Rakht chills in parts

Shilpa Bharatan-Iyer | September 03, 2004 18:46 IST


With frightening promos on air for weeks and posters of the film plastered all over Mumbai, Rakht seems to carry a buzz.

Directed by Mahesh Manjrekar, Rakht stars Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty and Dino Morea, with Bipasha Basu leading the bevy of beauties -- Amrita Arora, Neha Dhupia. Yana Gupta, in an item number, adds oomph.

Drishti (Bipasha) is a tarot card reader, who has a number of clients. One of them is Riya (Neha), an abused wife. Riya tries to seek reassurances from Drishti that her marriage will be all right, but Drishti tries to convince her otherwise. When she tells Riya to leave her husband Sunny (Dino), Sunny starts threatening Drishti.

Soon, Drishti is introduced to Natasha (Amrita), who is her son's school principal Rahul (Sanjay)'s fiancée. But at a party, Drishti finds Natasha in a torrid embrace with Abhigyan Sharma (Himanshu Malik).

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A few days later, Natasha goes missing. When the police are unable to solve the case, Rahul asks Drishti to intervene.

Where is Natasha?

How is Sunny's story related to her?

Where does Mohit (Suniel Shetty) fit in?

Will Drishti find the missing pieces of the puzzle?

With a meandering first half, the pace picks up in the second half, as viewers wonder where Natasha's fate lies.

Why directors, when directing horror films, need to resort to sound effects patented by the Ramseys beats me. Bipasha's door opens and shut fine. But when it gets vandalised, it produces the age old creaking noises, straight out of Ramsey films.

The film chills only in parts. There is the predictable blood dripping from the tap and water overflowing from a bathtub.

Suniel as Mohit has done a good job. Dino, as the abusive husband is very good especially when he threatens Bipasha at her home.

Bipasha and Neha are competent. Sanjay is his usual deadpan till the climax.

Amrita looks the hottest among the women. And though Abhishek Bachchan has only a tiny cameo in the film, he is charming.

The film is unnecessarily violent, especially the scene when Mohit avenges the wrongs done to him by his dad.

That said, Rakht is a well made film, with its share of scary moments and good item numbers.


REDIFF

TARAN BOLLE..paisa vasool..KIND!!

Rakht

By Taran Adarsh, September 03rd, 2004 - 1600 hrs IST


Supernatural, eerie and uncanny themes have their share of advocates and skeptics. But when a maker attempts a film on such subject matters, he ought to make it a gripping fare in order to keep the viewer completely hooked to the narrative.

Mahesh Manjrekar diversifies to an altogether different genre this time around. Supernatural forces and paranormal activities are the focus of RAKHT, his latest endeavour.

Expertly made and realistically treated, RAKHT is a notch above the commonplace. The zone it flounders in is towards its finale, besides the lethargic pace with which the story unfolds. The writing of the finale could’ve been much, much better…

Yet, despite the hiccups, RAKHT is engaging and involving in parts. And credit for this goes partly to the director, in some degree to its background score [Sandeep Chowta] and to an extent to the on-screen performers.

RAKHT tells the story of Drishti [Bipasha Basu], a tarot card reader, who is gifted with a strange ability to foresee occurrences. She can also sense the approaching danger and peer vaguely into the future. A widow, Drishti is a doting mother to an 8-year-old boy.

Rahul [Sanjay Dutt], a school principal, is engaged to Natasha [Amrita Arora], who happens to be the daughter of the Mayor [Sharat Saxena]. In a sudden twist of events, Natasha vanishes mysteriously after a night out with one of her friends. Completely clueless about her whereabouts, Rahul approaches Drishti to help trace Natasha.


Sunny [Dino Morea] shares a rough relationship with his wife Rhea [Neha Dhupia]. Living in constant fear due to Sunny’s violent behavior, Rhea decides to meet Drishti with the domestic problem and overcome the situation.

Then there’s Mohit [Suniel Shetty], a car mechanic, who has a soft corner for Drishti. He has had a rough childhood and is an eccentric now. Like any good therapist, Drishti helps her clients solve their own problems, find their own answers.

The story takes a turn when something drastic happens and the finger of suspicion points towards Sunny. He is arrested, found guilty of committing the act and sentenced to imprisonment. But is he the culprit?

Heavily borrowed from Sam Raimi’s THE GIFT [2000; Cate Blanchett, Keanu Reeves], RAKHT also brings back memories of Irvin Kershner’s EYES OF LAURA MARS [1978; starring Faye Dunaway, Tommy Lee Jones]. In fact, Parto Ghosh’s Madhuri Dixit starrer 100 DAYS was based on the latter.

A subject like the one in RAKHT is ideal for Hindi movie audiences since palmists, kundalis, astrologers and tarot card readers are a part of Indian lives. Therefore, the identification!

RAKHT casts a spell in the initial reels, it takes off on a promising note. And as it progresses, Manjrekar keeps the whodunit aspect alive. It’s hard to guess the identity of the killer till the finale. From the violent husband [Dino] to his helpless but angry wife [Neha], from the honest fiancé [Sanjay] to a prosecutor with a secret to hide [Himanshu] to the eccentric mechanic [Suniel], anyone could be the killer who’s dumped a girl in a lake.

If the realistic treatment is the USP of RAKHT, it’s also a downer. In an effort to treat each sequence with gloves, the pace of the film gets indolent and sluggish. Unfortunately, the film maintains this unhurried pace till the very end.

Besides the pacing, things go awry in the climax when Bipasha realizes who the murderer is. And when the murderer also realizes that he stands exposed, you’d expect a hair-raising culmination to the story. But the climax, when Suniel and Himanshu surface suddenly, looks convenient and unpersuasive, in terms of writing. A better-thought end would’ve been more appropriate!

Besides, the writers have done justice to all the characters, except that of Suniel Shetty. His characterization appears sketchy, although the actor makes it up with a fine performance.

There’s no denying that Manjrekar has handled a few sequences with aplomb and the eerie atmosphere is maintained right through, but he should’ve tightened the pace of the film.

Sandeep Chowta’s background score is superb and it enhances the impact largely. Cinematography is fantastic. The lighting deserves special mention. Special effects are fantastic. Music takes a backseat in a film like this [there’re just three songs!]. ‘One Love’ is undoubtedly the pick of the lot, while ‘Oh What A Babe’, though stylishly filmed, appears forced.

RAKHT belongs to Bipasha Basu, who sheds the ‘sex symbol’ tag with this film and dons a new avtaar, that of an actress of substance. She emits compassion when she’s reassuring her defenseless clients and holds strong in the face of violent threats – this clearly indicates that the actress had studied her part very well.

Another surprise is Dino Morea, who delivers a bravura performance. Sanjay Dutt is restrained, as per the demand of the character. Suniel Shetty leaves an impression.

Amrita Arora excels; her presence looming large from start to end. Neha Dhupia doesn’t get much to do as the battered wife, yet gives it her best. Abhishek Bachchan looks trendy in the song [‘One Love’] and the scene that he has.

Himanshu is just about okay. Payal Rohatgi is likeable. Sachin Khedekar is incredible in the courtroom sequence. Shashikala, Beena and Shivaji Satam are adequate.

On the whole, RAKHT is appealing in parts and will therefore meet with mixed reactions from the paying public. At the box-office, the film should strike a chord with the multiplex-going viewers mainly [thanks to its classy look and city-centric treatment], but its prospects at mass-oriented cinema halls could prove to be a matter of concern.

Rating:- * * ½.

RAKHT (2004)

Director: Mahesh Manjrekar
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Suniel Shetty, Dino Morea, Bipasha Basu,
Amrita Arora, Neha Dhupia and Yana Gupta.

RS RATING: 6/10

Background:
Rakht has been in the news for long... as it was being produced by movie magazine Cine Blitz along with liquor baron Vijay Mallya and Suneil Shetty's Popcorn Entertainment. The presence of the stars had also created a lot of excitement about the film.

Synopsis:
Story 1: Drishti (Bipasha) plays a mysterious tarot card reader whom many people rely on... She sits with her clients, understands their mentality... asks them to identify their problem and helps them find a solution all by themselves.

Story 2: Drishti's first client is with Riya (Neha Dhupia) who has been beaten up badly by her husband Sunny (Dino Morea). Riya does not believe in letting go of her husband and wants Drishti to tell her that everything will be alright.
But Drishti advises Riya against continuing the marriage. And when Riya informs this to Sunny, he gets violent all over again.

Story 3: Drishti has a son and she gets to meet his school principal Rahul (Sanjay Dutt) and his fiancee Natasha (Amrita Arora). Later she sees Natasha in an uncompromising position with a lawyer called Abhigyan Sharma (Himanshu Malik) at a party. Soon Natasha is missing and Rahul gets panicky. The cops are unable to solve the case, and distraught, Rahul seeks Drishti's help.

Story 4: Mohit (Suniel Shetty) is a mechanic who has had a bad childhood. He has turned an eccentric now after a few problems in his life... He is in love with Drishti.

Now... a girl has been killed and immersed in a lake... and everyone wants to know who the killer is. Sunny's past behaviour and circumstantial evidence suggests that he has committed the crime and he is arrested and sent to jail...

But who is the real killer? Only director Mahesh Manjrekar knows and Drishti learns that later towards the climax set in a courtroom drama. But once Drishti gets to know who the killer is, the scriptwriter panics and kills the story....

Now, we all know who should get arrested for this crime.

Critique:
Mahesh Manjrekar manages a gripping film, but falters at the finale. One didn't expect him to lose control on his film. No one knows till the end about the killer and such a story is not easy to do these days when everyone makes thrillers.

It is a Bipasha Basu film all the way. She delivers a mature performance. If Jism had her body rule, this film has her rule all the way. Yana Gupta oozes oomph, but her song is not placed rightly in the film even though she is mindblowing.

Amrita Arora too is very good in her first performance based role of her career.

Suniel Shetty is good, in a badly written role. Sanjay Dutt looks his usual self in movies of this genre. Neha Dhupia does not have much to do. The surprise packet however is Dino Morea, who excels in his role.

The music of the film composed by three people who do not do much justice to those three songs... as much as what the dancers in these songs have done.

However the background score by Sandeep Chowta is up to the mark and enhances Manjrekar's work well.

But certain things like blood dripping out of a tap are very cliched and could have been avoided. But Mahesh Manjrekar has not seen many more films beyond Ramsay horrors... apart from Sam Raimi's The Gift and the Eyes of Laura Mars.

Conclusion:
If you have nothing to do, go watch Rakht... If you don't like the film... let there be blood on the corridor.

Spoiler: Abhishek Bachchan is acting in his third release in two weeks. He has a cameo in the film.

Reviewed by: Qamar Zaman

I thought it was good film, but unfortunately the ending was totally messed up! Once the "real" killer is identified at the end, there was so much scope to exemplify how the killing was done, inducing more drama and horror. Instead, the film comes to a sudden halt!