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.

2005:

Despite having seen bits & pieces on un-subtitled Videos which my dad would tape over,I had never seen a full title from the Bollywood industry.Going round to a friends house,I got offered to watch a Bollywood Horror flick that he had recently picked up.Whilst I found the running time to be a bit on the daunting side, (2 and a half hours!) I felt that it was time that I gave Bollywood a chance.During the titles running time,I found myself completely mesmerised by a movie which was unlike anything that I had seen before,with the title offering spooky chills & catchy songs,which has led to it becoming my 7th favourite film.

The plot:

Ooty-

Playing around with her student pals, Nisha rushes into a woodland area,where she suddenly hears a deafening female scream.Rushing to the hospital, Ashutosh Rana is told that by doctors that Nisha has caught a disease that they have never seen before.Taking a look at Nisha,Rana tells the Drs that it is not an illness,but a ghost which Nisha has unleashed.With Nisha having given the ghost entry,the ghost kills Nisha,and then sets off on a search for its main target.

Mumbai:

Getting into a fight with her husband, Sanjana Dhanraj jumps into her car,and drives off.Shortly after she begins driving,Sanjana hears her name from a mysterious voice,which leads to Sanjana fainting & crashing her car.Waking up in hospital,Sanjana is met by her businessman husband Aditya.Talking to Aditya about the voice,Sanjana is told that it is most likely that her imagination is running wild,due to their relationship having recently been troubled,and Sanjana also having started to use sleeping pills.Keen to give their relationship a second chance,Aditya tells Sanjana that they can spend some quality time together,by going on holiday to anywhere Sanjana wants to go.

This leads to Sanjana deciding that they should go to the place where their relationship began:Ooty.Arriving in Ooty,Sanjana's hopes of finding calm quickly shatter,when she begins to hear constant screeching screams from a ghostly female voice.Initially thinking that she is going insane,Sanjana soon discovers that she must find the secret behind the mysterious cursed voice.

View on the film:

For the first of his ghost/demon quartet,director Vikram Bhatt soaks the film in an atmosphere mist,which along with allowing the screeching scream to cut through the mist like a butchers knife,also allows Bhatt to create a chilling mood,as Bhatt shows the endless trees in the forest to be wrapped in a frosty scream. Complementing the excellent soundtrack,Bhatt & his cinematographer dad Pravin give the title a beautiful,extremely stylised appearance,thanks to the Bhatt's using primary colours such as blue and lemon to represent Sanjana's dread,and by also using fantastic tracking shots,which show the voice/ghost locking itself onto Sanjana,and leaving her completely isolated.

Playing a very lively song over the opening credits,the 6 songs by Raju Rao/Shravan Rathod and Nadeem Saifi never feel disconnected from the rest of the titles,with each of the songs featuring a melancholia beat,which matches the disintegration of Sanjana & Aditya's relationship.Marking Vikram Bhatt's entry to the Horror genre,the screenplay by Girish Dhamija & Mahesh Bhatt takes the bare outline of the Hollywood title What Lies Beneath,and uses it to jump to extraordinary territories,which allow the film to include every spooky things possible,from subtle ghostly frights,to a wonderfully over the top demonic zombie!

Reaching these vast leaps,the writers cleverly make sure that the terror never overwhelms the horrors which are entering Sanjana & Aditya relationship.Putting Sanjana at the centre of the film,the writers make the chills surrounding their female-led Horror title ones that at first look disconnected to the melodrama taking place,but slowly seep into the dramatic elements,to reveal how fractured Sanjana and Aditya's relationship has become.

Getting the opportunity to at last step off the catwalk,the elegant Bipasha Basu and Dino Morea (who were both hired because they were cheap!) each give fantastic performances.Lighting up the film,Basu covers Sanjana's face with scars of anxiety that deepen as Sanjana finds that not only does she have to try and save her marriage,but that she also has a ghost trying to make her insane.Appearing absolutely clean-cut, Morea expertly rips Aditya's perfect image apart,as Aditya's devilish grin begins to quiver,when he begins to fear that he may be connected to his wife's "issues".Joining Basu and Morea, Ashutosh Rana gives a charming,world-weary performance as Professor Agni Swaroop,who Rana shows is grasping to keep a grip on his sanity,as Sanjana uncovers the secret of Raaz.

Horror films were few by 2000, except RGV and few makers hence RAAZ clicked in 2002. The film in true bhatt tradition had hit music, a new couple(real life pair that time) and a horror story. Of course it's a remake of Hollywood What Lies Beneath? After the success of GHULAM, KASOOR Vikram Bhatt gave another hit RAAZ. The film gathered tremendous buzz due to it's hot promos which was rare those days in films. RAAZ starts off straightaway unlike those days films and comes to the point, No dancing around trees. The first half slowly and gradually involves you though you have the typical Bollywood horror like chandeliers dropping blood, windows opening and banging.etc The romance between Dino and Bips is limited to flashbacks and 2 songs in this half and the focus is on scaring the audiences which the film did succeed. The film sort of created a new trend of bringing back horror to Hindi films. The interval point does shock you and the second half besides a few hiccups manages to succeed too. The entire scene where Bips is attacked by the ghost in the forest and also Ashutosh and Shruti getting attacked is superb, Another is the flashback which startles you The climax however disappoints, though well executed and scary but suddenly the ghost turning dormant and falling unconscious looks odd Direction by Vikram Bhatt is superb Music by Nadeem Shravan was a big hit, Jo Bhi Kasmein, Aapke Pyaar mein(sung brilliantly by Alka) Tum Agar and Kitna Pyaara all stand out Yahaan pe sab shanti hai is superb too

Amongst actors Dino Morea after his abmysal debut in Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi(1999) where he was credited as Siddharth,is better here but still needs to work on his expressions and body lang. His voice(as usual) was dubbed by Vikram Bhatt Bipasha Basu after her debut in AJNABEE got her first heroine role and she does wonders though one wishes she toned down in several scenes. her dubbing is horrible by someone else. Bips didn't dub for herself till 2004 Amongst rest Shruti Ulfat is good, Vishwajeet Pradhan is unintentionally hilarious Ashutosh Rana excels in his role, Anang Desai is adequate Ali Asgar and Mink are okay in their cameos. Malini Sharma does a good job surprising she never worked again in films. Pratima Kazmi is okay