Khauf creator Smita Singh didn't want show to follow the horror trope of 'scared girls running around' | Interview

Smita Singh, the writer and creator of Khauf, and actor Rajat Kapoor talk about subverting horror tropes for the new Amazon Prime Video show.

As a genre, horror has given rise to the term 'scream queen'. A litany of female actors in the West have been dubbed scream queens for their performances in various slasher or horror flicks. From Janet Leigh in Psycho to her daughter, Jamie Lee Curtis in Halloween, or Bipasha Basu closer home, many actors have been called this. A large reason for this tag to exist is the horror trope of women screaming in such films. But for writer Smita Singh, it was clear that she did not want her show, Khauf, to follow the trope. Ahead of the release, Smita sat down with HT to discuss the show and what went into creating it.

Monika Panwar in a still from Khauf.

Smita Singh on creating Khauf

Smita calls herself a non-believer and says that when a rationalist creates a show on the paranormal, it needs to be more. "As a rationalist, when you start writing 'bhoot-pret ki kahaani (ghost stories)', you start thinking of how to make it different," she says, explaining, "When I first mentioned to a friend I was writing a horror show, they said 'scared girls running around'. And that just stayed with me. Some criticisms just stay with you for long. So, I knew this can't just be about that. It can't just be girls screaming their lungs out."

Talking about the silliness of the trope in horror, she refers to such characters and wonders, "Who are they? What are the virtues they have to survive this horror?" She adds, "The idea was to always subvert those tropes. Because the tropes are there and they will be. Why else would you call it a genre. It's a blend of psychological drama and horror, cloaked in suspense."

Rajat Kapoor on playing a ‘monster’ of a different kind

Khauf stars Monika Panwar in the lead role, alongside Rajat Kapoor, Abhishek Chauhan, Geetanjali Kulkarni, and Shilpa Shukla in key roles. Rajat Kapoor plays a character with grey shades in the show, and he was happy that his character's negativity was achieved without any prosthetics or the usual horror gimmicks. "The attempt was to locate him in a specific place as a professional. He can be a real person that you would meet," he says, before adding with a laugh, "It's a wonderful character, and I really had a ball playing it. I have never killed anybody with an axe. I got to do it here. Wow!"

Khauf is set to premiere on Amazon Prime Video on April 18.