• Source: Raaz (2002 film)

Raaz (transl. Secret) is a 2002 Indian supernatural horror film directed by Vikram Bhatt. The film stars Dino Morea and Bipasha Basu in lead roles, with Malini Sharma and Ashutosh Rana in supporting roles. The story follows Aditya and Sanjana who are a couple and have moved to Ooty to save their failing marriage. However, what they find in their new home is more than they expected when a ghost starts haunting the place. The wife (Sanjana) soon realises that her husband (Aditya) is part of a ghostly and scary conspiracy, which she must solve to restore their relationship. The film is an unofficial adaptation of the American film What Lies Beneath (2000).
It was the second-highest-grossing film of the year 2002 being the most profitable venture and the first instalment in the Raaz series. Basu's performance was highly praised and earned her a Best Actress nomination at the 48th Filmfare Awards. Nadeem-Shravan's music also earned them several Filmfare Award nominations. American entertainment publication Collider has considered it better than the original.
The film was shot in places across Ooty including The Lawrence School, Lovedale. The voices for the leading cast were dubbed by professional artists; Mona Ghosh Shetty dubbed for Basu, Namrata Sawhney dubbed for Sharma, and Bhatt himself dubbed for Morea.
A spiritual sequel to the film was released on 23 January 2009, under the title Raaz: The Mystery Continues and the third installment of the series titled Raaz 3 was released in 3D on 7 September 2012. A fourth film, Raaz Reboot, was released on 16 September 2016.




Plot



In Ooty, a group of college students are picnicking in a forest. One of the girls, Nisha, dies under paranormal circumstances after inexplicably attacking her boyfriend. While she was being rushed to the hospital, just before dying, her face and voice changes completely, confusing the doctors. Professor Agni Swaroop, who is supposedly an expert of supernatural beings, is called by police to look into the matter. After investigating, Swaroop concurs that she was possessed by an evil spirit. He reveals that this spirit has awakened for a purpose and will not stop until that purpose is fulfilled.
Sanjana and Aditya Dhanraj are a married couple living in Mumbai. During a business party, Aditya gets too involved with his associates, leaving Sanjana isolated. Furious, she leaves the party. On her frantic drive home, she hears a voice in her head and crashes after losing control. She manages to escape the accident unscathed. After her recovery, Sanjana asks her husband for a divorce; Aditya, however, realises his fault and suggests a vacation to work out their problems. Sanjana chooses to return to Ooty, where their relationship first began. They stay in the bungalow behind which Nisha was attacked. Sanjana starts experiencing mysterious events, including hearing a woman screaming in the forest. On the other hand, Aditya brushes her concerns away, blaming it all on the sleeping pills that Sanjana takes. From another cleaning staff who visits the house on Aditya's order, Sanjana learns that their previous caretaker Robert has not been visiting the home and has disappeared without a trace. She decides to visit Robert's wife who tells her that he changed and became scared whenever anyone mentioned the guest house. She also told her that he used to hear strange voices from the forest, just like Sanjana.
Sanjana's friend Priya advises her to visit Professor Swaroop after she tells her about these strange incidents. Swaroop arrives and suspects the presence of a spirit in the house. Before leaving, he hands Sanjana a lemon and asks her to check on it after sunset, making sure it doesn't change its color. A hysterical Sanjana, upon seeing the lemon turn red, informs Aditya about their home being haunted. However, Aditya is far from believing her and thrashes Swaroop for misrepresentation. An urgent phone call from Mumbai forces the couple to go back, but they get stuck due to landslide; Aditya decides to leave alone and come back later for Sanjana. After he leaves, Priya insists Sanjana to come with her but she stubbornly denies as she wants to know the truth.
The next night, Professor Swaroop revisits the same spot in the forest where Nisha was attacked, accompanied by Priya and Sanjana. On his advice, Sanjana goes alone to talk to the spirit and discovers a revolver. They go to an arms store and are told by that the revolver was licensed to a retired colonel, Arjun Malik. They visit the colonel and learn that the spirit is his daughter, Malini, who was mentally ill and had escaped from the mental asylum several times before suddenly disappearing. The colonel also tells them that from that day, his revolver had also disappeared.
Sanjana summons the spirit, believing it wants to tell her something. She learns that Aditya had an extramarital affair with Malini; upon confronting Aditya, he admits to the affair and that he had stayed at the very cottage. Aditya had rebuked Malini's demands that he leave his wife and an enraged Malini committed suicide in front of Aditya in order to frame him for murder. Aditya, with the help of Robert, buried her body in the forest.
Sanjana resents Aditya. Swaroop tells her that this was an attempt by Malini's spirit to separate Sanjana and Aditya, and its next step would be to kill Aditya.
Sanjana goes to Aditya and tells him that she is doing this just to save him and that they should leave for Mumbai immediately. Sanjana turns out to be Malini's spirit in disguise. The real Sanjana, Priya, and Swaroop arrive at the cottage, where the bewildered maid tells them that Aditya had just left in the car with her.
Malini's spirit runs the car off a cliff and Aditya is hospitalized. To stop the spirit, Sanjana, Priya and Swaroop enter the forest to locate Malini's body and burn it. The spirit attacks the trio, killing Swaroop and possessing him While being pursued, Sanjana finds Robert's corpse hanging on a tree. She manages to find a petrol can and burns down Malini's body.
At the hospital, Aditya is saved and Sanjana gets a congratulatory applause.




Cast


Dino Morea as Aditya Dhanraj
Bipasha Basu as Sanjana Dhanraj
Malini Sharma as Malini Malik (Evil Ghost Spirit)
Ashutosh Rana as Professor Agni Swaroop
Mink Brar as Nisha, Rohit’s girlfriend
Vishwajeet Pradhan as Ajay, Priya's husband (special appearance)
Ali Asgar as Rohit, Nisha's Boyfriend
Masood Akhtar as Robert, Aditya's Servant
Pratima Kazmi as Robert's wife (guest appearance)
Shruti Ulfat as Priya, Sanjana’s Friend
Anang Desai as Mr Dhanraj, Aditya's father (special appearance)
Neha Bam as Mrs Dhanraj, Aditya's mother
Murli Sharma as Police Inspector (special appearance)
Yusuf Hussain as Doctor treating Nisha
Ishwar Patel
Kiran Randhawa




Box office


Raaz released on 1 February 2002 and grossed ₹370 million (equivalent to ₹1.4 billion or US$17 million in 2023) and was declared a "blockbuster" by Box Office India.




Reception


Webindia123.com said that Raaz is "something different from the current trend...Raaz is a psycho-thriller worth a look". The film was praised because of its unique story.




Awards


48th Filmfare Awards:
Nominated

Best Film – Vishesh Films and Tips Industries
Best Director – Vikram Bhatt
Best Actress – Bipasha Basu
Best Music Director – Nadeem–Shravan
Best Lyricist – Sameer for "Aapke Pyaar Mein"
Best Female Playback Singer – Alka Yagnik for "Aapke Pyaar Mein"




Music


The music of Raaz was released on December 8th 2001 and was composed by the duo Nadeem-Shravan, while the lyrics were penned by Sameer. Singers Udit Narayan, Alka Yagnik, Abhijeet, Sarika Kapoor, Jolly Mukherjee and Bali Brahmbhatt lent their voices for the songs. It was the third best selling bollywood soundtrack album of the year and its songs gained huge popularity and became huge hits. According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, the soundtrack sold 30,00,000 units, contributing to the film’s Blockbuster success.




Release


The film was dubbed in Tamil as Rahasyam.




See also


Ginihila, a 2003 Maldivian remake




References






External links


Raaz at IMDb
Planet Bollywood Review

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