Mumbai: The fourth edition of the Raaz series takes us to Romania, specifically Transylvania, just so the caretaker of a large house can intone: yes, this is Dracula country. Instantly, you want to look out for skulking fellows in black robes, empty eyes, and bloody fangs. Instantly, you are all prepared to shiver and shudder.
Instead, you shake with laughter that is entirely unintended. Because Rahaan (Gaurav Arora) and his pretty wife Shaina (Kriti Kharbanda), and a shadowy blast from her past Aditya (Emraan Hashmi) spend all their time talking thusly: ‘kuch toh raaz hai’, ‘kya raaz hai’, ‘kahin toh raaz chhupa hai’, ‘yeh raaz hamein alag kar dega’, over and anon, till this purported ‘raaz’ starts coming out of our ears, but refuses to come in front of our eyes.
Meanwhile, there are some moments which are meant to be scary—whispers from a drain, blood flowing from objects, painted faces with empty eyeballs. And we are treated to scenes which look as if they have been ‘inspired’ from The Exorcist, Paranormal Activity, and many of Bhatts’ own previous outings with creatures who scale walls and make animal noises.
There’s an evil spirit around, declares a ‘psychometrist’. A soothsayer goes into hysterics. A priest invokes the name of the lord. But, the one thing that saves the good guys and vanquishes the bad ‘un is, drumroll, an ancient ‘mantra’, and the power of a good wife.
Suck on that, all ye who propagate the use of garlic buds and crosses to defeat blood-sucking vampires. Whether is ‘des’ or ‘vides’, no ‘buri aatmaa’ or plain vanilla ‘bhoots’ can stand up against the might of the ‘mangalsutra’. Or, we must hasten to add, a plaintive ‘sufi’ song. One is enough. Both together can chase anything away from anywhere, including the poor chumps who have paid to be scared.PS: Emraan Hashmi doing mouth-to-mouth we can deal with even if it is ultra-familiar. But Hashmi in a man bun? Now that’s apt for a horror film.
Raaz Reboot movie cast: Emraan Hashmi, Gaurav Arora, Kriti Kharbanda
Raaz Reboot movie director: Vikram Bhatt
