Shiney Ahuja made his come back in Ghost recently, Prabhu Deva has expressed his desire to make a horror flick, Emraan Hashmi and Bipasha Basu are teaming up for Raaz 3 , Delhi Belly fame Kunal Roy Kapur is making his directorial debut with a horror mystery, Vikram Bhatt's 1920 — The Evil Returns (starring Aftab Shivdasani and Tia Bajpai), Bipasha has signed up for a spooky flick called Aatma and even Ajay Devgn is doing a 3D horror film co-produced by NR Pacishia. With 2012 already witnessing few horror flicks ( Ghost, Question Mark, Siyaah ), the action's getting more gripping in B-Town's spooky zone.

Horror films in Bollywood have been low budget ventures with only a handful of viewers patronising these. The success of Raaz, Raaz 2 , Phoonk , Bhoot , Haunted , Bhool Bhulaiya and 1920 in recent times seem to have changed perceptions in Bollywood.

Rajniesh Duggal, who starred in 1920, says, "It's difficult to recover the cost of a horror movie because only a small segment of the audience is interested in this genre. Making a romantic thriller is easy, but making an outright horror is very difficult.

" Since cost recovery becomes an issue due to segmented viewership, there is always a risk involved. He adds, "There is a very thin line between the film being scary or being funny.

You might get scared looking at the bhoot, but might also end up laughing." But this divide between the audience is now crumbling says Puja J Bedi, director of Ghost.

She feels even the 'class' audiences wants to see a no-brainer which has given other genres like horror a better chance of finding takers. Says Puja, "These days even the class would want to have some mindless fun when they watch a film.

What was only restricted to certain section of the audience has found more viewers." Director Yash Dave ponders over the fact that given our mythological tales and folklore were replete with supernatural stories woven beautifully, horror hasn't flourished in our country.

He says, "The potential of horror films hasn't been tapped in India. This to me is all the more surprising as aatmas, bhoot-prets etc have always been part of our folktales.

" Adds Dave, "I feel there is a lot to be explored in this genre. Since big names are making efforts in this genre, it seems they have a bright future.

" But people who love horror surely have good news as Puja feels the future lies in the horror. She says, "Horror films would work with the Indian audience if they are made well.

" Trade analyst Taran Adarsh sees the future for horror bright as well. He says, "People are realising the potential of horror films as there is a lot left to be done.

People are bored of similar kind of cinema and experimentation is the flavour. Scaring people is one of the strongest emotions to portray on screen and this will surely come up with time.

" As B-Town gets ready to scare you out of your seats, enjoy the ride! (less)