Haunted – 3D
Encyclopedia
Haunted – 3D is a 2011
India
n 3D horror
film directed by Vikram Bhatt
, and starring Mahakshay Chakraborty, Twinkle Bajpai
, Achint Kaur
,Sagar Saikia and Arif Zakaria
in lead roles. The film is India’s first stereoscopic 3D horror film. The promos and first look of the film was released on 7 February 2011. The film was released on 6 May 2011.
), a servant and a driver. In the absence of her parents, her Piano teacher Iyer( Arif Zakaria
), tried to rape her. However she saved herself by hitting Iyer with a candle stand on his head, which resulted in his death. Soon, the police concluded that Meera was correct as the police recovers explicit sketches of her from Iyer's house. However Iyer returns in the form of an evil spirit, killing both the servants and the Nanny. The spirit rapes Meera repeatedly, resulting in her suicide. But, even after her death, her spirit is tortured and trapped in the mansion by the evil spirit.
After reading the letter, Rehan feel sympathetic and brings a psychic to help, but the lady leaves after realizing how strong the evil spirit is and asks Rehan to do the same. Rehan ignores her warning and stays there challenging the evil spirit by uttering its name as it is believed that uttering an evil spirit's name makes it more powerful. Next morning, when he wakes up, he finds the Rag picker in front of him who casts a spell. Rehan finds himself sent 75 years back in time to 17 August 1936, the day when Meera's parents leave for Delhi. Rehan befriends Meera by following her and pretending to be lost as he is new to the town. The next day, in order to prevent the death of Iyer, Rehan comes to Meera's house with a basket of chocolates for showing the way to city. Rehan says that he would like to listen to Meera's performance as he is also interested in music, but Iyer opposes and asks him to leave. Rehan insists on staying outside the door so that he would not interfere in their class and could still listen to the music. As Rehan listens to the music, Iyer hits him throwing him out on lawn. Then Iyer bolts the door from inside and tries to rape Meera, while Rehan tries to prevent Iyer's death. But as written in fate, Meera kills Iyer. A hurt Rehan is admitted to the hospital where he dreams about the evil spirit.
Rehan explains everything to Meera and asks her to meet him the next day at 3 noon. The next day, Rehan, Meera and Margaret meet a Church's father, who tells them that far from the town there is a Dargah
, a mosque where there is a Sufi baba who could help them. He tells them to start the journey at 3 in the afternoon, because spirits have the strongest power at 3 in the morning and weakest at 3 in the afternoon. As the travelling turns out to night, the trio stays in a hotel, but the evil spirit kills Margaret and tries to rape Meera. Rehan fights it and takes Meera on the way to the Dargah. The next day, the Father is killed by a snake. Margaret's body, now owned by the spirit, tries to stop them from entering the dargah, but Rehan somehow manages to put Margaret's leg at the doorstep of the dargah thereby destroying her body. Inside they find the Rag picker, who has sent Rehan into the past. He tells them that miles away is a town which was being chanted by Khwaja and there is a well in which Meera has to show the way to Iyer's spirit which is connected to Meera by a blood stained pendant which Meera is still wearing. As they reach the town, Rehan has to drop the fire, mud, and the pendent. As Rehan is performing the act, Meera is being attacked by Iyer, but Meera anyhow manages to throw the pendant in the well but gets stuck later Rehan throws the pendent in the well. After saving her Rehan falls into the well and reaches back to the year 2011. He finds another letter in the same place and gets to know that Meera lived a happy life after that event. Besides this, the haunted house is no more haunted.
of Bollywood Hungama
gave it three and a half stars and concluded that "Haunted is for today's movie savvy audience. It succeeds in keeping you tense and edgy, as a true poltergeist/horror flick should. There are scenes and situations aplenty to shock and astound the viewer coupled with the 3D effects, the prosthetics, the background score, an absorbing screenplay and deft handling of the subject material." Shubhra Gupta of the Indian Express rated it with two stars saying that "the only new thing about `Haunted’ is that it is Bollywood horror in 3 D. The rest of it, by which we mean the principal stuff that makes it a film—story, location, characters—are all same old same old." Anupama Chopra
of NDTV Movies
awarded the film one and a half stars describing it as "an absolutely ridiculous horror movie that works better as comedy, unintentional of course." Preeti Arora of Rediff also gave it one and a half stars saying that "Haunted fails at reviving the age old haunted-house premise, bringing nothing new to the platter."
during its opening weekend. By the end of its first week, the film grossed 14.30 crore. In the second weekend, the film experienced a drop of 55% from its first weekend collections, grossing 3.50 crore for a ten day total of 18 crore. After four weeks, the film grossed 26.25 crore in India, and 35 crore worldwide.
2011 in film
The year 2011 is notable for containing the release of the most film sequels in a single year, at 27 sequels. The following tables list films that are in production or have completed production and will be released in the United States and Canada at some point in 2011.- Highest-grossing films :...
India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n 3D horror
Horror film
Horror films seek to elicit a negative emotional reaction from viewers by playing on the audience's most primal fears. They often feature scenes that startle the viewer through the means of macabre and the supernatural, thus frequently overlapping with the fantasy and science fiction genres...
film directed by Vikram Bhatt
Vikram Bhatt
Vikram Bhatt is an Indian film director, producer and screenwriter. He has more than 21 films to his credit. He is also the creative head of a conglomerate called ASA Productions.-Early life:...
, and starring Mahakshay Chakraborty, Twinkle Bajpai
Twinkle Bajpai
Tia Bajpai was a finalist on the reality television music competition show, Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Challenge 2005. She also participated in Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Ek Main Aur Ek Tu, a duet singing competition, where she won the Judges Choice Award along with her partner Vishwas...
, Achint Kaur
Achint Kaur
Achint Kaur is an Indian television actress who comes from a Punjabi background and is famous for working in some of the popular Hindi language drama series...
,Sagar Saikia and Arif Zakaria
Arif Zakaria
Arif Zakaria is an Indian actor. He is best known for his role as Emmi Begum in Darmiyan ....
in lead roles. The film is India’s first stereoscopic 3D horror film. The promos and first look of the film was released on 7 February 2011. The film was released on 6 May 2011.
Plot
Rehan (Mahakshay Chakraborty) is sent to a mansion by his father (Sagar Saikia) who is in the real estate business. The mansion is being sold to a family in 10 days and there has been the death of a caretaker a few days ago. Rehan's father suspects this as the doing of their rival so he sends Rehan to investigate. He meets a rag picker on the way who tells him that only he can do it. Mysterious things happen at night. He sees a girl playing piano, who vanishes when the door is opened. Then a book drops from the bookshelf on its own and Rehan finds a letter inside. The letter, written by Meera (Tia Bajpai), tells her story from 1936 when her parents left for Delhi which resulted in her being left alone with her nanny, Margaret(Achint KaurAchint Kaur
Achint Kaur is an Indian television actress who comes from a Punjabi background and is famous for working in some of the popular Hindi language drama series...
), a servant and a driver. In the absence of her parents, her Piano teacher Iyer( Arif Zakaria
Arif Zakaria
Arif Zakaria is an Indian actor. He is best known for his role as Emmi Begum in Darmiyan ....
), tried to rape her. However she saved herself by hitting Iyer with a candle stand on his head, which resulted in his death. Soon, the police concluded that Meera was correct as the police recovers explicit sketches of her from Iyer's house. However Iyer returns in the form of an evil spirit, killing both the servants and the Nanny. The spirit rapes Meera repeatedly, resulting in her suicide. But, even after her death, her spirit is tortured and trapped in the mansion by the evil spirit.
After reading the letter, Rehan feel sympathetic and brings a psychic to help, but the lady leaves after realizing how strong the evil spirit is and asks Rehan to do the same. Rehan ignores her warning and stays there challenging the evil spirit by uttering its name as it is believed that uttering an evil spirit's name makes it more powerful. Next morning, when he wakes up, he finds the Rag picker in front of him who casts a spell. Rehan finds himself sent 75 years back in time to 17 August 1936, the day when Meera's parents leave for Delhi. Rehan befriends Meera by following her and pretending to be lost as he is new to the town. The next day, in order to prevent the death of Iyer, Rehan comes to Meera's house with a basket of chocolates for showing the way to city. Rehan says that he would like to listen to Meera's performance as he is also interested in music, but Iyer opposes and asks him to leave. Rehan insists on staying outside the door so that he would not interfere in their class and could still listen to the music. As Rehan listens to the music, Iyer hits him throwing him out on lawn. Then Iyer bolts the door from inside and tries to rape Meera, while Rehan tries to prevent Iyer's death. But as written in fate, Meera kills Iyer. A hurt Rehan is admitted to the hospital where he dreams about the evil spirit.
Rehan explains everything to Meera and asks her to meet him the next day at 3 noon. The next day, Rehan, Meera and Margaret meet a Church's father, who tells them that far from the town there is a Dargah
Dargah
A Dargah is a Sufi shrine built over the grave of a revered religious figure, often a Sufi saint. Local Muslims visit the shrine known as . Dargahs are often associated with Sufi meeting rooms and hostels, known as khanqah...
, a mosque where there is a Sufi baba who could help them. He tells them to start the journey at 3 in the afternoon, because spirits have the strongest power at 3 in the morning and weakest at 3 in the afternoon. As the travelling turns out to night, the trio stays in a hotel, but the evil spirit kills Margaret and tries to rape Meera. Rehan fights it and takes Meera on the way to the Dargah. The next day, the Father is killed by a snake. Margaret's body, now owned by the spirit, tries to stop them from entering the dargah, but Rehan somehow manages to put Margaret's leg at the doorstep of the dargah thereby destroying her body. Inside they find the Rag picker, who has sent Rehan into the past. He tells them that miles away is a town which was being chanted by Khwaja and there is a well in which Meera has to show the way to Iyer's spirit which is connected to Meera by a blood stained pendant which Meera is still wearing. As they reach the town, Rehan has to drop the fire, mud, and the pendent. As Rehan is performing the act, Meera is being attacked by Iyer, but Meera anyhow manages to throw the pendant in the well but gets stuck later Rehan throws the pendent in the well. After saving her Rehan falls into the well and reaches back to the year 2011. He finds another letter in the same place and gets to know that Meera lived a happy life after that event. Besides this, the haunted house is no more haunted.
Cast
- Mahakshay Chakraborty as Rehan
- Tia Bajpai as Meera
- Sagar Saikia as Rehan's father
- Achint KaurAchint KaurAchint Kaur is an Indian television actress who comes from a Punjabi background and is famous for working in some of the popular Hindi language drama series...
as Margaret Malini - Arif ZakariaArif ZakariaArif Zakaria is an Indian actor. He is best known for his role as Emmi Begum in Darmiyan ....
as Professor Iyer - Krishna BhattKrishna BhattKrishna Mohan Bhatt is a sitar player, teacher and scholar from Jaipur, India.He comes from a family of musicians in Jaipur. His father, the late Shashi Mohan Bhatt, a sitarist of great repute and a professor at the University of Rajasthan, Jaipur trained many musicians in the family including...
as Stevens - Abdul Manna
- Mohan Kapoor as Father
- Sanjay Sharma
- Nikita Janjani
- Prachi Shah
Critical response
Upon release, the film opened to mixed critical reviews. The Times of India while giving it three stars out of five stated "if the film works -- and it works quite well -- is only because of the special effects of the film. Experiencing the horror in 3D is indeed a novel experience for the viewer, specially since it is smartly done." Taran AdarshTaran Adarsh
Taran Adarsh is an Indian film critic, journalist, editor and film trade analyst. He is also a former producer and screenwriter. He is the son of film director and producer, B.K. Adarsh....
of Bollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama is a leading Bollywood entertainment website, owned by hungama.com....
gave it three and a half stars and concluded that "Haunted is for today's movie savvy audience. It succeeds in keeping you tense and edgy, as a true poltergeist/horror flick should. There are scenes and situations aplenty to shock and astound the viewer coupled with the 3D effects, the prosthetics, the background score, an absorbing screenplay and deft handling of the subject material." Shubhra Gupta of the Indian Express rated it with two stars saying that "the only new thing about `Haunted’ is that it is Bollywood horror in 3 D. The rest of it, by which we mean the principal stuff that makes it a film—story, location, characters—are all same old same old." Anupama Chopra
Anupama Chopra
Anupama Chopra is a noted author, journalist and film critic. She has written several books on Indian cinema and has been a movie reviewer with NDTV and India Today.-Career:...
of NDTV Movies
NDTV
NDTV is an Indian commercial broadcasting television network founded in 1988. It was founded by Prannoy Roy, an eminent journalist and current chairman and director of NDTV Group. NDTV currently has more than 1,000 employees producing news from over twenty locations in India...
awarded the film one and a half stars describing it as "an absolutely ridiculous horror movie that works better as comedy, unintentional of course." Preeti Arora of Rediff also gave it one and a half stars saying that "Haunted fails at reviving the age old haunted-house premise, bringing nothing new to the platter."
Box office
According to boxofficeindia.com, Haunted - 3D recorded the highest opening ever for an Indian horror film. Released with over 1044 prints, the film grossed 13 croreCrore
A crore is a unit in the Indian number system equal to ten million , or 100 lakhs. It is widely used in India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan....
during its opening weekend. By the end of its first week, the film grossed 14.30 crore. In the second weekend, the film experienced a drop of 55% from its first weekend collections, grossing 3.50 crore for a ten day total of 18 crore. After four weeks, the film grossed 26.25 crore in India, and 35 crore worldwide.