Raaz (2002)

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.

Well I think that I have to admit that this is no doubt the best Indian horror movie I have ever seen. The story, acting, Music everything is good and in sequence. I think that those Hollywood fans who can understand Hindi even they will like this movie because director simply knows how to create suspense and thrill. Even the story is good no matter when it comes to romance or horror. It shows the true sub-continent value that how a girl loves her husband no matter what he has done in past before marriage. Although its runtime is a bit long but you will not feel boring. This is what you can expect from bollywood movies.Overall I will give it 9/10 and it is 'a must see' movie.

After you have seen endless popsicle movies with one Clown who self proclaims himself as the greatet actor and the imbeciles of the media who praises him to the hilt that is decadance of an Industry and you begin to wonder the state of the Industry,then comes along movies that puts your faith back in the Hindi movies and Raaz is one of them. Consummate actors like Aushotosh Rana,The haunting melody of the music that was the staple of the yester years,the location (Ooty or Ootacamund, a hill station the Indian Switzerland),the Ace direction by one of the top directors, good looking actors,the thrill of watching a movie is back. Raaz is one of the best romantic thriller after "Bees Sal Baad" a classic of the sixties.

Taking inspired by `What Lies Beneath', `Raaz' become one of the rare scary movies that ever made in Bollywood and the outcomes is a fine and surprisingly good.The plot is about Sanjana (Bipasha Pasu) and Aditya (Dino Morea), a couple on the verse of divorce. For the memories sake, they attempt to save their marriage by visiting the place where they first fall in love. At the beginning, everything seems run well, until Sanjana always experience strange and weird events that lead Sanjana to believe that their house is haunted. The plot is getting darker and Sanjana must find the secret behind it or her very existence will decease.Being predictable because of the plot, `Raaz' is still a well packed flick, because Vikram Bhatt doesn't waste time with the usual cliché. He just goes straight to the point, even in the very beginning. In general, the film oozes in a glossy style and fit the American standard of horror movies. Won't disappoint you.7/10