In the world of Indian cinema some films seem to carry an eerie aura not just on screen but even behind the scenes. One such horror movie made over four decades ago was surrounded by strange warnings and inexplicable events. However the makers decided to move forward ignoring the superstitions only to experience several bizarre incidents during production. Which film is this? The film we are talking about is ‘Gehrayee’ a horror thriller that was released in 1980 and is considered one of the earliest Bollywood movies to delve into the theme of black magic. Directed by Vikas Desai and Aruna Raje the film was heavily inspired by Western horror cinema especially The Exorcist and adapted those terrifying elements to an Indian setting. It revolved around a young girl who becomes possessed after dabbling with supernatural forces and her family’s desperate attempts to save her. What was the storyline? The cast of Gehrayee included Anant Nag Shriram Lagoo Padmini Kolhapure Indrani Mukherjee and Late Amrish Puri in a cameo role. What set the film apart was its explicit depiction of tantric rituals demonic possession and spiritual conflict—rare in mainstream Indian films of that era. Interestingly after the film’s release stories surfaced about how cast and crew members encountered mysterious accidents and unexplained problems during the shoot further fueling the fear around the project. When makers were warned by Tantriks During a chat with Bollywood Crypt director Aruna Raje said “While writing the story she met tantriks and sorcerers. She said one important thing is that we should not do these things ourselves that is because we do not know the result. Everyone warned us not to make this film. Incidents will happen to you. We were not superstitious so we thought we were only making a film; we made the film but things went wrong.” Aruna further told “A few years after making Gehrayee she got divorced from her husband and her daughter died of cancer at the age of 9. Not only this but soon after the release the audience started complaining to her that strange and scary things were happening to them. For this they used to ask for phone numbers from her and each one of them who was involved in this project. How did Gehraayi open the doors for other notable films? Despite all this Gehrayee made its mark. Though not a commercial blockbuster it went on to become a cult classic among horror fans and received rating of 6.9 on IMDb. It opened the doors for more Bollywood films to explore the darker realms of mysticism and superstition. Later movies like Raat Tumbbad 13B: Fear Has A New Address and most recently Shaitaan also tackled themes involving the supernatural and black magic but Gehrayee remains one of the first to venture into that realm and with a chilling legacy attached.