JAWAAN (2023) : review

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And finally the much hyped, much awaited Jawaan saw light of the day ! Big stars, big budget( humongous budget actually), big music composer, everything super large. But does it meet the expectations of the average viewer? No it goes not. Read on.  A decorated jawan locks horns with a criminal called Kaali, this is in 1986 ( the year movies like Aakhri Raasta released, just for reference). Kaali gets him eliminated and send the pregnant wife to jail. The baby born in jail grows up to become the hero (look alike of the father) and decides to avenge the misdeeds done to his innocent patriotic parents. Well, isn’t it a masaaledaar full on Bollywood- Tollywood drama subject ?  And then the director Atlee also borrows ideas and references from various retro movies, some idea from Sholay (1975) as the hero assembled a gang of jailed Qaidis in order to form a team to nab the villain, then there’s an entire episode borrowed from Dhartiputra (1993), and the basic theme is copy pasted ...
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Rebooted Evil Souls: Raaz Reboot

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Raaz Reboot  [2016]

Yet another "Evil Soul" stirring saga in the Bhatt  camp's Raaz Franchise this time aptly titled Raaz Reboot.

Directed by: Vikram Bhatt

Cast: Emraan Hashmi, Kirti Kharbanda, Gaurav Arora.

The Bhatts are back with yet another Horror film that can easily pass off as an unintentional comedy or better still a Sex comedy. How many times in the past have we watched a Horror film where a young couple moves into a Haunted Mansion and one of them gets possessed by an evil spirit? The most tried tested and abused formula has been unapologetically misused yet again by the Bhatts to "showcase" a suspense horror drama set in the breathtakingly beautiful location of Romania.

Raaz Reboot starts off with a young newly married couple Rehan[Arora] & Shaina[Kharbanda] relocating to Romania for the former's new job. They move into a mansion and all hell breaks loose when Shaina gets possessed by an Evil Spirit. Various helpers are summoned including a pansy Priest and a Chubby cheeked fat tarot card reading gypsy woman and finally a blind exorcist who uses "psychometric" powers to unleash the mystery that revolves around a former rejected lover.

Vikram Bhatt who hit the bull's eye with his surprise hit Raaz[2002] has subjected the unsuspecting poor audience with a series of mediocre and comical horror dramas in the past 14 years and doesn't seem to stop. No doubt there was an exception like 1920 [2008] but the rest of the movies in the "Raaz" & "1920" franchise have been more of a torture than entertainment. Bhatt hasn't attempted anything new in Raaz Reboot, instead has relied on age old vedic readings and usage of the "Holy Mangalsutra" to ward off the Ghost here. The make up & special effects are worse than the ones shown in tv shows.

The music of Raaz Reboot is passable and all songs end up sounding similar with the only redeeming factor being the soulful voices of Papon, Arijit Singh & Jubin Nautiyal. It's eerie the way Palak Muchchal sounds exactly like Shreya Ghoshal in a song. There is no doubt the cinematography is excellent but the Screenplay, Script & editing are like amateur trial rehearsals.

Debutante Kirti Kharbanda is pleasant to look at and acts well, she certainly deserves a better film to showcase her acting histrionics. Gaurav Arora with luscious lips and zero expressions is miscast in the lead role. Emraan Hashmi has played such roles umpteen number of times since his debut 13 years ago, he does add to the style quotient but fails to salvage a doomed film.

Bhatt hasn't introduced a single new dimension in this fourth installment of the Raaz series, 70 % of the script is a rehash and mishmash of 1920 [2008], Raaz 3 [ 2012] & 1920 London[2016]. You can easily pick selective scenes & associate them with the earlier installments. Instead of wasting precious time on Raaz Reboot it would be wise to watch a B grade Ramsay Horror flick from the 80s like Veerana or Purana Mandir which appear like classics as compared to this damp squib.

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