Raaz 3 Hindi Movie
One surely cannot decipher Vikram Bhatt's penchant for horror films or even the actresses' penchant of working with him despite his work being criticized time and again. After Karisma Kapur breaking her long sabbatical and making her comeback with an atrociously made horror film Dangerous Ishq, its Bipasha Basu trying her luck in Bollywood once again by entering back into the Raaz franchise with Raaz 3. Would it work for her or be a dangerous proposition as in the case of Karisma remains to be seen. A quick review on the film meanwhile.
Shanaya (Bipasha Basu) is an actress undergoing her downfall courtesy a newbie Sanjana (Esha Gupta) suddenly rising in the film world. A devout follower, she loses faith in her god when the best actress award goes to her competitor and as insecurity creeps in, she chooses to opt for the evil ways in order bring Sanjana down and reclaim her position. Obsessed with destroying Sanjana she uses her filmmaker boyfriend Aditya Arora (Emraan Hashmi) to help her carry out her plans. However, in the process, Aditya falls for Sanjana and tables turn as he then starts taking her side. Whether Shanaya succeeds in her objectives or not follows through a long tirade between God and Evil, black magic and prayers etc.
Vikram Bhatt uses the same old typified formula of good over bad, God Vs Evil and easily slips into the cliched and done to death category. So much so that one can find resemblances from his earlier films. Worse still, once again he makes a lengthy horror film testing audiences' patience no end. The movie is stretched beyond proportions and courtesy the pointless masala that he puts to dramatize the film it goes on endlessly.
Keep aside the story; even the thrills and chills in the film disappoint you. Not that I say the 3D does wonders to the film, but had that novelty been removed too, Raaz 3 would've fallen flat on its face. The 3D technique is decent at best and as Vikram has been claiming in interviews it has an immersive quality in it. However, with the story failing to appease you one bit, you wouldn't want to get immersed in a film like Raaz 3.
On the acting front, it appears as if Emraan Hashmi is paying off his debts to the Bhatts by agreeing to work in substandard products of Vishesh films. Leave alone the long drawn, cliched and faulty storyline, Emraan's character also lacks depth or even any weightage between the two female characters. The film mostly centers on Bipasha Basu who in a very muscular form rightly becomes the anti-hero too. Her acting work remains decent but it would've worked better had it been for a better script. The new Bhatt find Esha Gupta vis-à-vis her last film Jannat 2 does more than just smile in this one. Manish Chaudhary seems to have become a staple anti-hero choice in Mahesh Bhatt films and once again plays the "buri aatma" (Evil Spirit) Taradutt in the film.
To sum it up, Raaz 3 rather than scaring the audience frustrates them instead. Yet another week attempt by Vikram Bhatt.
