(By Akshat Sharma) ‘Raaz 3’ is the third instalment of Vikram Bhatt’s fear factory called ‘Raaz Series’. As usual you have apna ‘Serial Kisser’ Emraan Hashmi who knows what it takes to be a star in Bhatt films. To give him company there are two dusky sirens Bipasha Basu and Esha Gupta. Cast complete. For screenplay the producer-director outline a series of skin show, some steamy kisses and sprinkle it with songs in between. They also have a not so friendly ‘Aatma’ who seems to have taken classes from Hollywood’s professional zombies.
It is a kind of a movie where to have a brain in your head becomes a sin. The movie opens with an award function where Shanaya (played by Bipasha Basu) expects the best female actor award to come her way but surprise ! The award goes to a newbie Sanjana (played by Esha Gupta ) and the award is given by director Aditya (played by Emraan Hashmi). The effect of this rude shock is almost immediate. Shanaya suddenly finds one of her old hands waiting at the end of the red carpet. He takes her to someone who is a living evil Aatma! Yes you are right an ‘Aatma’ trapped in a corpse like human body. He introduces her to ‘Kaali Vidya’ and lo she gets some kind of ‘water’ which Aditya is supposed to inject into Esha’s body.
Aditya is a poor Bollywood director who wants to have the best of both the worlds. Shanaya knows him too well and one sex session in bed he becomes docile. He starts doing exactly what Shanaya wants him to do. Bechara Hashmi is caught in eternal dilemma. On the one hand he wants to be honest to Sanjana but on the other hand he also cannot forget Shanaya’s contribution in pushing his career graph higher.
After consuming few shots of that ‘water’ which was discreetly given to her by Aditya, Sanjana loses her sanity and starts behaving like what you call in Haryanwi, a ‘Baawali Gaend’. Aditya is full of remorse when he sees her mental condition. One fine evening when Sanjana was scared and crying, Aditya in true Hashmi style silenced her with a lip smacking smooch! Phir kya tha, Kahani me twist and the tables are turned. Aditya stops playing into the hands of Shanaya and the drama in the story enters into ‘Aatmoan Ki Duniya’.
Dialogues in the movie also turn irrational to keep up with the feverish pitch of the movie. Sample some of them: “If you love me you can be stupid” and “You are fucking, aren’t you! Ab jab tum chahe use paani de sakte ho!” The subsequent events lead the movie to a morgue where Aditya fights with ‘Buri Aaatma’ for Sanjana. Shanya knows she has lost everything in this battle so no point living a failed life. She commits suicide, khanai khatam..
Coming to the performance department I must admit Bipasha Basu has played her part with conviction. She knew her role was silly but even then she has managed to put up a good show. Esha Gupta looks wooden. The only thing she is comfortable doing is stripping out of her clothes and flaunting her assets. Emraan Hashmi is the king of erotic thrillers and the role is simply a cakewalk for him.
As a horror movie ‘Raaz 3’ is not even your average stuff. Directed by Vikram Bhatt, ‘ Raaz 3’ fails to send shivers down your spine. The director did not even match his own standards set in ‘Haunted’ last year. ‘Haunted’ was a much better movie than ‘Raaz 3’. His latest offering lacks in almost all department. The only bright spot in the movie is Bipasha Basu and if we leave her aside the film is nothing but a farce in the name of fear.
(Akshat Sharma can be followed on Twitter. His twitter handle is @akshatsharma101)
