Not easy to scare audiences anymore: Arulnithi

Actor Arulnithi, whose Tamil horror-thriller "Demonte Colony" is releasing on Friday, says scaring audiences has become extremely challenging as most of the times the horror element in a movie ends up as a joke.

"The reason why most Tamil horror films rely heavily on comedy is because it's not easy to scare audiences anymore. People end up laughing when they see a ghost on the screen. In 'Demonte Colony', we've tried to attempt what most films in this genre have not," Arulnithi told IANS.

"Ours is not a horror comedy. It has humour, but it is derived out of situations between the lead characters. You won't find any deliberate effort taken to make audiences laugh in this film, which has a very engaging screenplay," he said.

Directed by Ajay Gnanamuthu, the film is based on real events behind the haunted place Demonte Colony.

Talking about the experience of working in the film, Arul said: "The most challenging part was imagining a ghost and acting scared. There have been instances where I had to stare at a wall and act as though I've come across a ghost and subsequently express fear.

"I found this experience strange and tough in the beginning. But after a few days into the shoot, I got the hang of it and slowly adapted to this style."

The crew features a young team and Arul thoroughly enjoyed working with them.

"The film's editor was my college classmate. Director Ajay was my junior in college. Cinematographer Aravind is the former assistant of Santhosh Shivan. When you're working with such a young team, you're charged to deliver more than what's expected," he said.

Arulnithi added that what he really liked about the team was their enthusiasm.

"When Ajay came to narrate the script, he had already formed a team with the editor, cinematographer and music composer. I liked how they had all come prepared and were waiting to start the project," he said, and added that the movie will unleash the potential of this "young, talented and highly committed team".

He went on to add that the team exceeded his expectations on several occasions.

Arulnithi hopes "Demonte Colony" will be another "Mounaguru" in his career.

"'Mounaguru' touched many people's hearts. I feel this film too will achieve that for the simple fact that we've not just concentrated on the thrill factor," he said.