Inspired by her Bengaluru days, Bollywood director made a horror film on black magic. What happened next will shock you

In 1980, celebrated filmmaker Aruna Raje, a six-time National Award winner, brought to life Gehrayee — a psychological horror-thriller steeped in the unsettling world of black magic. But what many don’t know is that this chilling story was rooted in her very own backyard — literally.

Long before the camera rolled, Raje’s curiosity about the occult was piqued by strange happenings at her home in Bengaluru. Every morning, her mother would discover lemons doused in turmeric or vermilion in their garden — a chilling hallmark of black magic rituals. At first, it was unnerving. Later, it became the seed for a film that would haunt not just screens, but her life as well.

“My father was a freedom fighter who became a politician,” Raje said in a recent interview with Bollywood Crypt, “so finding such things in our garden wasn’t entirely unusual. Black magic and politics, strangely, often crossed paths.”

From Strange Findings to Script Readings

Raje, along with her then-husband Vikas Desai and iconic playwright Vijay Tendulkar, transformed these personal encounters into cinematic narrative. Gehrayee was born out of deep research. The trio interviewed tantrics, psychologists, and families who had experienced unexplained phenomena.

One particularly gripping tale made its way into the script: a young Catholic girl believed to be possessed by the spirit of a Muslim woman from Lucknow. “She would suddenly speak flawless Urdu and even recite poetry,” Raje recalled, still in awe of the stories that surfaced. The incident went on to shape the character later played by Padmini Kolhapure in the film.

A Film That Haunted Its Makers

But delving into the occult came at a cost. As warnings poured in from tantrics and well-wishers alike — urging them not to tamper with such energies — Raje and Desai remained firm. “We thought we were just telling stories. How bad could it be?” she reflected. As it turned out, worse than they imagined.

Soon after Gehrayee released, life took a harrowing turn. The couple divorced. Raje lost her nine-year-old daughter to cancer. Rumours spread like wildfire that the film’s subject had brought misfortune — a whisper campaign fed by viewers’ own unsettling experiences. “People would call us saying their food spoiled after watching the film or strange things started happening in their homes,” she said. “They wanted tantrics’ numbers. But how could we tell who was real or fake?”

Gehrayee, starring Anant Nag, Sriram Lagoo, and Amrish Puri in a cameo, was not just a film — it became a cultural enigma. It reminded audiences of the thin, trembling line between fiction and the forces we cannot explain. For Raje, it became a haunting chapter in her storytelling journey — one born from a city garden, shaped by forgotten rituals, and sealed by real-life tragedy.