The Indian Collection, Part 6: DANCE, NAAGDEVI, DANCE

It has been over a month since my last entry and I really have no excuse as to my tardiness other than I have been busy. Too caught up in my life outside of the blog to make a simple entry. Yea, I know: lame. So, to make up for my very late return I will have something fun for MONSTER! fans out there.

But there won't be any of the usual suspects this time around. Nope. No zombies or giant monsters or yetis or anything like that. The monsters presented for this page will be the sexy kind. I present to you the bodacious and curvacious Hindu Snake Goddess Naag in some of her various supple forms. You know, slinky snake ladies from Indian films.

What, you've never seen any of these lovely cobra maidens strut their stuff? How many of you have seen Ken Russel's 1988 film THE LAIR OF THE WHITE WORM? In that fun film we have the sexy Amanda Donohoe as Lady Sylvia Marsh, a English/Roman pagan snake goddess (in part, sort of like the Naag, which isn't really a full-fledged goddess, more of a demi-god or demon) and her rather nasty habit of biting folks, and either turning them into snake monsters or offering them up to her god as a meal. To make a long story short, there is a segment in the film where she is coaxed out of her lair by using a record of old Indian snake charmer's music. I'm sure that Russel had seen some of the Nagin or Naag films prior to making his film.

Vinyl LP soundtrack from the film.

Okay, kinda sultry, but nothing when compared to the following list of snake ladies (not presented in chronological order of any kind):

In the 1986 film NAGINA we are presented with the writhing loveliness of actress Sridevi as the snake goddess/demoness/whathaveyou (and the musical talents of Laxmikant Shantaram Kudalkar and Pyarelal Ramprasad Sharma. In the film Rajni is a snake woman who has married a human to live a normal life. She is then tracked by Bhairo Nnath a religious man, who is capable of controlling snakes. The holy man want only one thing: the Cobra Jewel, and with it he can become very powerful. This plot element, the Cobra Jewel, is very popular in Naag cinema. In this scene Rajni confronts her tormentor and proceeds to perform a Naag Dance of Death...

 

The horn which Bhairo Nnath  and his minions play is the traditional snake charmer's instrument, and the melody that Laxmikant-Pyarelal created fot he scene above is based on a traditional "Naag" theme use din numerous films since the late 1940's. The earliest film I've seen someone play this melody was from 1951 entitled NAGIN. In that very entertaining (and hugely popular mainstream film), and while there was no overtly supernatural elements in the production's storyline, the film's leading lady was always entranced by the sound of the horn.

SIDE NOTE: A possible source for the popularity of the horn-playing snake charmer may have its roots in the mythological traditions that Lord Krishna subdued the river snake god Kaliya Naag with his flute. Seen to the left is a Mogul-era painting from the 1600's depicting Krishna and the defeated Naag and the snake god's many Nagin or snake wives.

History lesson aside, I am attracted to these types of films for various reasons. The obvious one is that the monster in these films is a very beautiful woman, and I admit I have fallen for her charms... no matter how deadly she may be. Actually, in most of these films the Naag is rarely an evil creature. Most of the time she is just trying to live her life with any hassles from humans, and is either hunted by a Cobra Jewel-hungry holy man or is threatened by some ruthless hunters. In any case, she has to defend herself and if she happens to kill some annoying "hairless apes" (my apologies to Lord Hanuman and Howard the Duck) then so be it.

In the 1976 film NAGIN (not to be confused the with 1951 film of the same name) a pair of courting naags are assaulted by some idiotic humans. During a particularly sexy dance number by the female naag in human form with that of her male partner in cobra form, the ignorant hunters kill the male thinking it was  a deadly snake about to put the moves on a hapless woman. Sadly, their rash actions bring down down upon them, as the Naag kills off the offending humans one by one. In the scene to your right one of the last remaining humans comes to realizes the mistake they made by killing the female naag's mate. Ooops!

Naag films are still as immensely popular today as films like Jennifer Chambers Lynch's 2010 film HISSS. Lynch, who wrote the film as well, also made the 1993 film BOXING HELENA and is the daughter of director David Lynch. This India/USA co-production thankfully varies slightly off the traditional Naag tales of vengeance. In this film a scientist learns that he has brain cancer and plans on using the supernatural powers of the snake gods to cure him of his disease and make him immortal. Of course, nothing goes as planned and everything ends horribly for all involved.

While I found HISSS to be mildly diverting, I miss the more fantastic elements of the older films. Nevertheless, Lynch does a good job translating some of the phantasmagorical elements of the naag demon to the English-speaking world. HISSS is easy to find if you are interested in this unusual hybrid. But the sexy just wasn't there for me.

I'm so jaded. I've seen over 20 of these snake goddess films. Most are fairly high budget in their production values, and some have even pack their films with top name Bollywood actors. SHESHNAAG is a fine example of made-to-order runaway hit. This 1990 films features a lush soundtrack by Laxmikant-Pyarelal and the acting talents of stars Jeetendra, Rishi Kapoor, and the super-sexy Telugu actress Rekha as the leading Naag.

Nothing sez hot snake love like two naag gods in heat... dancing up a storm in what looks like the foothills of the Himalayas.

My favourite film of this genre has to be the 1996 film DEVI that stars yet another hot Indian actress Prema as the snake goddess. But before we get to see her we are introduced to some dancing naags in their snake form. These snake are visiting our plane of existence on a day trip from Shiva's domain. In this scene they are worshiping the phallic idol associated with Shiva.  After this bit of praise they all return to the land of the gods, except for one which is trapped here by an evil wizard.

The stranded snake goddess must protect a naag-worshiping woman from her evil family as well as dodge the unwanted advances of the evil power-hungry sorcerer who is hell-bent (literally) on destroying Devi's reputation with Shiva. The film is full of some pretty cool special effects, great dance numbers by Devi Sri Prasad, and very beautiful snake ladies.

But not of the films I've seen concerning the world of the snake gods and goddesses have top-billing actors, wonderful soundtrack, or even a budget to speak of. For every DEVI or NAGIN or SHESHNAAG -- or HISSS for that matter -- we have two dozen films like NAAGLOK, JAI MAA NAAGDEVI, JUNGLE KI NAGIN, NAAG MOHINI, and NAAG MERE SAATHI.

But more about those films in my next blog entry!

INDIAN VCDs Part 4 of 5 - postscript

Before some of you decide to plunk down a load of cash on some of these VCDs I'm written about (and many other I haven't), let me give a heads up. DON'T EXPECT DVD QUALITY. 

Some of the better VCDs are pretty good looking as their their encoding and source material equals VHS quality. Here's an example from CHUDAIL: THE WITCH which was released by Golden Plaza Video:

Looks okay. This scene is crazy and reminds me of some of the odder and more exciting low-budget 80's horror film from HK or Taiwan. Anyways, the next video is an excerpt from the Friends Video VCD release of the Ramsay family's sorry excuse for a horror film called AUR KAUN. The monster-filled artwork for the VCD is very misleading, as I don't remember seeing ANY of these hoary bits in the film.

Then sitting down to watch the two disc set is even more disappointing. A sad purchase indeed.

In addition to a sub-par encoding of the video track, the audio is so over-saturated as to make it almost too dangerous to try and play on your DVD player without damaging your speakers. I had to keep it on the lowest setting to even try and understand the audio. What's worse is that the source for this VCD comes from a shitty VHS that has problems tracking. Geeeeez!

So, don't expect a lot when you pay 75¢ to $2.25 for a VCD. Paying a few bucks more for the DVD of  AUR KAUN won;t guarantee the quality won't be any better, which is why I haven't given that one a chance.  Yet.

CHUDAIL: Indian Horror VCDs, part 4 of 5

The best part of recieving a large bundle or two of VCDs and DVDs in the mail is sitting thru ALL of them. Yes, even when they're the infamous "Grade C" horror films from all parts of India. These films were (are?) productions made outside of the "Bollywood" system -- so far out infact that they shame our Western indie movies in their abundance.

Sadly, this was on back-order... :(

The closest comparison would be to the movie boom of the 60's and 70's when drive-ins were chockful of wacky regionally produced and distributed US films.  Double, triple and dusk to dawn bills often included these low-budget beauties as well as foreign films which played after the (maybe) A-list first feature. Numerous fly-by-night companies were formed and folded within months of a production, with the end result of giving birth to some remarkable offspring. 

For thosw not in the know, India produces the most films per year than any other country. The Indians love cinema. Good or bad. So, there is a need for a lot of product. Imagine hundreds of films with hairy giants, possessed maidens, toothy monsters, scarred maniacs and various types of the living dead produced from the early 60's right on up to as recent as, well, last year as far as I can tell.  Slap-dash creations fabricated for folks who need their (sometimes) daily cinematic fix on the cheap. For the most part they all look like crap.

Crap.

Okay, that last line wasn't too truthful. It wasn't too far off the mark, altogether hastily remarked.  There are some films, like their cousins from Taiwan and Hong Kong, as well as the Eurocine scene and even the US, that raise above deplorable. They are actually quite good. For every three dozen BAHOOTON KA HONEYMOONs with its rancid dance sequences and sorry excuses for monsters, you have superior works by the Ramsy family or, for today's blog, director P. Chandra Kumar and his film CHUDAIL: THE WITCH from 1997.

VCD artwork

Film Poster

Hindi Film Poster

I WOULD LOVE THIS POSTER!!!

As per usual this VCD was bought because of the artwork on the cover and not because I knew who the director happened to be. That came later after watching -- and enjoying -- the film. The essential elements were on the package: the monster represented as a strange dualistic creature with long finger nails; there is a striking brunette who happened to be soaking wet (a common erotic motif in these films), the goofy element (the man with the upturned mustache), and lastly: gratuitous cleavage. I was sold.

But before we continue, a little cultural background on the type of monster that is in the film. The title is a little misleading as a Chudail (चुडेल) or Churel, as the entity is more commonly known, is a female ghost from Hindu folklore that feeds on the energy of young virile men.  The film kinda gets this right once the plot kicks into high gear.

It's a stormy night (as the nights almost always seem to be in these films) and a family is in desperate need of a healer or holy man to save the life of the head of the household.  A handsome tantrik holy man arrives to assist the family. As the stricken man is being treated by means of prayer and holy flowers, the handsome tantrik is distracted by the impressive bosom of the old man's young daughter Sundari (actress Poonam Das Gupta) . After the ceremony is completed and it seems that the once ailing patriarch is on his way to recovery, the holy man and Sundari hook up for a night of sexual healing. In the midst of their tryst they are discovered by her father who falls to his death down a stone stairwell. 

The energetic couple continue their passion, to the point where our holy man informs his the gorgeous brunette that he is using her sexual life force to extend his own, thrusting within her with a magical energy and harvesting it later during their mad embrace. Sundari plays along until the time is right and then kills her master and in turn absorbs his energy. This is witnessed by the holy man's servant who pledges his undying devotion to the "wicked" woman. The duo then sets out to ensnare you haughty men for a night of passionate yet life-essence draining sex. 

All seems to going jim-dandy until the "witch" is trapped in a ring of holy fire set up yet more holy men, and three nine-inch nails are driven into her skull. Sundari's lifeless body is then encased in blessed coffin and buried a isolated tomb, and her man servant is driven off into the wilderness.

That was he first 30-odd minutes of the film.  Now this is where the Chudail comes in.

"Years Later" the tomb is disturbed and the dessicated body of the witchy woman is uncovered. After some singing and dance sequences (which aren't that badly composed or choreographed), and the typical and totally unnecessary comedic relief, AND a romantic subplot, the monster finally makes its appearance. Once the body is removed from the underground crypt and placed in the local morgue for examination, the witch's manservant makes his reappearance and upon sneaking into the hospital removes the nails from the witch's skull.

 What happens next is pretty comparable to Hong Kong horror films from the 80's. Two prime examples being THE RAPE AFTER and DEVIL FETUS, two incredible films which are worth watching if you have a chance. Kumar's handling of the subject matter is naturally different from the Chinese films, culturally speaking. There is no nudity in this print, but I have read that (not unlike Eurocine productions of the 70's and 80's) saucy scenes of naked breasts and full-on lip-to-lip kissing were inserted for the more raucous off-the-beaten-track movie houses. The gore is not as abundant or icky as in DEVIL FETUS, but the mood and sheer creepy craziness is a most on par with the aforementioned films.

As the body count mounts the leader of the archeological team that found the tomb has to find a way to save both himself and the woman he loves from the Chudail and her insatiable sexual appetite. But, not before he has a chance to have a sultry dance with her. I mean, this wouldn't be a good Indian horror film without a sexy dance number. The film comes to an explosive (literally) climax in a series of mad dashes around the underground tomb as the monster closes in on her prey.

Not a bad film at all. Even better since it clocks in at 94 minutes, rather than the usual running time of most Indian films which is around two to three hours.

Director Kumar has made a few other "Grade C" horror films, although he seems to be more famous for ADIPAPAM (1988) which is his adult softcore Malayalam language version of the biblical Adam and Eve story.  I am currently on the hunt for more of his films, as he made around fifty movies during his career.  I am also not too certain it is he same director. Neither of the two horror films made by this P. Chandra Kumar (or P. Chandrakumar) appear in of his filmography on imdb.com.

Well, anyways, CHUDIAL was a delight. There have been numerous other films featuring similar titles that seem to have variations of the chudail ghost figured into their plot line. It will take some time, but I'll hunt them down down and make them mine! In the meantime, here are some posters or VCD cover art for some of those elusive titles:

As a bonus, comic book featuring a murderous चुडेल.

Brain Freeze, The Indian VCDs part 3 of 5

AAARGH! [with apologize to comic writers everywhere]

I am currently suffering from brain freeze. A mind fart. Word shy. Bashful blog bang out. Writhering whathaveyous. THE total lack of knowing what to write about pretty much sums this malady up just fine.  While I have give myself  the job of writing at least 500 words a day for this blog (and other projects), it's the fear of not knowing what to turn out that causes the most creative constipation. The stack of recently purchased VCDs are sitting within reach. They mock me. Probably saying very rude things in Hind, or Telugu, or Urdu or whatever Indo-Aryan or Dravidian tongue is trapped within them.

There, I've flexed enough. Time to get down to business!

As anyone knows, who has blindly bought as much crap off line  as I have in the past, what you see ain't exactly what you get. But at 75¢ to $1.25 per VCD who I am to quibble. Directors Ismail Inamdar and A.K. Misra's 1990's horror film PYAASI ATMA is a potboiler production which, due to the crap transfer (thanks, Nupur Video), it may as well b ea better film than what is presented. 

The VCD art promises gore and a grungy monster with loads of blood and fangs and what looks like semi-nudity. A young married couple moves into their new home only to be threatened by an annoying ghost that terrorizes them. The angry spirit is determined to break up the marriage and run off with the husband while his wife prayers for his soul.  There is a lot of banging of windows, slamming of doors, dramatic mood lighting, and the other such typical trappings of this species of haunt.

Where's the fanged horror? Instead of the advertized ghoul we have drawn out histrionics and the monster making token "pop ups" throughout.  Just as the spectral hottie is about to take the man to her tomb for god-knows what reason, our heroine's prayers to her god pays off and the lustful spirit is obliterated in a holocaust of cleansing holy flame.

I'm not complaining too much, as I have been known to sit through quite a few Eurocine productions from the 70's and without flinching.  PYAASI ATMA is not too far off that track of filmmaking.

The upside is the exceptionally fun soundtrack delivered in the crazed mash-up format found in a good deal of these low-budget productions.

As a side note: this PYAASI ATMA is not to be confused with the vastly superior horror/ghost-possession film of the same name from 1988 and directed by P. Chandra Kumar.  It was Kumar's film I thought I was getting, but is available on to watch YouTube.

By the way, if someone every brings up the Ramsy brothers and their monster/horror films from the 70's to the present and say that they are crap slap them for me. At least their films have some element of production values, and there is an attempt at producing some chills AND they have a monster in them.  A lot less can be said of my next VCD from the pile of doom: Ashok Jamaur's BHOOTON KA HONEYMOON.

Next up is ever popular thematic motif known as "those crazy kids who decide to party down in a haunted house". While PYAASI ATMA was your 70's ghost and monster flick, BHOOTON KA HONEYMOON is definable pure 80's drivel despite its 2001 production.  Horny teenagers and rubber-masked monsters mix it up while "hit songs" playing merrily in the background of this somewhat entertaining film.

Side note again: these titillating horror films are pretty much the "grade C" of Indian cinema. They are fly-by-night productions quickly made and often shown to passengers of the Indian railway and in run-down theaters in small cities and towns. They are made for a quick buck for hungry audiences wild for such witless charms and phony thrills of a film like BHOOTON KA HONEYMOON. It doesn't matter than the monsters are some of the looniest-looking critters every the grace the screen. The oft-rowdy crowds are there to while away two and a half hours. Hell, I used to do that a few times a week at drive-ins during the summer back in my youth.  I would KILL to have this kind of nuttiness still around.

Okay, so the kids have stumbled onto a haunted "honeymoon mansion" and they are killed off one by one by a variety of spectral horrors and sexy ghosts. The only ones left are our busty raven-haired leading lady and her man who, in a wonderful musical show of what I love about Indian cinema, must face some dancing and singing ghouls. (The much-maligned TROLL 2 can't hold a candle to some of the monsters in this film!).

Sadly, it turns out that the monsters are in reality a gang of criminals in the guise of the undead. Damn! Who would have thunked that? I was bummed out at that revelation.

More to come...

Sometimes it pays to take a chance...

Every couple of months I get a package in the mail. It's usually full of VCDs or DVDs of films I know very little about. In the late 80's thru the 90's I bought a great deal of VCDs from companies in Hong Kong and Singapore, fueling my love of Chinese fantasy and horror films. I've now begun to rummage around the internet for other counties sporting unknown (to me) and rare titles. This is because the HK/Chinese market has pretty much dried up (at least from my financial aspect of film purchasing... this stack of 15 videos cost me $50 which included 3-day DHL international shipping)

The package came from India, and what was inside was pretty cool.  Not incredible, but not too far off from what I expected.

If you have the guts to order stuff just from the cover art alone, then you will end up with a pile of films that may look like this:

http://www.induna.com/

More to follow...