Naagzilla: Kartik Aaryan’s horror-comedy creature feature enters production

Kartik Aaryan has begun shooting for Naagzilla, a horror-comedy creature feature that blends Indian mythological folklore around serpent deities with a large-scale monster-movie narrative.

The film’s title, a portmanteau referencing both traditional ‘naag’ mythology and the scale of classic monster-feature cinema, signals the makers’ intent to fuse folklore with a modern creature-feature format.

Aaryan, who has built a strong commercial track record in the horror-comedy genre through his earlier Bhool Bhulaiyaa franchise entries, returns to familiar tonal territory with this new project.

Production details indicate the film will rely heavily on visual effects work to realise its central creature, marking a scale departure from the more haunted-house-style horror comedies Aaryan has previously led.

The makers have described the project as an attempt to reinterpret traditional Indian serpent folklore through a contemporary, effects-driven genre lens aimed at a broad theatrical audience.

Aaryan’s recent filmography has leaned heavily into the horror-comedy space, with the actor emerging as one of the genre’s most commercially reliable leading men in Hindi cinema over the past several years.

Principal photography is reportedly taking place across a mix of studio sets and outdoor locations, with the production planning an extended shoot schedule to accommodate the film’s effects-heavy sequences.

Casting details beyond Aaryan’s lead role have not yet been fully disclosed, with the makers expected to unveil the supporting ensemble in phases as the production progresses.

Horror-comedy has remained one of the more consistently profitable genres in Hindi cinema in recent years, a trend the makers of Naagzilla appear to be building on with this large-scale creature-feature approach.

No release date has been confirmed yet, with further updates on the film’s timeline expected as the shoot moves forward in the coming months.

Serpent mythology has long featured in Indian folklore and popular cinema, and blending it with a modern creature-feature format is a relatively novel positioning for a mainstream Hindi theatrical release.

Photo of Kartik Aaryan, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 3.0