Why Bollywood shuns proper gore horror?

[Menon]

Most Bollywood horror movies feel the same - jump scares, screaming, weird lens effects and that's about it. They rarely actually scare you; it's more repetitive.

I'd love to see something like Evil Dead - demonic possession, brutal gore and creative horror instead of the usual haunted‑house formula.

Is it censorship, budgets, or do filmmakers think Indian audiences don't want that kind of horror?

[Monica]

Maybe it's the censor board?

[Ronit]

Bollywood is still young and the audience isn't ready for real gore. Even Hollywood had to nurture niche fans with movies like Saw, Terrifier, Evil Dead etc. The biggest recent hit, Obsession, isn't really gory - just that car scene.

[Vinay]

Bollywood is all about the gore genre... nobody is kaala... everyone is gore

[Madhav]

The last truly gory Bollywood horror I saw was Rise Of the Zombie starring Luke Kenny (from Rock On and Sacred Games). I watched it in a sparsely‑filled theatre.

It had proper gore with great prosthetics but zero story. It vanished without a trace.

In India, most theatre visits are family outings or couples on dates, and they won't sit through disgusting scenes. Cinephiles have mostly moved to OTT, so if a film wants box‑office business it avoids gore, even in horror.

On OTT there are decent horror options with moderate gore like the web series Ghoul, Betaal or Khauff that you can try.

[Devendra]

Gore is pricey and hard to pull off.. producers were paying pennies to technicians back in the 2000s.

[Farhan]

Darji wale chacha log Censor Board pe kaam karte hain isliye

[Irfan]

These days most Bollywood horror films are either cheap CGI messes or horror‑comedies.

Proper horror has become quite rare in Bollywood now.

[Darshan]

Why isn't Bollywood making horror movies like Darna Zaroori Hai or Kaalo, which were genuinely scary, instead of films like Raaz where the lead just screams?

[Tarun]

They want to earn from all audience segments. Even Hollywood rarely makes R‑rated movies because it can hurt profits.

[Aman]

I think we as an audience aren't ready for full‑blown horror. When Shapit or 1920 came out, even small moments terrified people and left a big impact. It's also cultural - we grew up watching Amitabh‑era heroes, then SRK and Salman as good guys, so we weren't keen on massive horror numbers. Vikram Bhatt tried to bring Western‑style horror to India but faced a lot of criticism. Maybe now, with horror‑comedy hits like Stree 2, Bhoot Bhulaiya 2 and the surprise success of Munjya, we'll see proper horror again. The worst part is that main stars often avoid these films to protect their image, so I appreciate Ajay Devgn for doing Kaala back then, Shaitaan's success, and the upcoming 1920 sequel that Vikram will direct after a long gap.