'Kantara','Paheli', 'Baahubali' to 'Stree': How Bollywood keeps bringing myths, legends, and folklore back to life

Based on folklore and traditions of the agrarian past of Karnataka, 'Kantara' depicts action, spirituality, and mythology, seamlessly. It presents a story of a population's sacred relationship to their land including the divine beings who guardians it. The film captures the visceral spirit of the folklore and does not shy away from the visual representation of local customs, plus augmented and dramatized by live performances. It seeks to offer the audience the understanding that myths are not just stories, but exist as an active and living force that forms our sense of cultural identity.

'Paheli' is a lovely retelling of a Rajasthani folk tale that feels more like a charming and gentle exploration of loneliness, love and identity. In the story a ghost who is in love with a newly married woman disturbs the emotional bond of her marriage by taking the form of her husband. Not a horror film, the journey is more a lyrical experience of these notions of attachment, desire and connection. The film has beautiful colors, enchanting music, and a sense of magic to serve as an homage to the timeless and resonant beauty of folklore that is gentle and yet provocative.

Baahubali reimagines Indian mythology in a brilliant world of representational form. Told against the backdrop of a mythical kingdom of Mahishmati, Baahubali is an ancient yet universal story of bravery, fealty, and fate. The movie is a contemporary myth in addition to its grand visuals, one that addresses heroism, sacrifice, and the battle of "good" vs. "evil" for all time.

'Stree' navigates the genres of horror and comedy in a delightfully inventive combination of both, using the urban legend of an "evil" spirit who stalks men at night. The film is set in a sleepy town in India, and on its own merits gave attention, and concern, to gender, and humor as part of a deeper story about society. 'Stree' both upended preconceived notions of the genre of "horror-comedy" in an Indian context while providing a ghastly yet comical story in equal measure. With clever one-liners, disturbing sequences, and layered performances, 'Stree' reshaped horror-comedy simply and elegantly.

'Bulbbul' locates in rural 19th-century Bengal, towards a saying of beauty sometimes being an awful burden and an endless gothic tragedy. The film's inscrutable protagonist recontextualizes folklore about the chudail—an evil female ghost in providing both copious imagery, tasteful poetry, and women's issues from a feminist perspective and shows us that 'Bulbbul' is more than a supernatural revenge film; it is a visceral examination of a patriarchy, oppression's adaptation, and women's united complicity throughout history.

'Pari' is a film that is dark, brooding and very emotional. This film creates a world that exists at the intersection of folklore and fear. We meet a woman with a troubled past, following a story that builds on themes of good and evil, belief, and redemption. Instead of the typical horror, “Pari” is more about the creation of an atmosphere with emotional resonance than it is about jump scares. This psychological richness combined with Eastern mythological underpinnings provide a film that will remain in your head long after viewing it.

'Tumbbad' takes place in a rain-soaked village in Maharashtra with the myth of Hastar, the rejected son of the goddess of wealth, as its anchor. It utilizes both myth and horror allegorically with greed into a glorious spectacle, and a familial curse on wellbeing and the fright of boundless desire is invoked through our main protagonist and his obsession with treasure.