Raaz 3
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Vikram Bhatt
Produced by	Mahesh Bhatt Mukesh Bhatt
Story by	Shagufta Rafique
Starring	Bipasha Basu Emraan Hashmi Esha Gupta
Music by	Jeet Ganguly Rashid Khan
Cinematography	Pravin Bhatt
Studio	Vishesh Films Fox Star Studios
Release date(s)	7 September 2012 (2012-09-07) [1]
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	25 crore (US$4.6 million)[2]

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Raaz 3 is a Bollywood horror thriller film directed by Vikram Bhatt, and produced by Mahesh Bhatt and Mukesh Bhatt.^[3] The movie features Bipasha Basu, Emraan Hashmi and Esha Gupta as main characters. The film is a sequel to Raaz – The Mystery Continues (which starred Emraan Hashmi and Kangana Ranaut), which itself was a sequel to Raaz which starred Bipasha Basu and Dino Morea. Bipasha Basu who was a part of the first film of the Raaz series, has made a comeback to the series after opting out of the second film. The film released on September 7, 2012 with paid previews on September 6, 2012 to mixed reception while Basu's role was highly praised by critics. The film was a "Super Hit" at the box office.^[4]

Plot [edit]

The story revolves around Shanaya (Bipasha Basu), an actress at the height of her success. She gets offered the best roles and wins all the awards she is nominated for. In addition, she also has a passionate affair with a handsome director named Aditya (Emraan Hashmi). This all ends when a younger actress, Sanjana (Esha Gupta) makes her film debut. In place of Shanaya, Sanjana comes into spotlight and begins to snatch away her awards. Suddenly, Shanaya seems forgotten and everybody only wants to work with Sanjana. Soon enough, Shanaya sees her career fading away and her envy slowly becomes craziness. She begins to turn to black magic and makes it her goal in life to destroy Sanjana's career and make her feel the pain of loss. She seeks help of her uncle Agoo Dada (Zeeshan Khalid), a tantrik who helps her to practice black magic and calls upon an evil entity, Tara Dutt (Manish Chowdhary). She asks him to make Sanjana's life a living hell. Tara agrees to help haunt and torture Sanjana until she becomes suicidal. He asks Shanaya to give her a black poison through a person she trusts. Shanaya seduces Aditya to do it for her and whenever he feels guilty, she makes him accept again. Aditya, whose sympathy for Sanjana has turned into love, leaves Shanaya and refuses to listen her anymore.

Shanaya blackmails Aditya by showing an evidence, a video that proves it was he who gave Sanjana the poison. Aditya, upset what would happen if Sanjana knows it, is forced to work for Shanaya again. Shanaya acts friendly with Sanjana and removes any hope of doubt. She faces further tortures, her career is in a downfall and has to take medical care while Shanaya revives herself in the industry. Shanaya now asks Tara Dutt to finish her life and he agrees to do it on the condition that if he is hurt by any means, Shanaya would be facing the same. Aditya, unable to see Sanjana like this goes to the priest whom he and Sanjana had earlier met to bring her soul back from the evil world. He resolves to try the same once again. A ritual takes place inside the hospital mortuary with the consent of Sanjana's doctor (Mohan Kapoor). Aditya fights the evil ghost in his world and finally kills him using a weapon he finds with an idol of Lord Ganesha and returns with Sanjana's soul. Shanaya who is now physically and mentally hurt while trying to stop Aditya loses all hope and doesn't want anyone to see herself in that vulnerable form. She pours an acid on herself and commits suicide. The media and police report that Sanjana had a nervous breakdown and was never a publicity stunt. While Sanjana and Aditya start their life together, the film gives a message, "Some people forget everything and run behind mere fame that gets destroyed by time. They do not know that the only thing that remains is the love that we have not just for ourselves, but also for our co-beings. That when we strive, not for ourselves, but for others, that Raaz (secret) is referred to as Life."

Cast [edit]

• Bipasha Basu as Shanaya Shekhar
• Emraan Hashmi as Aditya Arora
• Esha Gupta as Sanjana Krishna
• Manish Chowdhary as Tara Dutt (Ghost)
• Zeeshan Khalid as Agoo Dada
• Mohan Kapoor as Doctor

Production [edit]

Casting [edit]

The original choice for the female lead of the film was Jacqueline Fernandez, but she had later dropped out due to not wanting to establish herself as a Bollywood sex symbol, as she was uncomfortable with the tag. Fernandez was later replaced with Jannat 2 debutant, Esha Gupta. Bipasha Basu is going to be playing the role of an actress who is a "prisoner of fame". Actor Dino Morea and actress Kangna Ranaut, who were a part of Raaz and Raaz - The Mystery Continues respectively are not a part of the film.

Filming [edit]

The film began shooting on January 29, 2012, director Vikram Bhatt explained how confident he is that the film should be completed sometime in Summer 2012 and that Raaz 3 is amongst his most important films.

Promotion [edit]

Trailer launch [edit]

The Raaz 3 trailer was originally scheduled to be attached with the prints of Rohit Shetty's Bol Bachchan on July 6, 2012. However, it was delayed multiple times due to censoring. The theatrical trailer was officially launched on July 30, 2012 for the media, as confirmed by actress Bipasha Basu. Despite being widely speculated that it would be released to the public also, this was proven false. Later, the theatrical trailer was unvieled for the public as it was released online a day later on July 31, 2012. The theatrical trailer will also be in theaters on August 3, 2012 with Pooja Bhatt's Jism 2, as they are both under the Vishesh Films banner.

Marketing [edit]

Raaz 3 was promoted on the Sony TV show C.I.D. Bipasha Basu and Esha Gupta promoted the film by making an appearance on a special episode of CID, which aired on September 2, 2012.^[5]

Although, the film was originally planned to release on 31 August 2012 alongside Barfi! and Joker, it was later delayed to avoid clashing with any other big film. Raaz 3 was banned for release in UAE, although is being kept under review for the adult content included in the film.^[6][7]

Ratings [edit]

Raaz 3 received an A certificate from the Indian Censor Board.

It was R-rated by the MPAA for some violent content.

It received a 15 certificate from BBFC for strong horror and gory images.

It got MA 15+ classification from the OFLC for strong horror violence.

Soundtrack [edit]

Raaz 3D
Soundtrack album by Jeet Ganguly Rashid Khan
Released	August 4, 2012
Recorded	2011–2012
Genre	Feature film soundtrack, Indian conventional music, soft rock, sufi music, Gujarati folk, punjabi folk, qawwali
Language	Hindi
Producer	Jeet Ganguly, Rashid Khan

Films music is composed by Jeet Gangulli & Rashid Khan and lyrics are penned by Rashid Khan, Sanjay Masomm, Kumaar.

Tracklist [edit]

The Music is composed by Jeet Ganguly & Rashid Khan.

Release [edit]

Raaz 3D released in India and overseas on September 7, 2012. Raaz 3D is India's second-ever 3D horror movie. The movie releaseed in stereoscopic 3D, Imax 3D and 3D worldwide. There are more 3D prints of the movie than its 2D version. Raaz 3D is the biggest release for an Emraan Hashmi film as it released on over 2000 screens in India, including in its 3D format.^[4] This movie is Emraan Hashmi's first ever 3D movie. The movie received an Adult Certificate from the Censor Board of India without any cuts.^{[citation needed]}

Critical reception [edit]

The movie received mixed reviews from critics. Critics pointed out that the only saving grace of the movie was Bipasha. Independent Bollywood gave 3 out of 5 stars and quoted "Some real original scares and chills this time with memorable performances."^[8] Subhash K. Jha of IANS gave 2 out of 5 stars saying, "It's Bipasha who holds together the feverish proceedings. She delivers a full-bodied gutsy performance."^[9] Udita Jhunjhunwala of businessofcinema.com said, "Bhatt gets the rhythm of the suspense-building wrong, going all too rapidly from grotesque decapitation to a kiss and song scene. It does not help that the acting is also at different levels. Most of the burden to convince rests on Basu's fit shoulders – and she does. You do believe that she is menacing and wicked." ^[10]

Box office [edit]

India [edit]

Raaz 3 took a good opening of around 50% at multiplexes and 65-70% in single screens on average.^[11] The opening at single screens later picked up to an excellent occupancy of 70%-100% over the noon and matinees shows.^[12] Raaz 3 went onto collecting approx. 10.50 crore (US$1.9 million) on its opening day,^[13] thus becoming the sixteenth film ever to cross the 10 crore (US$1.8 million) mark on the opening day itself.^[14] The film then went onto collecting approx. 11.25 crore (US$2.1 million) on its second day.^[15] The film then collected approx. 14 crore (US$2.6 million) on its third day, taking its opening weekend total to 35.75 crore (US$6.5 million),^[16] thus making it the sixth biggest weekend grosser of 2012 for a Bollywood release.^[17] Raaz 3 had a good first week where it had collected 51.69 crore (US$9.5 million).^[18] Raaz 3 collected 18.25 crore (US$3.3 million) nett in its second weekend taking its ten day collection to 60 crore (US$11 million) nett.^[19] It had collected 13.48 crore (US$2.5 million) in its second week and 2.04 crore (US$370,000) in its third week to make a total of 67.21 crore (US$12 million) domestically.^[20][21]

Overseas [edit]

Raaz 3 did not do as well overseas, as it approximately collected only around US$1 million (5.5 crore) plus in ten days. The film was not released in the UAE, which has been noted to have hit it hard, as it could have been the film's best International market and added another $250,000 plus in revenue. Raaz 3 was declared average by box office India.^[22][23]

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• Raaz 3D at the Internet Movie Database