Raaz- the mystery continues (RTMC) is the second film in the ‘Raaz’ series presented by Vishesh Films, a banner that celebrated 20 years and 50 films this year. In many ways, ‘Raaz’ superheaded the birth of experimental cinema within Bollywood and made the world of supernatural fair game for Indian film-makers. RTMC is inspired by Indian myths and legends and is said to be biggest budget horror film ever been made in the country.


9th January, 2009 held a discussion on horror films that included the cast and crew of RTMC which comprised of Mahesh Bhatt, director Mohit Suri and lead actors Emraan Hashmi and Adhyayan Suman. They shared their views on horror as a genre and also about their upcoming film.


Says Mahesh Bhatt, the producer of the film “The original Raaz was the great combination of horror and romance. There was a triangular drama structured there, that gave you your dose of horror film. In this once again we have a triangular drama because it has been a successful device for narratives. It has its inbound tensions and inbuilt resolution; it has a high amount of adrenal in it. We have put in a fair amount of horror in it. What we had done is woven a story in this film that is relevant to times and ultimately have the thematic journey. It talks about the evil within; it talks about while we all look about the evil outside. We forget that our great culture have always spoken about evil within and in this film we have a romantic situation, 21st century, life of the movers and shakers who live on the edge, the fashion world, the media world and just opposite to that is India which is still little in dark times,from which even our ancestors wanted to escape. And this side of all your acquisitions and knowledge that continues horror knob inside you in any form and this what it is all about”


Says Emraan “I have always been a fan of horror genre films. If I have it my way I will have ‘Raaz- the mystery continues as my debut film. Ever since I have been kid I have been watching horror films. Kids at my age use to watch cartoons. This is like a dream come true for Mohit and me because we use to watch a lot of horror films together. In India, horror has always been a back-foot and is yet unexplored. The film-makers shy away from making horror films probably because they don’t understand the right key to it thats very crucial while making such films. You can go overboard but, I think horror is in silences, it’s more psychological and scary. I think fear is the most dependable emotion to work in a cinema hall. We are not moved by love story, nor by drama, I think we are all moved by fear. This I realized when I watched ‘The Ring’ and observed the reactions of the people and this is where I decided to work in a horror film. In this movie we have tried to change the format of horror, but have not gone overboard.”


Says Adhyayan “I think the only horror film I have seen in my life is the first ‘Raaz’ and consciously telling I am very much afraid of horror films. My life story is completely opposite of Emraan, he wanted his debut as horror film. I never knew in my life that I will do a horror as my debut because I am very much afraid of it and I will either close my eyes or ears while watching such movies. But honestly speaking it has been a wonderful experience. When you do a horror film its not that scary because the people involved there, unit is there and lights there. Its after a haunted place or after doing a haunted shot you go back home and go to bathroom and remove your make-up and all that is the time when you feel scary. At times I felt that someone will come from back and will scratch me. But still it had been wonderful.”


As movie is all set to release on 23rd January,2009 this event has been a good approach to promote the film.