Reincarnation in Bollywood Gothic Cinema: a Brief Cultural-Sociological History with Debaditya Mukhopadhyay

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The tradition of Hindi supernatural gothic films had its very inception through a film about reincarnation in 1949 (Mahaal directed by Kamal Amrohi). Since then Bollywood has released no less than 17 films centering round the theme of reincarnation. In these films releasing across various decades of the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, the concept of reincarnation borrowed from Vedic religion, Buddhism, and Jainism manifests in these films in various forms and apart from its sensationalism, this particular theme has drawn the attention of renowned scholars of Indian gothic cinema for its distinctly Indian nature. Professor Vijay Mishra has acknowledged the theme of reincarnation to be an element that India introduced to the gothic genre as a whole.^​ Likewise, Professor Meheli Sen has also observed that the genre of reincarnation film “shares significant traits” with the genre of gothic in her book on Hindi gothic films.^​ Taking cue from such observations, this talk will explore the genealogical growth of Hindi reincarnation films and identify the recurring plot-elements in these films (and their socio-cultural underpinnings) by categorizing these films into 3 categories, namely Reincarnation for Reunion ( Mahal, Madhumati, Neel Kamal, Kudrat, Prem Shakti, Prem, Phhir, Dangerous Ishhq), Reincarnation for Revenge (as in Karz, Nache Nagin Gali Gali, Suryavanshi, Karan Arjun, Om Shanti Om, Ek Paheli Leela, Raabta), and Reincarnation Subverted (Yeh Raat Phir Na Ayegi, Housefull 4).