Raat

I have recently been revisiting Bollywood because I felt I had been neglecting such a large and prestigious industry as a film fan. I first saw Raat with English subs on TV when I was on vacation in Bangalore, India, and was impressed by it, so impressed, in fact, that I went to the video store nearby and bought a VCD of the film. Years later, after much searching, I found a very scratched CD in my collection with no cover and it was "Raat", so I decided to watch it.

Ram Gopal Varma is apparently something of a legend over in Bollywood, but I've only seen two other films of his (Sarkar, the Indian remake of "The Godfather", and another very good horror film, "Kaun", which I have fond memories of), so I can't really vouch for that, but his direction here is stylish and he sets the mood perfectly. The movie itself reminded me a lot of several different Hollywood films, the possession scenes were reminiscent of "The Exorcist" and the majority of the opening half hour eerily reminiscent of "Evil Dead", but it has enough respect for those classics not to blatantly copy them, and it's successful because it learned from the very best, and applied it damn well.

9/10

Raat review :

The Ramsays dominated the 80s so much that horror genre got synonymous with them. Scary movies meant Anirudh Agarwal with a mud pack on his face, a bath happy heroine and a religious symbol or idol which turned savior in the end.

Ram Gopal Varma (RGV) tried to do something different with Raat - a film having none of the above elements - which paved the way for the future horror movies in Bollywood.

Revathy played Mini who gets possessed when her family shifts to a new house. Without relying on a hideous looking ghost, RGV evoked tremendous fear in minds of viewer through effective camera angles and sound effects. Revathy was outstanding in the lead role and she reportedly, faced lot of anxiety issues during the filming.

Om Puri's tantrik was memorable too. He only appears at the end but makes his strong presence felt. "Darkness never vanishes, it's only diminished by light in a particular radius" is his interesting explanation to the paranormal.

Raat was released with much publicised 70MM print and 6 track stereophonic sound at Mumbai's New Excelsior cinema. Taking cue from a stunt employed by certain Hollywood film, the makers had parked an ambulance outside New Excelsior for any exigency emerging to weak hearted viewers while watching the film.

Sadly, the film didnt work at the box office but later caught on in the video circuit to emerge a cult classic. In one of his later interviews, RGV admitted that the publicity of film should've focused on its good content rather than the 70MM stereo. He remade Raat (with minor changes) as Bhoot in 2003 which became a super hit. But Raat will always remain special as the one which ushered in a new change in Hindi horror.

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Normally, Indian films are anything but subtle. The horror films are even more crude, so it is a treat to watch something as well-made as this. Varma's direction is tight and stylistic, and the movie maintains suspense throughout this tale of the supernatural. Revathi's acting is especially fine. Recommended.

This is one of the best horror movies and the milestone of Indian Cinema. Ram Gopal Verma is really a genius. Wonderful cast with wonderful acting. Om Puri is a well reputed theater artist of Indian Cinema. RAAT is the story of a family that moves into a haunted house, and the eventual possession of their daughter Minnie.

At the releasing time of RAAT people were fed up with Ramsay brothers types movies which contains several sex scenes, some dirty faces and some Haunted Hawelis but this movie gave audience new experience.

You will not see any high class special effects in this movie but the sound effect and acting are out of the world. Hats off to Ramu. I will give 10/10 to this. A must watch.

I had started to become a fan of Ram Gopal Verma when I saw this movie. And I was all the more impressed by this talented film maker. The movie can remind us of Exorcist. But only as far as the main theme goes. Otherwise it is shot completely differently. Believe me, you will be kept on the edge of your seat if you see it in full attention. The atmosphere is kept tense all the time from beginning . The movie has many innovative scenes which I had never seen before (the one in the theater, and the one in the jungle off a road for e.g.). Not to mention, the background score, Revati's performance, and Om Puri's role. The possessed Revati's expressions really scared me.

Final note : See it !!

(Actually I was disappointed when I saw Bhoot recently. Why did he have to make a not-that-good horror movie when he had already accomplished more successfully in Raat ?)