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.
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.