‘The Vvaan’ To ‘Kantara’: Indian Films Inspired By Regional Folklore And Local Legends
From Bihar’s Van Devi tradition to coastal Karnataka’s Daiva Kola, these films turn regional beliefs and local legends into big-screen stories.
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Some of Indian cinema’s most unnerving stories began well before anyone wrote a screenplay. They were warnings passed around a village, tales told by grandparents, or accounts of a guardian spirit whose presence is still honoured today. Filmmakers have taken those traditions in wildly different directions: a comedy about a boy who will not let go of his childhood crush, a superhero film built around a Kerala yakshi, and a thriller in which a family home holds more power than its guests realise. The people and places behind these films matter, though. A living ritual, an urban legend and a fictional story inspired by oral tradition are different things, even when the movies make them feel equally magical.
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That distinction is especially timely with ‘The Vvaan: Force of the Forrest’, which opened in theatres today (September 25). Its starting point is a forest-side tradition associated with Bihar’s Van Devi Temple. From there, this list travels through Tulunadu, Tamil Nadu, the Konkan coast, Arunachal Pradesh, Kerala, Assam and Telangana.
1. The Vvaan: Force of the Forrest (2026)
The warning is simple: do not go into the forest after dark. At the Van Devi Temple near Bihta in Bihar, local accounts have kept that prohibition alive for generations. Writer Arunabh Kumar said he visited the shrine, spoke with villagers and priests, then took the idea to director Deepak Kumar Mishra. Their film ‘The Vvaan: Force of the Forrest’ turns that starting point into a supernatural thriller starring Sidharth Malhotra and Tamannaah Bhatia, with Sunil Grover, Maniesh Paul, Shweta Tiwari and Anup Soni also in the cast. The movie is a fictional take on the tradition. It opened on September 25, 2026.
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2. Karuppu (2026)
Court cases rarely come with divine intervention. RJ Balaji’s ‘Karuppu’ imagines what happens when Karuppusamy, a guardian deity revered in Tamil folk traditions, enters a story about injustice and a corrupt legal system. Suriya plays lawyer Saravanan, through whom the deity’s power becomes part of the fight; Trisha Krishnan and Balaji are among his co-stars. The film borrows the identity and imagery of a living devotional tradition, then gives them a commercial courtroom-fantasy plot. Released on May 15, 2026, it grossed Rs 310.12 crore worldwide.
3. Kantara: A Legend Chapter-1 (2025)
Three years after ‘Kantara’ made the sound of a Daiva Kola familiar to audiences across India, Rishab Shetty went back in time. He wrote, directed and starred in this prequel as Berme, whose forest community comes into conflict with a powerful kingdom. Rukmini Vasanth, Gulshan Devaiah and Jayaram play key roles in a much larger fictional saga of land, power and divine protection. The film again draws on the sacred spirit traditions associated with coastal Karnataka and Tulunadu; its characters and royal conflict are Rishab Shetty’s cinematic story. Released on October 2, 2025, it amassed Rs 852.36 crore worldwide.
4. Lokah: Chapter 1 – Chandra (2025)
What if the yakshi from an old warning story turned up in a present-day city and became its protector? Dominic Arun’s ‘Lokah: Chapter 1 – Chandra’ reimagines Kalliyankattu Neeli, a figure in Kerala’s folk narratives, through Kalyani Priyadarshan’s mysterious Chandra. Naslen plays Sunny, the curious neighbour drawn into her world, while Sandy Master and Arun Kurian feature in the cast. The film treats the legend as the foundation for a new superhero story, rather than claiming its modern plot belongs to the old tale. Released on August 28, 2025, it made Rs 301.41 crore worldwide.
5. Munjya (2024)
An unfinished childhood obsession is bad news when the child is a ghost. Folk beliefs along the Maharashtra-Konkan coast describe a munjya as the restless spirit of a boy who dies after his thread ceremony and before marriage. Aditya Sarpotdar’s horror comedy turns that idea into a menace for Bittu (Abhay Verma), who visits his ancestral village and attracts the attention of a spirit still fixated on its old crush. Sharvari and Mona Singh also star. The legend supplied the creature; the film supplied its unruly personality and family complications. Released on June 7, 2024, ‘Munjya’ earned Rs 126.04 crore worldwide.
6. Bramayugam (2024)
The traveller in Rahul Sadasivan’s ‘Bramayugam’ should probably have kept walking. Arjun Ashokan plays Thevan, a folk singer who enters the remote home of a man played by Mammootty and discovers that leaving is much harder than arriving. Sidharth Bharathan and Amalda Liz also feature in a black-and-white nightmare drawing on Kerala’s Chaathan and yakshi traditions. These are recognisable figures from the region’s folklore, placed in a fictional story about captivity and power. Released on February 15, 2024, the film grossed Rs 58.32 crore worldwide.
7. Bhediya (2022)
Bhaskar goes to Arunachal Pradesh to build a road through the forest. The forest has other plans. In Amar Kaushik’s ‘Bhediya’, the contractor played by Varun Dhawan is bitten by a wolf and begins transforming, pulling veterinarian Anika (Kriti Sanon) and his companions, played in part by Abhishek Banerjee and Deepak Dobriyal, into the chaos. The film links its shapeshifter to the Yapum tradition associated with Arunachal Pradesh, using a local account of a protective being to ask what happens when development threatens the land it guards. Released on November 25, 2022, it collected Rs 94.91 crore worldwide.
8. Kumari (2022)
Marriage takes Kumari (Aishwarya Lekshmi) to her husband’s ancestral home, where the family seems to have inherited more than land. Shine Tom Chacko, Surabhi Lakshmi and Swasika join her in Nirmal Sahadev’s fantasy horror, which fills its fictional village with forest beings, rituals and frightening bargains. Aishwarya Lekshmi said the team drew on stories from Aithihyamala and conversations with older people while building the film’s world. That makes ‘Kumari’ an original tale shaped by Kerala’s storytelling traditions, rather than an adaptation of one named legend. It released on October 28, 2022.
9. Kantara (2022)
The most powerful presence in Rishab Shetty’s ‘Kantara’ is not its hero’s opponent. It is the promise attached to the land itself. Rishab Shetty directed and played Shiva, a man drawn into a fight over his village’s forest. Sapthami Gowda, Kishore and Achyuth Kumar rounded out the central cast. The drama brings Panjurli and Guliga Daivas and the Bhoota Kola/Daiva Kola tradition of coastal Karnataka to a vast audience. The ritual and worship are living cultural practices; Shiva’s particular land dispute is fictional. First released in Kannada on September 30, 2022, ‘Kantara’ grossed Rs 407.82 crore worldwide.
10. Roohi (2021)
Most brides in ghost stories hope the spirit will stay away from the ceremony. In Hardik Mehta’s ‘Roohi’, the spirit wants a marriage of her own. Janhvi Kapoor plays Roohi, whose possession by a Mudiyapairi creates two very different romantic problems for the men played by Rajkummar Rao and Varun Sharma. Hardik Mehta described the Mudiyapairi as a witch in north Indian folklore who abducts brides while their grooms sleep; the film gives that premise its own comic rules. Released on March 11, 2021, ‘Roohi’ made Rs 28.70 crore worldwide.
11. Odiyan (2018)
Long before a screen could make shadows move, stories of the Odiyan did the job in parts of Kerala. In local lore, these figures were believed capable of taking animal forms and terrifying people after dark. Mohanlal plays the legendary Odiyan Manikyan in V. A. Shrikumar’s film, with Manju Warrier and Prakash Raj in the main cast. Screenwriter Harikrishnan said he drew on the grandmother’s tales told about Odiyans; the film gives that remembered figure a personal history of love, hostility and return. Released on December 14, 2018, ‘Odiyan’ earned about Rs 54 crore worldwide, as reported by India Today.
12. Stree (2018)
“Come tomorrow” sounds polite until it is written on every wall to ward off a ghost. The Nale Ba urban legend circulated in Karnataka in the 1990s. Amar Kaushik’s ‘Stree’ transported its central idea to the fictional town of Chanderi, Madhya Pradesh, where residents write “O Stree Kal Aana” in hopes that a spirit will leave them alone. Rajkummar Rao plays tailor Vicky opposite Shraddha Kapoor, with Pankaj Tripathi, Aparshakti Khurana and Abhishek Banerjee adding to the town’s increasingly frantic theories. Released on August 31, 2018, the film collected Rs 182 crore worldwide.
13. Kothanodi (2016)
Bhaskar Hazarika took four familiar Assamese tales and asked what they might look like if a grandmother did not soften the frightening parts. His ‘Kothanodi’, starring Seema Biswas, Adil Hussain, Zerifa Wahid and Urmila Mahanta, intertwines stories associated with Tejimola, Champawati, Ou Kuwori and Tawoir Xadhu from Lakshminath Bezbaroa’s ‘Burhi Aair Sadhu’. The film’s mothers, daughters and strange transformations turn a treasured collection of folk narratives into unsettling adult cinema. It premiered at the Busan festival in 2015 and was released theatrically in Assam on September 16, 2016.
14. Arundhati (2009)
The women of ‘Arundhati’ do not wait for somebody else to face the monster. Anushka Shetty plays both a modern woman and her formidable ancestor Jejamma in Kodi Ramakrishna’s Telugu horror fantasy; Sonu Sood plays their enemy Pasupathi, alongside Manorama and Sayaji Shinde. Producer Shyam Prasad Reddy traced the film’s original spark to childhood stories his aunt told him about mysterious happenings in Gadwal Samsthanam, now in Telangana. That oral-history inspiration is real; Jejamma and Pasupathi’s battle is the film’s invention. Released on January 16, 2009, it grossed Rs 68.50 crore worldwide.
Honourable Mentions
The ghosts and guardians have a few more stories to tell. In Sundar C’s ‘Aranmanai 4’, an Assamese Baak finds its way into a Tamil horror comedy: Sundar said tales of the water spirit helped shape his screenplay. Starring Sundar, Tamannaah Bhatia and Raashii Khanna, the film opened on May 3, 2024, and grossed Rs 98.75 crore worldwide. A ghost was considerably better company in Amol Palekar’s ‘Paheli’, drawn from a Rajasthani folktale retold by Vijaydan Detha. Shah Rukh Khan plays both a travelling husband and the spirit who falls for his wife, played by Rani Mukerji. The June 24, 2005 release made Rs 31.92 crore worldwide. And folklore need not be supernatural: Rakeysh Omprakash Mehra’s ‘Mirzya’ brought Punjab’s tragic Mirza-Sahiban romance into a modern love story starring Harshvardhan Kapoor and Saiyami Kher. Released on October 7, 2016, it earned Rs 15 crore worldwide.
