Raaz (Hindi: राज़, translation: Secret), is a 2002 Bollywood horror movie directed by Vikram Bhatt and produced by Mahesh Bhatt. The filmstars Bipasha Basu and Dino Morea as a couple who 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 suddenly finds that her husband is part of the ghostly conspiracy, which she must fix in order to escape.^[1] The film is an unofficial adaptation of What Lies Beneath.^[2]

It was the second highest grossing film of the year 2002. Bipasha Basu went on to be praised for her role in the film, and was nominated for the Filmfare Best Actress Award. Raaz also marked the debut of actress Malini Sharma. A sequel to the film was released in 2009, under the title of Raaz - The Mystery Continues and the third installment of the series titled Raaz 3 is all set to release in August 31, 2012.

Plot[link]

The film starts with a group of college students enjoying a picnic in a beautiful forest in Ooty. One of the girls, Nisha (Mink) in that group, however dies after being attacked under mysterious circumstances outside a bungalow in front of the same forest. She had attacked her boyfriend too, who though injured, managed to live on. She was rushed to the hospital, where just before dying, her facial look and voice changed completely for a short while, thus confusing all the attending doctors. Professor Agni Swaroop (Ashutosh Rana), who is supposedly an expert in phenomena involving the unexplained and the supernatural is called by the police to look into the matter and declares that the girl was killed by an evil spirit that has been awakened by her entering the forest.

The story then turns to Sanjana Dhanraj (Bipasha Basu) and Aditya Dhanraj (Dino Morea) in Mumbai in a business party, where Aditya seems too busy to pay heed to the fact that his wife is longing to talk to him. She snatches the car keys from Aditya's pocket and leaves the party to return home. On her frantic drive home, she hears a voice in her head and loses control of the car. However, miraculously, she escapes the accident unscathed. After her recovery, Sanjana asks her husband for a divorce; Aditya, however, realizes his fault and suggests a vacation to work out their problems. He offers Sanjana a trip to any corner of the world for some days and Sanjana chooses to return to Ooty (where their relationship first began) in order to save their failing marriage. In Ooty they stay in the same bungalow behind which Nisha was attacked. Initially, the couple enjoy their stay at the cottage but soon Sanjana starts experiencing mysterious things, such as hearing a woman screaming in the forest behind the cottage and inexplicable falling objects. She later learns that their housekeeper's husband, Robert, also used to hear strange voices from the forest, and that he ran from the house in fear once he could bear it no more.

She shares her problems with her friend Priya (Shruti Ulfat), a local girl, who advises Sanjana to visit professor Swaroop. The professor arrives at the cottage and after a short investigation announces the presence of a spirit in the house. He also tells Sanjana about the earlier incident involving the girl who was attacked and killed by an evil spirit in those very woods. He then re-visits the same spot in the forest where Nisha was attacked. He was accompanied by Priya and Sanjana too. Sanjana goes alone to talk to that spirit, where after some time, she discovers a revolver. All three of them go to an arms store to learn more and are told by the shopkeeper that the revolver was licensed to a retired colonel named Col. Arjun Malik. They visit the colonel's house, suspecting him to be a murderer of innocent girls, but soon learn from the colonel that the spirit is actually his own daughter, Malini (Malini Sharma), who was mentally ill and had managed to escape from the mental asylum several times.

Using the methodology suggested by the professor, Sanjana summons the spirit, believing that the spirit wants to tell her something. The spirit conveys that Malini had met Aditya when he came to Ooty the previous year for work. When Sanjana confronts Aditya, he admits that he had stayed at the same cottage where Sanjana and Aditya were currently staying. They eventually learn that that Malini and Aditya had an affair and that Aditya rebuked Malini's demands that he leave his wife, claiming that the affair was never meant to be anything more than physical. An enraged Malini commits suicide in front of Aditya inside of his home. Aditya, with the help of his then manservant Robert, buried the dead girl's body in the forest behind the cottage.

Sanjana storms off in anger leaving Aditya alone. The professor tells Sanjana that all this was an attempt by Malini's spirit to separate Sanjana and Aditya in order to take him with her into the afterlife. He believes that the spirit's next step would be to kill Aditya and that they should rush to Aditya before Malini attacks him.

Sanjana goes to Aditya and tells him that she is doing this just to save him and that they should leave for Mumbai in their car immediately. After they leave, Sanjana, Priya and the Prof Swaroop arrive at the cottage where the bewildered maid tells them that Aditya just left with her. Prof Swaroop realizes that the earlier Sanjana was Malini's spirit in disguise and they rush after the car.

Malini's spirit meanwhile causes the car in which Aditya is travelling to fall off a cliff. Aditya goes into a coma and is hospitalised. To prevent the spirit from succeeding in her plans, Sanjana, Priya and the professor go into the forest to locate the girl's body to burn it. The professor is killed by the spirit and then possessed by her and attacks Sanjana during this episode, where Sanjana also discovers the dead body of the husband of the maid who first told Sanjana about the strange voices. At the last moment, Sanjana manages to burn the body, thereby liberating the girl's spirit and saving Aditya's life.

The film ends with Aditya and Sanjana reuniting.

Cast[link]

• Dino Morea as Aditya Dhanraj
• Bipasha Basu as Sanjana Dhanraj
• Ashutosh Rana as Professor Agni Swaroop
• Malini Sharma as Malini
• Shruti Ulfat as Priya
• Anang Desai as Mr. Dhanraj/Aditya's father
• Vishwajeet Pradhan as Ajay
• Ali Asgar as Nisha's boyfriend
• Mink as Nisha
• Pratima Kazmi
• Masood Akhtar
• Kiran Randhawa

Box office[link]

Raaz was released in the first half of June. Though not expected to be a success, 2002 was a year in Bollywood cinema when only two movies had really succeeded at the box office (the other being Devdas), but Raaz was accepted gratuitously and did really well. It was declared a blockbuster by boxoffice india and it went on to become the second highest grossing film of 2002, behind Devdas.

Reception[link]

The movie was a big hit and was also critically appraised. Webindia.com said that Raaz is "something different from the current trend...Raaz is a psycho thriller worth a look".^[3] Bipasha Basu was praised for her acting.

Music[link]

The music of Raaz was composed by Nadeem Shravan and utilised a series of melodious tunes and bittersweet rhythms. "Aapke Pyaar Mein" sung by Alka Yagnik was a rave among the people as was "Jo Bhi Kasme" which was featured on Bipasha and Dino. Songs were written by Sameer

The songs that were officially announce by the "Raaz" team in releasing date got lots of public response...Even today almost all the indian teenages those are fell in love atleast listens these songs at once...

References[link]

External links[link]

• Raaz at the Internet Movie Database
• Planet Bollywood Review