What are some of the best scary films that have been made in recent years? (2010 and onward)

 WARNING: THERE’S PROBABLY A BUNCH OF SPOILERS:

I’ll give a few scary movies from 2010 and on that I adore:

The Babadook (2014):

Some people hate this movie, others love it.

I love it :)

This is one of those modern movies that are actually really scary. There’s a lot of garbage nowadays but this film is scary in several ways. It’s got the scary pop-outs, creepy-looking villains, and ominous music but it’s pretty psychologically damaging. The concept of the movie is that a monster released from a children’s book torments a family (a mother and her young son) and tries to kill them from the inside out. The Babadook’s plan is to possess the mother, murder the dog, and then strangle the son. It’s pretty messed up. I hate mother killing children stories. That f’s my mind up.

How about the fact that the acting is frighteningly accurate too?

The acting in this film is purely amazing!

These actors deserve Oscars for their performances. The amount of screaming, fear, crying, feelings of pure terror, sleeplessness, anger, regret, and different emotions involved in this movie is impressive. They put on a damn good show!

Also, this part is creepy as hell:

The mother has been tormented over and over again by this demon and at this point she just wants to sleep a little bit.

Hell no, she’s not getting that!

At this point, she knows The Babadook’s plan but can’t do anything because it continually possesses her and makes her try and kill her son.

She sits down on the couch to watch some TV and flips to the news channel. There’s a story about a mother who recently murdered her son with a kitchen knife. The camera crew shows the exterior of HER house. They say the mother went crazy and killed her young boy and murdered the dog too, then showing her name on the screen.

If that isn’t creepy enough, the camera zooms into the window, showing her own face creepily staring out:

Seeing a report from the future that you killed your own son is horrifying, then seeing your face looking out the window. What the actual…

Next,

The Conjuring (2013)/ The Conjuring 2 (2016):

I’m not going to go into much detail other than these movies disregard all of the shittiness of modern paranormal movies and make them good again.

They’re both extremely scary and really good films with tons of twists, great characters, and interesting adaptations of ghost stories.

Check them out if you want modern scary.

Next,

You’re Next (2011):

I wouldn’t say this is very scary but it is a great modern horror movie.

It involves a family at a cottage/house for a reunion/vacation when a group of masked hitmen start picking them off and terrorizing them.

It seems like a typical modern movie but these filmmakers are geniuses as they include many twists and deny the modern horror trope of foolish, hopeless victims. The main protagonist is a very intelligent woman who actually takes the bull by the horns in this situation and fights back smart.

This is a great modern horror movie.

Lastly,

Hush (2016):

I saw this on Netflix one night and became extremely intrigued.

This film is about a deaf writer living alone in a house in the woods while a masked killer terrorizes her in her home.

I wouldn’t say this film is too scary either but the concept of being hunted by a killer and not being able to hear is pretty cool.
I will say, you won’t see a movie like this any time soon. It is creative in its concept, interesting, and very fast-moving.

The best part of the movie is that it brings up many more questions than answers and creates hope in the horror genre.

Why isn't Prakash Jha as popular as other Bollywood directors despite his films winning so many national awards?

 Because he is confused director. He doesn't know whether he is a hard hitting filmmaker or a commercial filmmaker. Result is highly inconsistent and neither here nor there scenario. If done well they won National awards but otherwise they fail critically and commercially.

Prakash Jha started his career with documentaries, made his film debut with Hip Hip Hurray made on Football and was critically accalimed. Then he hard hitting films on caste system and corruption. I still believe that Damul (1984) is his best film till date which not many people have seen but it is one of the grim, stark portrayal of caste politics in Bihar. The film won him both Filmfare as well as National award. His arty films like Damul or Parinati earned him a lot of acclaim but perhaps not much money. So he veered towards working with big stars and big projects. So since 90’s Prakash Jha has been oscillating between socially relevant cinema and commercial cinema. He made Mrityudand with Madhuri Dixit on the corrupt priestly classes (unfortunately a flop commercially), Gangajal and Apharan both with Ajay Devgan, both hard hitting movies and both won National awards and were commercially succesful too. He also made Raajneeti, his most successful film commercially and a very successful web series Aasham.

Now to the flip side. He has been very inconsistent in his content particularly when he is in a commercial setup. He has made middling films like Bandish, Dil Kya Kare, Rahul and even his socially conscious films after Rajneeti like Aarakshan, Chakravyuh, Satyagrah, Jai Gangajal etc didn't had the requisite impact either critically or commercially. Also as a producer only his record is pretty bad. Most of his films as producer are either utter crap (Turning 30, Crazy Cuckad Family, Fraud Saiyan) or underappreciated films (Dil Dosti etc, Ye Sali Zindagi, Lipstick under my Burkha). Not to tell that except Lipstick….which did moderate business all his films purely as producer have flopped. Even his recent web series Sankalp received underwhelming response.

Adding to the woes is his stint as an actor, like in Jai Gangajal where he gave so much footage to himself as an actor that the central core of the film didn't remain on Priyanka and the film suffered due to a weak protagonist. He is a decent enough actor but he cannot pull people in his name as an actor like he tried to do in Jai Gangajal.

Can you name some actors who have played negative roles in Tamil films?

 List of tamil actors who have played negative role

1. Rajinikanth

Moondru Mudichu, Avargal, 16 Vayathinile (Parattai), Gayathri

Aarilirunthu Arubathu Varai (grey shades)

Netrikkan (negative character in a dual role)

Billa (1980), Enthiran (evil Chitti)

2. Kamal Haasan

Sigappu Rojakkal, Aalavandhan

Nandhu/Chandru, a psychotic antagonist

Dasavathaaram

(Christian Fletcher, the main villain)

Kalki 2898 AD (Supreme Yaskin, the primary antagonist)

Aadu Puli Attam

3. Chiyaan Vikram

Iru mugam (2016), sci-fi action thriller, actor Vikramplays both the hero (RAW agent Akila and the antagonist. a pharmaceutical mastermind and eccentric international dealer known as Love.

4. Ajith Kumar

Vaali and Mankatha are generally regarded as Ajith's most famous negative-shaded performances..more like Anti-hero role but not villain.

5. Thalapathi Vijay

Azhagiya Tamil Magan

This is the only movie where vijay played dual role as protagonist and antagonist role as Prasad, lead actress Shriya Saran accidentally met Prasad considering as Guru, later Prasad has several naughty plan to kill Shriya Saran and Guru tried to Revenge with him.

6. Suriya Sivakumar

24 (2016) Athreya Role, Sethuraman’s Twin brother, Athreya is targeting his brother for his watch he needs,

7. Karthi

Kashmora (2016)

He notably played dual role, one negative role, and one protagonist role

Raj Nayak, a tyrannical and lustful ancient war load. He serves as the main villain haunting the forbidden bungalow..where the protagonist gets trapped

9. Arunvijay

Yennai Arindhaal (2015), Bruce leee (2015) Chakravyuva (2016)

Interesting thing is Arun Vijay is the only actor who played negative role in different film industry like Tamil, Telugu and Kannada instead of doing only tamil,

10. Vijay Sethupathi

Vikram Vedha Sethupathi played anti-hero role

Dreaded gangster and primary antagonist to the police force. However as the narrative progresses, the line between hero and villain blurs, vithakkara police force (led by SP Surendhar/Abbas) and the drug load Ravi revealed as the true masterminds.

11. Vishal

Villain (2017) and Mark Antony

12. Jayam Ravi

Aadhi Bhagavan (2013) 2013 Tamil action film, the lead antagonist is Bhagavan, an effeminate underworld don based in Mumbai. He shares a strikingly identical face with the film's protagonist, a Bangkok-based smuggler named Aadhi. Both characters were played by Jayam Ravi in a dual role.

13. Arya

Varudu (2011) and Enemy (2021)

14. Jiiva

Singam Puli, where Jeeva played the antagonist is Ashok..the evil twin brother of the protagonist, Shiva. Both characters were played by actor Jiiva

15. Silambarasan

Manmadhan., Chekka Chivantha Vaanam

16. Dhanush

Puthupettai (2006), Mayakam Enna (2011), kara (2016), Naane Varuvean (2022)

Dhanush played as dual role in naane Varuvean psychological thriller, portraying both the protagonist and his terrifying, psychopathic twin brother who serves as the film's primary antagonist.

17. Bharat

Notable film, Spyder (2017)

Bharath notably played a negative role as one of the antagonists, but not main villain

Chellamae (2004) , Kadugu (0217)

18. Jai

Pattampoochi, (in the 2022 Tamil psychological thriller Pattampoochi, the antagonist is Sudhakar an ultra-violent, artistic serial killer who also suffers from Tourette syndrome. This chilling villain role was played by actor Jai marking his first time portraying a negative character.

Among the major Tamil stars, Rajinikanth is one of the actors who played the most villain roles early in his career.

Ajith Kumar is known for anti hero grey shades roles rather than outright villains

Arun Vijay and Vijay Sethupathi played numerous villain role.

Vijay and Suriya played only few Negative role

Till now Actors like Udhayanidhi Stalin, Ashok Selvan, Atharavaa, Sivakarthikeyan, Santhanu Bhagyaraj, didn't experiment any villain role.

Actor Prashant rarely do any negative role

What are some other underappreciated films where a single actor's performance elevates the entire movie?

 Agni Sakshi (1996)

Yes it is a remake of the film “Sleeping with the enemy” (Alongside Yaarana and Daraar).

The film starts off in a sluggish manner with Jackie Shroff falling for Manisha Koirala and doing creepy stuff to woo her. Honestly, Jackie Shroff looked top old for romance and the only reason you go through this portion is because of good songs. After lot of efforts hero heroine are married and go for Honeymoon. And here enters Nana Patekar.

And the whole film is elevated to another level. Nana Patekar single handedly infused so much power to the film with such a ruthless character..he doesn't try to act psychotic or d*ranged. He delivers a brilliant performance with a straight face that you will marvel at his acting. The film went on to become a Blockbuster hit and Nana Patekar deservingly won a National Award for Best Supporting actor. Remove him from the film and it is run of the mill film. But Nana Patekar made the film memorable with his performance.

The film needs to be seen once not for its plot perhaps for its music. Manisha Koirala is good, and Jackie Shroff is pasaable but it is to be watched largely because of Nana Patekar.

What are the five unforgettable films of Dilip Kumar?

 Dilip Kumar: Five unforgettable films

Dilip Kumar in Bimal Roy’s Devdas (1955).

Veteran Hindi film actor Dilip Kumar, who breathed his last on Wednesday morning, had not worked actively in the last two decades. But the 98-year old, credited with having introduced the concept of ‘method acting’ to Hindi cinema, has been acknowledged as an inspiration by stars across generations, ranging from Amitabh Bachchan to Shah Rukh Khan and Nawazuddin Siddiqui.

Though known as the ‘Tragedy King,’ his over 50-year long career saw him dabble in diverse genres including comedy and drama. We take a look at five of his films that make him immortal.

Devdas (1955): Director Bimal Roy’s adaptation of the classic novel saw Kumar play the self-destructive alcoholic lover, a role that had already been immortalized by KL Saigal and was later attempted by Shah Rukh Khan and Abhay Deol. The award-winning performance saw him feature alongside Suchitra Sen in her Bollywood debut and Vyajayanthimala.

Naya Daur (1957): A relevant take on the social changes taking place in newly independent India, the BR Chopra-directed film saw Kumar deliver another award-winning performance. Featuring Vyanjayanthimala again alongside the actor, the film was coloured and re-released in 2007.

Mughal-e-Azam (1960): Director K. Asif’s epic historical drama that took over a decade to complete, is said to have served as an inspiration to countless larger-than-life Bollywood spectacles over the years, including Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s Devdas (2002). Kumar plays Prince Salim who falls in love with a court dancer against his father, Emperor Akbar’s wishes. Having held the record for the highest grossing Indian film for 15 years after its release, a colourized version was released in 2004.

Gunga Jumna (1961): Kumar also wrote and produced the film about two siblings on opposite sides of the law, which later inspired hits like Yash Chopra’s Deewar (1975). His command over the Awadhi dialect is said to serve as a lesson in acting classes even today.

Ram Aur Shyam (1967): Kumar’s rare comic performance saw him play twins separated at birth, a trope that has led to several hits like Seeta Aur Geeta (1972), ChaalBaaz (1989), Kishen Kanhaiya (1990) and Gopi Kishan (1994), over the years. The blockbuster also starred Waheeda Rehman and Mumtaz.

What are the flop films of John Abraham?

 John Abraham has an astounding percentage of flops in his career, for every hit he has, he has delivered atleast 4–5 flops and his success ratio is below 30% which is very bad for a lead actor. Also most of his hits are multi starrer films where he often had the supporting roles. He has worked in around 50 movies with only 15 successful films (many of them average grossers if we remove that the hit percentage falls to 20%)

His flop movies include-

Saaya- Flop but critically acclaimed

Paap- Flop

Aetbaar- Disaster

Lakeer- Disaster

Karam- Flop

Viruddh- Flop

Kabul Express- Below Average but acclaimed

Babul- Flop

Dhan Dhana dan Goal- Flop

Force2- Flop

Attack- Disaster

Satyamev Jayate 2- Disaster

Diplomat- Flop but high acclaim

Vedaa- Disaster

Ek Villain Returns- Flop

Madhoshi- Flop

Jhootha hi Sahi- Disaster

I Me aur Main- Flop

Romeo Akbar Walter- Flop

Zinda- Flop

Mumbai Saga- Flop

Pagalpanti- Disaster

Water- Flop but high acclaim

Force- Below Average

Rocky Handsome- Flop but acclaimed

Elaan- Flop

No Smoking- Disaster but acclaimed

Tehran- OTT release didn't get views but acclaimed

Desi Boys- Below Average

7 Khoon Maaf- Flop but acclaimed

Salaam E Ishq- Disaster

Aashayein- Disaster

Many of his films did Average business like Dostana, Kaal, Parmanu, Madras Cafe, Shootout at Wadala, Dishoom etc. So his clean hits are less than 10.