Raaz

Asian filmmakers keep surprising us these past years. India does it this time with horror as part of a musical film. In the spirit of Bollywood. But I must say, I have never been a horrorfan. And so I actually was not sure if I should watch this movie. No regrets. The story is good, although the full explanation of what happened in the past is a bit long. But it is Bollywood, and they don't send you home after 74 or 90 minutes watching in full speed. They give you value for your money. Even the make up is well done, compare to other movies in it's genre, and the music is at the right time, the right place and in the right mood. Bollywood has done well with this movie, but I still prefer the romantic stuff...

A group of college students are having a good time in the woods playing "Spin the bottle". When the bottle points at a beautiful woman named "Nisha" (Mink Singh) she playfully runs off rather than kiss the young man (Ali Asghar) she is supposed to. While alone and in the dark she is possessed by an evil spirit and then unexpectedly attacks Ali before finally being confined in a mental hospital. She dies not long afterward but the evil spirit isn't quite through. Meanwhile, a young man named "Aditya Dhanraj" (Dino Morea) and his gorgeous wife "Sanjana Dhanraj" (Bipasha Basu) are having marital problems and decide to take a vacation. Unfortunately, their destination is the same place where the evil spirit possessed and killed Nisha. And it is waiting for them. At any rate, rather than giving away any of the mysteries in this film and spoiling it for those who haven't seen it, I will just say that I really enjoyed this movie. It has a good plot and some excellent musical scores. Likewise, Bipasha Basu not only looked nice but she put on a fine performance as well. That said, I highly recommend this film for those who enjoy a decent horror movie or Bollywood films in general.

Raaz is still one of my favourite horror films. It was the first Bollywood horror flick that I watched, and to my surprise, I liked a lot. The mood is set right, the music is great, the actors/actresses are pretty good and the scenes are really creepy. You'd think you're watching a good Hollywood horror flick. I must add, though, that the film does borrow many elements from its American counterparts like "What lies beneath".

My problem with this film is its ending. Not that it's cheesy or "unscary". No, not at all. It's just that it's telling the Indian wives that no matter what your husband has done (including cheating), your love will bring him back to you and salvage your relationship. Basically, forgive and forget... but in that particular case, I don't believe in forgiving, as in my opinion, "once a cheater, always a cheater".

All in all, a very nice horror film, as long as you're wary of the sexist message given at the end.

The summary says it all. This movie may not be different in the sense that its original - not at all, in fact there is a lot about it that is ripped from other movies - Bollywood and Hollywood. But, what a relief from the other romantic movies making its rounds. This was one of the most enjoyable movies i have seen this year, and im sure everyone else will fell the same way.

Bipasha Basu...wow, what can i say. She is so talented and not to mention beautiful. if her solid performance in raaz does not boost her career, noting will. Dino Morea was excellent as well. What a couple. the chemistry is amazing, so they must be doing something right.

on a whole, a wonderful movie, that for once, has you guessing till the end. A must see!

If you really want to watch this movie at its optimum, you have to follow certain guidelines. Watch late at night. Sit alone or maybe with someone ;) Make sure the house is real quite.

To enjoy a movie as the director intended, an ambiance must be created, such as that created on a late night showing at the cinema. With that in mind, here's my view.

This movie was shown recently on a British T.V. channel late at night. I had heard good buzz about it when it was released, I love the soundtrack and so I went in open-minded.

However with that in mind, I didn't enjoy the movie too much.

As you will know, this is a horror flick with that psychological element thrown in along with some of the Hindi trimmings, thrown in for extra measure. The plot of What Lies Beneath is regurgitated and slightly repackaged for the audience.

I enjoyed the opening sequences, although clichéd to an extent, they were interesting. I think the introduction of Bipashu Basu (B.B) and Dino Morea (D.M) added weaknesses to the story. B.B isn't one of the strongest actresses. D.M didn't really have much to do. The introduction set the scene well, however the movement from the introduction to the main characters was shoddy, it wasn't fulfilling.

As the story progresses, the scare factor does increase, however you feel as if you can predict the next scene. Don't get me wrong, this was an enjoyable movie, not something that makes you look at the clock every 5 minutes. The director does help produce some tension in some of the scenes-you know those kinds of scenes even when you know something bad is going to happen, and you're chewing on your nails! The music scenes do fit in well; the songs are really good, although I would say the opening number is pretty weak.

Although the movie may be a treat for those viewers who have not seen What Lies Beneath, this movie offers nothing more than an above the average retelling. The producers could have made something more of this film, there is great potential in the storyline. The cgi doesn't help at all, when used. It only helps create that element of the horror being false.

A few adjustments to the story would have helped make a truly great movie. However the final product is a Hollywood rip-off, packaged for a different audience. Although members of the target audience may enjoy the movie, this does no favours for boosting the opinion held by many people of the lack of originality of Hindi films.

My opinion- Not a total waste of time, the movie has its plus points which will keep you engrossed. However if you are looking for something original on the cinematic plateau, you won't find it here. My rating 6/10