Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Karan Johar and Zoya Akhtar reunite for Netflix’s Ghost Stories

Following Lust Stories (2018), filmmakers Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Karan Johar and Zoya Akhtar are reuniting for their second Netflix anthology film, titled Ghost Stories.

With horror as the baseline, the film will feature four thematically-interconnected stories that will culminate in the end. Co-produced by RSVP and Flying Unicorn Entertainment, Ghost Stories will enter production this month. 

Anurag, who has also directed both seasons of Netflix India’s flagship show Sacred Games, said, “I am really looking forward to challenging myself to make something that I have never attempted before. Also I have never prepared so much for anything before.”

On venturing into horror, Dibakar noted, “Ghost Stories is my attempt to do that, and it's great to have a partner in Netflix with whom I have the freedom to tell the story as envisioned. Ultimately we are entertainers, and there's nothing like a spine-chilling story, scaring the devil out of us while we're safely tucked in our sofa, munching fries.” 

Karan described the project as both challenging and exciting. “I have always been mortified to watch the horror genre and have always stayed very far away from any ghost story! So to direct one is not only hugely challenging but also exceptionally exciting,” he said. 

Zoya, who recently created the successful Amazon Prime Video show Made in Heaven, shared, “As a writer/director, I thrive on bending genres and inverting tropes and I am so looking forward to attempting that with a ghost story.” 

This is the third time the quartet is teaming up for a film. In 2013, they had created Bombay Talkies, an anthology feature commemorating 100 years of Indian cinema. 

Individually, Anurag Kashyap is presently working on an untitled feature film with Malayalam actor Roshan Mathew. Dibakar Banerjee’s next, Sandeep Aur Pinky Faraar, starring Arjun Kapoor and Parineeti Chopra, is slated for release this year. Karan Johar is prepping to shoot his directorial comeback Takht, while Zoya Akhtar is yet to announce her follow-up to Gully Boy.