller for him,” he said. Unfortunately, any print of the film is longer available.  

Speaking on the legacy that the Ramsays have left behind, Chander says, “We were the first family who brought horror in this country. And it’s great that we have so many people who still remembers us and appreciates our work,” he concluded.