Spook speak

Are the sets of a horror show as creepy as the show itself? Can they help you get rid of your fear of ghosts? We try and find out over five hours on the sets of Koi Aane Ko Hai

Ten' o clock on a rainy night. A deserted college. Girl wandering around. No, she's not about to be murdered in the manner of slasher flicks. It so happens that Atharva College in Malad West is where the unit of horror mini-series, Koi Aane Ko Hai, is shooting for one of their stories Mrityudand. Nope, no homework or backgrounder research was needed for this story... watching the trailer was scary enough.

The entire campus is enveloped in darkness except for a crackling light that washes over one end of the grounds time and again. It's not lightning. Suddenly, there's a piercing yell. Almost at the same time a motorbike screeches to a halt behind me. The rider in a dark raincoat with a dark helmet could pass off for the 'hook-man' from I Know What You Did Last Summer, except that it's this newspaper's photographer.

There's a tall stepladder just outside the main college building, high on which a bored-looking guy is seated. He's holding on to two electric rods. At "Action", he brings them in contact and sparks are emitted. The rest of the crew huddles close in a corridor on the ground floor.

Creepy shot in men's room
A sweaty kid wearing a green shirt sitting on a bench looks freaked out. Why? Well you'd freak out too if you were in a dark corridor with crackling light in intervals and a kid in a black jacket staring sinisterly at you. Green shirt's eyes grow bigger, more horrified. Black jacket comes closer and suddenly lunges for his throat. Green shirt yells bloody murder. Someone else screams with him, except that it's "Cut." Black jacket moves behind quickly and smoothens his hair. Green shirt is still huffing. Lights out. First scene canned. "He ate raw meat before this," says one of the production guys of black jacket. "Not for real of course," he adds with a smile, when I turn to look at him. Apparently, the creepiest shot will be one in the men's room. When? "Soon," says the production guy, non-committal.

As the action moves to the staircase (there's a minor scuffle in which black jacket tosses green shirt down the stairs), we spot a kaleidoscope of colours on the wall. It's a typical college and the production crew seems to be all right with the brackets of darkness at regular intervals. To me, the various labs and sections look creepy, not to mention the classrooms. Anyway, Mrityudand is a tale of revenge. College kid (who's possessed black jacket) wants to make fellow students pay for not letting him woo his ladylove.

Creepazoids on location
The director guffaws when asked about creepy vibes on the set. He mentions an actress who got into two near accidents involving a shaft and a four-wheeler on another set of the same story but got out without a scratch. "That's not creepy!" he says. "Dekho, teen bhootni aayi," comments the production guy. Indeed, three giggling girls march to the ground floor from the staircase. "Junior artistes," he decodes quietly to me.

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All of a sudden, the crew shuffles up the stairs. The ground floor is pitch dark. Before the night can come get us, we scramble to the first floor. There's the comforting hum of ceiling fans in classrooms here but there's also the rain lashing outside. Extras walk in and out of a pink classroom. In a blue classroom next door, a naked yellow bulb lights up a desk and bench. A trolley is being set up for the camera. The actors and director have vanished. The crew lounges about while we plant ourselves on the stairs leading to the second floor, sipping on cutting chai. On an impulse, I take up a challenge. I walk up to the second floor and stroll around. Two metres and the lightning lights up the dark second floor. And I'm back downstairs. Never claimed to be brave anyway.

Water torture
Forty-five minutes later. The actors and director are back. Feel sorry for green shirt. In this scene, he's to be force-fed water. In the first take, black jacket is kind and only pretends to make him drink a bottle. "Achche se pilaa" booms the director. And then gets up to demonstrate. Another retake. This time half the bottle spills on to green shirt and director is pleased until the trolley guy fumbles. Hell hath no fury like a director disobeyed. A break is called for and green shirt is led out so his shirt can be speed dried and ironed out. Anyway, with much ado, the scene is finally canned.

Ghost, ghost na raha
2 am. Production guy signals that spook scene is about to be shot. Where: the washroom. What: Green shirt (still freaked out) is watching his black-jacketed friend closely, who washes his face. Black jacket looks up in mirror, reflection is that of the ghost. Before green shirt can yell "Bhaago bhoot!", ghost is replaced by black jacket.



The whole crew crowds outside the men's washroom. The lights are all out... we wait in the corridor. Suddenly, a bloke walks past me. He's in a regular check shirt and jeans, hair stylishly mussed up. But there are streaks of mud on his face alternating with streaks of blood. His eyes are milky white. And when he smiles...
"That's who's possessed the hero," explains the director. Mr Ghost poses gamely for the camera, head automatically turning to one side, eyes glinting. I get away. And inch closer to the set in the washroom.

Downstairs, a man walks quickly to avoid getting wet in the rain. "Is he for real?" asks the photographer. I turn to glare at him and turn back to look down. The man is nowhere to be seen. Oh... K.

Shot ready. The crew, camera and we squeeze into the washroom. No CGI, no other tricks, informs the production guy proudly. This I've got to see. Black jacket and bhoot take turns to hide at each other's feet.

One rises up, the other dives down and vice versa. It's pretty neat and pretty freaky. "Like sex on toast!" says black jacket after 'Cut'.

The first real scare
3 am. We walk out. As the crowd outside the washroom thins out, I feel a tap on my shoulder and someone breathes in my ear, "Woooo hoooo!" I whip around and nearly fall down. Bhoot smiles apologetically. He's missing one milky eye which doesn't help. "Please use both my normal and bhoot-wala pictures," he calls after me. Hau2026 we'll see!