Raaz (2002)

When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Raaz is still one of my favourite horror films. Being an Iranian, I don't understand a word of Hindi, naturally. However I usually like Bollywood. Raaz was the first Bollywood horror flick that I watched, and to my surprise, I liked a lot. The mood is set right, the music is great, the actors/actresses are pretty good and the scenes are really creepy. You'd think you're watching a good Hollywood horror flick. I must add, though, that the film does borrow many elements from its American counterparts like "What lies beneath".My problem with this film is its ending. Not that it's cheesy or "unscary". No, not at all. It's just that it's telling the Indian wives that no matter what your husband has done (including cheating), your love will bring him back to you and salvage your relationship. Basically, forgive and forget... but in that particular case, I don't believe in forgiving, as in my opinion, "once a cheater, always a cheater".All in all, a very nice horror film, as long as you're wary of the sexist message given at the end.

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.

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.

When I was watching Raaz, I was annoyed how cliché this movie was. There are what, thousand haunting house movies made? Well, with that in my mind, I still wanted to see this movie. Approximately one hour and a half, there are several interesting twist in this movie, and that made this movie very interesting. The movie was not really scary. But I think this movie is still very entertaining to watch. The acting is really good. The setting was very beautiful, the surroundings were very nice shot. The special effects were for a bollywood movie decent. I did not like the songs completely, because the voice of that girl was not nice. Well all in all, definitely worth watching. It deserves a 8/10