Raaz: The Mystery Continues

One of the best Indian horror movie ever made . Mohit Suri is very talented director of Bollywood.

The movie has an enticing beginning on a dark night with a gruesome surprise that cuts rapidly to join the bustling present of the heroine's unsuspecting and usual complicated life in Mumbai. 'Nandita' (Kangna Ranaut) is an established model in love with a reality news show anchor 'Yash' (Adhyayan Suman). The movie opens with the two uniting where they left off and both characters on a professional upswing. Suddenly, a brooding and determined painter, 'Pritvi' (Emraan Hashmi), emerges from the shadows to follow Nandita around. In their first meeting in an elevator he gives her a succinct summary of why he has been drawn into her life against his wishes. Prithvi counsels her that he thought that he had painted his masterpiece - the face of a woman who he thought didn't exist when suddenly he realizes that she exists and has a life of her own. To further complicate matters he can see her dangerous future unfold. The movie now erupts into a sharp ride of Prithvi trying to save the hapless Nandita from near certain death as well as disbelief from her doting boyfriend - Yash, a firm non-believer of the paranormal. Emraan is actually quite balanced in his performance and seems completely sincere and free of any melodrama. Kangna is well cast in the character though her dialog delivery lacks punch and is often limp. Wardrobe and styling are mostly good. Nandita (Kangna) must journey to the source of her troubles with the help of the mysterious painter - Pritvi, who seems to rescue her each time from certain death. Adhyayan could be better in his debut, with his dance steps seeming ill choreographed, his protestations of love seeming a little too maudlin and only his performance in the climax showing any real spark. The movie certainly had the audience riveted and on the edge of their seats, however, could have done without at least one song and a stronger portrayal of the boyfriend in Adhyayan. Worth special mention are the scenes where Nandita has her first tryst with the strange force that nearly kills her in her bath and a dream flash that has Prithvi incorrectly imagining her being mowed down by a truck, realizing the error and then actually seeing her at the exact same place. Towards the climax is an interesting special appearance and a lamentable explanation of Prithvi and Nandita's connection to each other. All in all, this will certainly spook you if you watch this at night and go home alone to your apartment! The scenes of self torture and the attempts to depict Indian occult practices are scary though brief.

Movie does not appear to be a horror or thriller because of its predictability. At least not for horror movie afficiandoes. Half way through I already was able to get a hint of what the end would be like.

Without spoiling too much for those who are still waiting to watch this movie. What? Am I kidding? Its been 6 months since it came out but anyways I think nothing makes it worth watching than Kagna alone. My only complain is that she looks too cute to look scary even in a ghostly appearance. That apart she does a good job at genuinely putting life into a character that builds on you. I like a horror movie which ends with a lot of tension and shock leaving behind the viewer with a climax that sticks in their mind for a long long time. But unfortunately the whole thing dissolves in the end particularly because the concern for Kangna's character gets removed by the end.

In fact other than watching her and commenting on her dresses in some not so "demanding" scenes all we were doing was laughing away at some of the "scary" scenes. The graphics have been done well for a bollywood movie... but its too late for them.

OK so my final say is watch it for Kangna otherwise skip it.

The first Raaz starring Bipasha Basu has nothing to do with this film. The mystery indeed continues here in name only, just like how the Thai horror franchise The Art of the Devil 2 having no relation to Part 1. It's a totally different story altogether with no return of characters from the first film, so this rose could be called any other name, and would it smell as sweet? There's a certain formula followed here and comes with the obligatory "logical" explanation, but the story could have been nipped and tucked a little to help in the pacing.

Fashion model Nandita (Kangana Ranaut who seems stuck in such roles, the last of which was the recent Fashion) and her fiancé Yash (Adhyayan Suman) seem to hit all the right notes as a successful yuppie couple. At first we're told the relationship is on the rocks, but then a quick reconciliation over an awards ceremony meant happy days for both. For her, she's at the height of her career, and for him, being the successful producer-director of a long running reality television series called Superstition, which explores the many myths and beliefs in Indian culture, and goes about deconstructing and debunking them. So of course, things start to go bump in the night, but seemingly affecting Nandita more, to the point of insanity.

We get introduced to an artist Prithvi (Emraan Hashmi), who falls into a drunken trance with a few swigs, and ends up painting masterpieces of people he doesn't know, only to find that the impressions of his paintings are predictions of future occurrences. Recognizing that his drawings lately have resembled the high profile model, he takes it upon himself to explain things, and this sets everything up for a romantic triangle, where his brooding demeanor doesn't put him in the good books of flamboyant Yash.

Things with Nandita start to get worst, and just as you wonder if there would be any inkling of Hollywood come smacking in the face of the film, there had to be some homage paid to movies like Ghostbusters (Kangana's rendition of the Gatekeeper, anyone?) and The Devil's Advocate, but this being Bollywood meant it's a clothes on affair in the display of deep- rooted scars in front of a church altar. Shades from Asian horror like The Ring also gets overused here. Songs have to be worked in, and this was done fairly smartly in having to set it in pubs, private serenading and a much unwanted dream-like fantasy of Prithvi lusting after Nandita (well, it did seem that way).

Director Mohit Suri employed every trick in the scare book in order to work up some boo- moments, some of which still get effectively delivered, while others dallied on the anticipation too long and backfired. From mirror images to shaky doorknobs, from copious amounts of blood stained walls to deserted underground car parks, sound effects in the theatre were maxed out to give that sense-surround creepy feeling, with whispers and creaky doors used to great effect. Alas the narrative failed to exploit the technical brilliance at the film's disposal, and investigations by both Prithvi and Nandita (the character of Yash does get forgotten for a while) take their toil as they take just too darn long to get to where they should (about 40 minutes!).

Unfortunately we don't get to see a lot of footage of superstition which could've been milked for various scenes. Instead, it becomes a rather bland X-Files episode where the superstitious and the non-believers go head on toward unraveling the mystery of the worshippers and rites of a remote town, with some environmental concerns thrown right in just because it's the in thing. The link that binds the characters together were too weak to say the least, becoming too trying especially in its final revelation with a last ditch attempt.

If it had tightened its pace and felt no need to explain everything in verbatim, this could clock way below 2 hours, and a tighter thriller could result. Not a bad experience for my first Hindi thriller, but it had room to be much better.

The cinematography was the best part of this film...The lighting and photography was brilliant! Also, some of the angles had a very frightening and mysterious feel to it. The direction and story was also unique.Yes, this was overall a well made film but it could have been so much more! A few unnecessary scenes slowed the pace down a bit. The director attempted some cliché gags to frighten the audience. Sometimes it gave me the "been there done that" feel. The acting in the film was OK. Emraan in my opinion, was the best. Adhyayan Suman and Kangana Ranaut were OK. One thing I don't understand is, what was the need of the random English dialogues? That made things a bit less believable. The film was also a bit melodramatic...But it was a good movie overall.