Apr 30, 2026 2:17pm IST
Parambrata Chattopadhyay: Budget Woes and Cultural Elitism Stunt Growth Of the Horror Genre (EXCLUSIVE)
In the past few years, Bengali actor and filmmaker Parambrata Chattopadhyay has dived into the horror genre like a man on a mission. After series like “Parnashavarir Shaap,” “Nikosh Chhaya” and “Bhog,” he is back with a new Bengali web series, “Roktofolok,” headlined by Saswata Chatterjee on Hoichoi. In an EXCLUSIVE chat with Variety India, he spoke about breaking prejudices against horror content, his admiration for Rishab Shetty and what is holding back Bengali cinema from going pan-India.
Supernatural is your fave genre….
It has evolved as one of my favorite genres. I have always been fascinated with horror and the supernatural, but with time, it has taken on a shape of its own inside my head. The West approaches horror in a certain way. When we were growing up, there was “The Exorcist”(Think he may have meant this) and similar films like that. In our youth, we encountered films like “The Grudge,” “Ring,” and so on. Later, Jordan Peele did horror that was more political and cerebral. I decided that if we are starting with horror, it should have our own branding. In the last three years, I have tried to do that by incorporating the huge pantheon of gods and goddesses, especially the element of Tantrism in it. We have the supernatural elements, paticularly ones in the eastern part of the country who control these forces, and that’s the most fascinating thing about Shaktism. I wanted to have originality in our horror. We do not call it horror per se. We call it supernatural, mixed with a bit of mythology.
The 10 Mahavidyas, the pantheon of goddesses, feature in your projects…
That's my area of interest. You know each of the goddesses has such different manifestations of life, love, death, duality, etc. One is the destroyer and the other is the creator. There's the concept of the 64 Yoginis, the Shiva-Shakti union, and how it balances out the world… and very importantly, the cusp of Shakta Tantric practices and Buddhist Tantric practices. They have a huge overlap, which is also quite fascinating.
Related Stories
Movies like “Stree,” “Kantara” and “Tumbbad” traveled well pan-India. Why is West Bengal, with its richness in stories, lagging?
I'm going to give myself a little bit of credit for starting the genre here. There is a glass ceiling that exists in two layers. The bigger one is the preconceived notion that if you want to do something in the horror realm, you need more money. The Bengali film industry is much smaller compared to the others, and the primary concern was that if you want to make horror, you need a lot of effects, VFX, and CGI, which means a big expenditure. I believe horror films do require a little more money than, say, a drama, but a lot can be done with imagination and creating an atmosphere. The second factor is that there's a bit of a tendency to look down upon the genre as a lesser one. We tend to sort of deny that in the garb of saying that it's a difficult genre.
That holds even for Bollywood…such films are termed as ‘Bhooth wala pics’ or ‘Horrex’ (horror and sex)...
In the last seven years, the growth of horror has increased manifold, and the popularity of horror audiobooks is also enormous. But there has always been a steady audience for horror. I have been studying the genre since 2021, before I made my first horror series in 2023. It has been a bit of a challenge, or like a mission, to prove that it's not a lesser genre. A kind of cultural elitism sort of works against horror. This mindset and the lack of resources have stopped the genre from growing. This, even though we all love reading horror stories, Bengali literature is replete with fantastic horror stories. The greatest of authors have all written horror stories. From Tagore (Rabindranath Tagore) to Buddhadeva Bose. I think I have managed to break this mindset because of my conviction toward it. You cannot make such content with a skeptical or non-believer mind.
A top actress from West Bengal told me that non-Bengalis cannot absorb our stories (films and series) as they are too localized. Do you agree?
It's absolutely the wrong idea. Today, local is global. It is our loss that we have not managed to showcase our specificities and nuances to the rest of India. There is a carpet idea of Bengali women doing black magic. We have never cared to tell people of the country that you associate black magic with us because we are Shakti Poojaks. We, Bengali Hindus, are predominantly Shaktas. We believe in the Tamasic and the Rajasic forms. If we start celebrating it more and more, people will actually come to understand.
Are you saying own your roots?
Yes. Let's celebrate who we are, because that is how something as exotic and as esoteric as “Kantara” became so popular. Think about it. Did we know about Guliga earlier? Did you know that there is an avatar in the form of a boar? Half the country didn't even know that a place called Tulu Nad existed before “Kantara” happened. Not only did they dare, but they also dared to make it on that scale, which is what matters. Rishab Shetty had to believe in Guliga, in that world, in that atmosphere, to pull off that act in the last half an hour of “Kantara” One. You have to give people that! You have to do it with a certain scale and grandeur. So, with my limited resources, that's what I've tried to do. I've tried to bring in the scale, which you'll probably see in the trailer of “Roktofolok,” where there is a grandiose celebration of the supernatural.
Tell me about working with Saswata Chatterjee…
I have worked with him several times as a co-actor. I've directed him before. He is one of the most seasoned and crafted actors that we have in the country. I think two other actors are the surprise package of “Roktofolok.” One of them is this girl called Mohana Maiti, who plays the girl (Titli) in trouble. I have, after a very long time, come across a talent like her. I think I've tried to use Arjun (Chakrabarty) in a way that he hasn't ever before, very wild and rugged.
Between your Bengali and Hindi projects, you are working non-stop. You also have a young child. How do you strike a work-life balance?
I already told you, I believe in the supernatural. In the East, we have these lores or these legends of sadhus and sadhaks, fakirs, who have existed at different places at the same time. Let's say cryptically that what I'm trying to attain is that power. Just kidding, I think I'm a bit of a workaholic!
Comments are moderated. They may be edited for clarity and reprinting in whole or in part in Variety publications.