Raaz (2002 film)

Raaz
Theatrical poster
Directed byVikram Bhatt
Written byMahesh Bhatt
Girish Dhamija
Screenplay byMahesh Bhatt
Girish Dhamija
Produced byMukesh Bhatt
Kumar S. Taurani
Ramesh S. Taurani
StarringDino Morea
Bipasha Basu
Malini Sharma
Ashutosh Rana
Narrated byMahesh Bhatt
CinematographyPravin Bhatt
Edited byAmit Saxena
Music byNadeem-Shravan
Production
companies
Distributed byTips Industries
Release date
  • 1 February 2002 (2002-02-01)
Running time
152 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹50 Million
Box office₹370 Million[1]

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.[2] The film is an unofficial adaptation of the American film What Lies Beneath (2000).[3][4]

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.[5]

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.[6][7]

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.

  1. ^ Hungama, Bollywood (2 January 2002). "Raaz Box Office Collection | India | Day Wise | Box Office - Bollywood Hungama". Bollywood Hungama. Archived from the original on 15 October 2023. Retrieved 24 September 2023.
  2. ^ "Raaz". ApunKaChoice.com. Archived from the original on 11 December 2008. Retrieved 18 November 2021.
  3. ^ "When Vikram Bhatt's 2002 Film Raaz Surprised Many Big Stars In Box Office". News18. 19 September 2023. Archived from the original on 22 September 2023. Retrieved 23 September 2023.
  4. ^ "Dino Morea on Raaz clocking 20 years: The off screen romance with Bipasha helped us on screen". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 31 January 2022. While Morea says it wasn't an official remake, there were references that were taken from the Robert Zemeckis directed Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer starrer.
  5. ^ "7 Bollywood Remakes That Are Better Than The Original Movie". Collider. 7 April 2022. Archived from the original on 17 May 2024. Retrieved 7 April 2022.
  6. ^ "What's the raaz behind Bipasha's voice?". Rediff.com.
  7. ^ "BBC - Shropshire - Movies - Raaz". BBC.