R K Laxman, who brought the common Indian crow out of the skies and into people's homes through The Times of India, would disapprove of Ram Gopal Varma's comparing his favourite bird to Bollywood hottie Mallika Sherawat.

By Nikhat Kazmi The Indian viewer is desperately hungry for horror. Or so it seems. For Ram Gopal Varma's Phoonk has managed to draw in a sizeable number of viewers, garnering almost 85% occupancy in its opening weekend.

By BHARATI DUBEY Mumbai: In the rush to avoid the shraddh period, producers have crammed the last two weekends of August with multiple releases . Three films-Phoonk , Mumbai Meri Jaan and Maan Gaye Mughall-e-Aazam- competed for screen space, never mind the audience fragmentation.

MANDVI SHARMA & VISHWAS GAUTAM Jo darr gaya must have been watching a Hollywood scary flick. Or so the perception goes.

I owe my success to Ram Gopal Varma," declared actor Jagapati Babu at a recent function. Definitely he wasn't singing paeans to the maverick director. He was rather stating a fact. Packaged as an angry young man in RGV's Ghayam, the actor buried his past ghosts to emerge as a saleable star.