MUMBAI MIRROR (September 19, 2019)

Shyam Ramsay who, along with his brothers Tulsi, Kumar, Kiran, Gangu, Arjun and Keshu (collectively known as the Ramsay Brothers), pioneered the horror genre in Hindi cinema, succumbed to pneumonia on Wednesday morning. A few days ago, the 67-year-old filmmaker had been admitted to a suburban hospital.

The filmmakers made their debut with the 1971 film Nakuli Shaan, which tanked at the box-office. According to industry lore, the Ramsays were surprised to see the audience flocked to the theatres to watch a film for a scene in which Prithviraj Kapoor’s character enters a museum in a mask and a scary outfit, and left immediately afterwards. Realising that the average movie-goer was enjoying being spooked, the Brothers followed up their debut with Do Gaz Zameen Ke Neeche in 1972.

Shyam and Tulsi led the family banner, jointly directing horror films, while the other departments were delegated to the rest of the siblings. Kumar wrote the scripts, Kiran handled sound, Gangu manned the camera, Keshu assisted on cinematography and assumed production responsibilities, while Arjun oversaw postproduction and editing.

Banking on a potent mix of horror and erotica, the Ramsay Brothers became synonymous with the genre with films comprising corpses, zombies, among other tropes, delivering films like Darwaza, Guest House, Dahshat, Purana Mandir, Tahkhana and among several others, including Saamri in 3D. With the advent of private satellite channels, they also ventured into horror TV shows.

Tulsi, Shyam’s elder brother and codirector, had passed away on December 14, 2018
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MID-DAY (September 19, 2019)

Shyam Ramsay (1952- 2019)

Shyam Ramsay, one of the seven Ramsay Brothers known for cult horror films such as Purani Haveli (1989) and Tahkhana (1986), succumbed to pneumonia at a hospital yesterday, his family said. “He was hospitalised two to three days ago as he was not feeling well. He passed away at around 5 am today,” a relative said.

Veteran actors Raza Murad, Puneet Issar and Pankaj Dheer were among those who paid tribute to the filmmaker, remembering him as a “humble” and “polite” man. Murad, who worked with the Ramsay Brothers in the 2006 film, Family: Ties Of Blood, said that despite infusing horror in the hearts of the audience, the entire kin was soft- spoken. “Shyam was respectful, the entire family was. The kind of films they made were amazing. The brothers were sweet; we would joke that we’d get diabetes if we talked to them for five minutes. They were the joint family filmmakers in every department of filmmaking, and were extremely committed,” the actor said.

Murad recounted how Shyam convinced him for Family after he had initially rejected the role. “It sounded like I was just among the men from the underworld. I thought I would be one of the actors who may not get importance, so I turned down the role. Shyam called and narrated the role in detail. He said, I’m sorry I couldn’t narrate it to you. You have an important role and we would never waste you’,” he added.

Issar, who starred in their cult classic Purana Mandir (1984), remembered Ramsay as a “capable technician”. “Shyam ji knew the craft very well. He was a man of few words. He and Tulsi [brother] used to direct together. They had great clarity. It’s such a big loss,” he said.

Director Vikram Bhatt said, “Shyam Ramsay carried the torch of horror films right through the ’70s and ’80s. Even amongst the Ramsay Brothers, he was considered the leader. He was innovative and regaled his audiences with fabulous spooky cinema from time to time. His passing is indeed sad, and his contribution to the dark films will always be held in high esteem,” said Bhatt.

The Ramsay brothers also consisted of Tulsi, Kumar, Keshu, Arjun, Gangu and Karan. Shyam is survived by daughters Sasha and Namrata.