Raaz

Man, I really love those songs in Bollywood-films. But here, they don't work. "Raaz" is a Mystery-Thriller à la "What Lies Beneath" and I just didn't dig it that they would sing in between. But ... the song sequences take place in Switzerland so at least my local pride got soothed :)

The story delivers the goods. It's suspenseful, well told, even better photographed and OK acted. The two main stars make a splendid couple. Dino Morea has a

physique to die for and Bipasha Basu is beauty impersonated. Very nice to look at indeed. I was more annoyed by the Professor (Ashutosh Rana) however. In the

beginning, there is a scene where he rages against doctors completely unprovoked. His ethno-medeicine talks was not only a bore, it was also wrong in content. And why did he have to scream all the time?

But fortunately, he's not the main focus. One final thing: I'd have loved some juicy sex scenes. Here are two amazingly beautiful actors and they have a lot of love scenes together. But they don't even kiss. They just hold each other ... and talk. Or sing. Booooring. Why not spicing it up with some flesh? I know, I know, it's not some cheap Hollywood skin-pic, but then why tease at all?

Overall, a nice movie with minor flaws. But for the actors and the camera work alone, it's worth a look.

Rating 7/10

Raaz is a very average film in terms of film-making. It's a very funny mixture of thriller and romance. While films like Bhoot use music which contributes to the film's genre perfectly, the songs in Raaz are very melodious and romantic, which makes them odd and unsuitable for a thriller like Raaz. Anyway, if the film had been made as a complete thriller, it would probably have not succeeded commercially as expected by the producers. Generally, thrillers and horror films often display magical realism to make it more convincing and scaring (again, Bhoot), and the acting is natural for the same purpose, but this film has far too many unrealistic sequences, over-the-top dialogues and exaggerated acting (except for Bipasha) even in very ordinary and simple scenes which are not part of the suspense. This does not mean though the effect was damaged completely, because you wouldn't really expect to see a realistic film with such a story. Raaz therefore does work as a thriller most of the time.

Dino Morea does not make a great impact. This is not really a performance-driven role, though he is restrained throughout and looks suitable for the role. The film has one main highlight for me, and it's Bipasha Basu who carries the film on her own shoulders. Although these were still the days when she had not yet become a national sex symbol, this girl had extremely expressive eyes and graceful mannerisms. She did not perform brilliantly, nor did she look as stunningly beautiful as she looks today, but she did perform well and looked attractive and beautiful. And the dubbing artist... she did a fabulous job for her. And speaking of dubbing, yes, the film secretly used professional dubbing for several actors, including the main lead, which is good because from what I know the starring actors were yet to work on their voices and diction at that point of time. And though it does make wonders, as the performances seem to be much more convincing, the dubbing at several points faces foul-ups. Several scenes had a noticeable lack of compatibility between the voice over and the facial expressions, which was quite annoying. Anyway, Raaz may not be a great film, but it is a decent entertainer, and as a time-pass flick it does the required. It may have had better results had it been directed by someone like Ram Gopal Varma, but it should be worthy of a one-time watch.

I don't like watching horror movies at all. Despite being a movie buff, this is one kind of movies which I always prefer to avoid. Still there is a horror movie which I like to watch again and again and which, quite unusually for me, I find very close to my heart. It's Raaz (2002).

Raaz (secret / mystery) is the story of Sanjana (Bipasha Basu) and Aditya (Dino Morea) who are facing problems in their marital life and move to Ooty for a break from the routine and set the conjugal troubles right. There Sanjana starts experiencing strange and frightening things and finally comes to know of the existence of a spirit (of a female) haunting their house there. One day the mystery behind the reason of the haunting of spirit gets revealed before her and the dark truth hidden in the life of her husband becomes naked before her eyes. However the final challenge appears when she finds the life of her husband under threat. How she is able to save him and her married life as well is the climax.

The theme of this movie is said to have been picked from the Hollywood movie - What Lies Beneath (2000). However I find it closer to an old Hindi movie - Mangalsutra (1981). In fact, we can trace the origin of this story back to the tale of Savitri embedded in the Hindu mythology who was able to get her deceased husband, Satyavaan from Yama, the god of death. The ultimate thing which matters is the treatment of the plot on the screen which is wonderful and the melodious songs are the icing on the cake. The story has been presented less like a horror movie and more like an edge-of-the-seat musical thriller which does not allow the viewer to leave it even for a second.

The movie has ample romantic moments. And I praise the director, Vikram Bhatt for the fact that the scenes of physical intimacy have been presented so artistically that not even a particle of vulgarity is felt while watching them. The melodious and touching romantic songs add to the flavour of the romance visible on the screen.

The movie runs on the theme of the traditional Indian wife's forgiving her husband for his past sings and standing by him in the adverse times (despite the resentment in her heart). The Indian ladies have always been taught to treat their husband as God. That's why I have compared this movie to the Satyavaan-Savitri Katha instead of the Hollywood movie.

Technically the movie is just superb. The special effects (especially in the climax) are highly admirable and the background score is perfect to render shivers to the audience.

Nadeem-Shravan alongwith Sameer, the lyricist have done an outstanding job by preparing unforgettable songs even in the 21st century. Not all the songs have been kept in the movie but listening to the album is a mesmerizing experience for any melody-lover. One song - Kitna Pyara Hai Ye Chehera is sung (and played on the harmonium) by me at times. It's based on Raag Bhairavi. However the best song of the album is - Aapke Pyar Mein Hum Sanwarne Lage. Most of the songs are in the voices of Alka Yagnik and Udit Narayan and they have done full justice to the job of the lyricist and the composers by singing superbly.

This is the movie which lifted Bipasha Basu to stardom. Her performance deserves all the accolades showered on her. Dino Morea and Malini Sharma (she strangely disappeared from Bollywood after this movie) have also done well. Ashutosh Rana as the professor studying the supernatural has, once again, delivered a great performance. The supporting cast has done justice to the roles assigned.

Despite being a horror-movie-hater, I watched Raaz twice in the theatre and I don't mind watching it again on VCD / DVD. It's definitely the best horro-cum-suspense thriller made in India during the past two-three decades. If you like thrillers, I strongly recommend it to you.

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...

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