Mumbai, Dec 31 (IANS): Dibakar Banerjee has cast Gulshan Devaiah and Sukant Goel as the protagonists in his segment of the four-story horror anthology, "Ghost Stories". The actors state it was a golden opportunity to work with the acclaimed filmmaker.

"I am one of those people who cannot sit through a horror film, so if you ask me whether I was excited to be a part of this genre, I will say I was not. I grabbed the opportunity because it was my chance to work with one of the finest filmmakers of our time -- Dibakar. I am still feeling weird that I did not watch our film. The story is very incentive for me to be part of it," Gulshan told IANS.

Sukant on the other hand says he is a fan of the horror genre. "I love horror but there is always a question in India whether an actor gets scope to perform in a horror film, and also whether the genre has been taken seriously. For me, it was interesting to be a part of the film. The story is good but my point of excitement was also to work with Dibakar. He is such a good director; every actor should work with him at least once."

"Ghost Stories" consists of four short films directed by Karan Johar, Anurag Kashyap and Zoya Akhtar along with Dibakar. The film streams on Netflix from January 1. The quartet has collaborated to create anthology films twice before -- "Bombay Talkies" in 2013 and "Lust Stories" last year.

According to Dibakar, his segment goes beyond superficial horror.

"In 'Bombay Talkies' and 'Lust Stories', the stories started from cinema and lust respectively, but tapped into more complex emotions of life. It is the same with ‘Ghost Stories'. The stories take off from horror or fear and then broaden into a scarier situation. It is about the fear we have in our minds," said Dibakar.