Think Bipasha Basu astride the fortunate John Abraham on a pearly white Pondicherry beach in the soon-to-be-released Jism, an X-rated recreation of the 1944 Billy Wilder-classic Double Indemnity. Now contrast it with the late Ashok Kumar as he gazes from under hooded eyes, smoke billowing from his casually held, trademark cigarette.

For those who have grown up watching Kumar in films like the 1950 Sangram (and whose memories aren't failing), there is good news: the thriller is back after almost a decade of five-handkerchief family dramas. The bad news: the suspense can sometimes be restricted to guessing the shape of the hero's goatee and the underwear, or the lack of it, sported by the heroine.

In a desperate bid to lure more bottoms to the edge of seats, the Mumbai film industry has decided to release seven thrillers in the next two months even as another five lurk in the wings, waiting to take flight before the cricket World Cup begins in February. As the audience's attention span becomes increasingly limited, filmmakers hope that thrillers will at least offer a high level of unpredictability.

Add to that the comforting familiarity of colour-coded and digitally enhanced song-and-dance routines in unlikely places, from the streets of Bangkok in Churaa Liya Hai Tumne to deserted Los Angeles warehouses in Kaante, and the industry hopes its version of film noir isn't too much of a shocker to an audience fed on gentle melodramas.

Not that domestic thrillers celebrate the heart of unalloyed darkness. The pill-popping disco babe of Raaz who suspects her husband of being a killer has to ultimately become a demi-goddess and save her man, even as the contract killer out to make one last hit in a nursing home in the soon-to-be-released Sandhya has a deep, dark and understandable reason to be chasing innocent people down dingy corridors.

Mahesh Bhatt, who wrote Raaz (the precursor of the thriller revival) and Jism, which he calls an "erotic thriller" (this means a lot of Basu in sheer white kurtas), says only those thrillers/gangster films will work that reassert pg-rated family values. Er, with a bit of sex thrown in? As the acknowledged master of exploitation, Bhatt has a ready answer: "This is the age of instant gratification. In times of chaos, it's good to see one's life onscreen.''

But while the family values may be original, the thrills are usually inspired by Hollywood. Aryan Vaid, one of the most wanted newcomers in these low-budget thrillers, recalls at least two films where the director would carry his trusty dvd player and television to the set. He has been offered 20 thrillers in the past year, he says, and half "are copies of the Hollywood teen scream I Know What You Did Last Summer".

There is also the advantage of making these films for a budget of less than Rs 5 crore, thanks to newcomers, inexpensive locations and swift shooting schedules-Raaz, for instance, was shot entirely in a house in Ooty. "All you really need to concentrate on is good technicians," says Sailesh Gupta, co-producer of Churaa Liya Hai Tumne, which is launching Sanjay Khan's son Zayed. That thrillers mean low-cost films is a time-honoured tradition: when Saira Banu fell ill on the sets of Admi aur Insaan in 1969, Yash Chopra, instead of idling away his time, decided to adapt a Gujarati play (based on an English play) and make Ittefaq. The story was written in eight days, shot in 28 days and starred a then-unknown Rajesh Khanna terrorising Nanda. It ran for 15 weeks even though it had no songs and its hero sported an unshaven look throughout the film.

Filmmakers these days take no such chances. The audience interest in Sanjay Gupta's Kaante is focused as much on the steamy item numbers as it is on discovering the identity of the undercover policeman. In the 140-minute Churaa Liya Hai Tumne, Pantaloon-Rave Entertainment, the producers, hired designer Falguni Thakore to tailor a trendy look for Zayed and the much-in-need-of-a-makeover Esha Deol. That can lead to a problem though: promotionals of both Kuchh To Hai and Churaa Liya Hai Tumne are on air. In both, Deol looks lovely but very similar-the makers haven't heard of brand confusion.

But a thriller made doesn't necessarily translate into a thriller released: Sangeeth Sivan directed Sandhya much before Churaa Liya Hai Tumne but both will be released almost simultaneously. Even if it is released, there's no guarantee that it will survive in a confederacy of chills and spills: witness the lamentable sinking of Aditi Govitrikar's debut vehicle Soch in August.

So isn't the thriller scene for December-January getting a wee bit crowded? Kushan Nandy, who has directed 88 Antop Hill, a story of three murders, six suspects and one address, admits to the herd mentality. But he hastens to add that he planned his Rs 2.25 crore film two months before Raaz was released. Geetanjali Kirloskar, president of Lintertainment, which promotes entertainment brands and films, hopes there will be no thrill overkill. "Remember we are in the age of rapid eye movement. The audience gets bored fast," she says.

Will the new-wave directors manage to renew the audience's relationship with the genre that B.R. Chopra and Vijay Anand were so adept at? They don't have their advantages. Chopra had a team of scriptwriters with a literary background. Most filmmakers, even when they are young, like former Channel V creative head Shashanka Ghosh, have only a concept that is often the byproduct of "quirky hormones". The result can often be sorry: Kaizad Gustad's Bombay Boys, which started as part parody, part gangster film, part thriller ended up being an unintentional comedy.

It could be said that the idiom of the thriller is not intrinsic to Indians' peace-loving nature. But it may also be that the new brat pack could excel at it. So, sorry to sound like the tag line of a thriller, but wait and watch.