Horror flick Phoonk spooks competition at the box office

Phoonk, says Varma, is not a ghost story but a story about supernatural and evil forces. "The film is not about any spirit or pretatma (spirit). It's a black magic story. The film talks about the evil forces that are out to kill a family," the director said.

Incidentally, Varma is an atheist himself but does not rule out the possibility of the existence of dark forces. "I am too small to say that these things don't exist. It's debatable. If it didn't happen to me, it doesn't mean that I refuse to believe in them," he said.

"It is also the story of a fanatical devotee who is forced to turn her back on God in the face of traumatic experiences," he said.

According to Varma, to make the fear look as real as possible, he chose characters to look believable. Then, making optimum use of camera angles, light and sound effects, Varma has tried to play on the imagination of the people to scare them. "Mind plays games with us when we are alone. Even an idol of god seems scary when nobody is around. I have tried to create fear through this psychology," he said.

For instance, Phoonk has scenes such as when a character's hand grows unnaturally long and when a character's reflection does not move even when the character moves away from the mirror.