Raat (film)
| Raat Raatri | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Release poster in Hindi | |
| Directed by | Ram Gopal Varma |
| Written by | Ram Gopal Varma Uttej (Telugu dialogues) |
| Produced by | Ram Gopal Varma Boney Kapoor (Presenter) |
| Starring | Revathi Chinna Om Puri |
| Cinematography | Teja |
| Edited by | Shankar |
| Music by | Mani Sharma |
Production company | Varma Creations |
Release date |
|
Running time | 127 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Languages | Hindi Telugu |
Raat in Hindi or Raatri (transl. Night) in Telugu is a 1992 Indian supernatural horror-drama film written and directed by Ram Gopal Varma.[1] Shot simultaneously in Hindi and Telugu, the film stars Revathi in the lead role.[2] The background score was composed by Mani Sharma, marking his debut as a music composer, and features only instrumental music with no songs.
The film is recognised for its attempt to introduce the horror genre to mainstream Indian cinema.[3][4] It was also the final Telugu and Hindi film to be shot on 70 mm film[5]. Raat received positive reviews upon its release.[6][7]
Plot
[edit source]The Sharma family, comprising Mr. Sharma, his wife Shalini, their college-going daughter Manisha (alias "Mini"), and her young nephew Bunty, relocates into a suburban house that carries rumors of being haunted. Mini’s classmate and boyfriend, Deepak, frequently visits the residence. While exploring the basement, Bunty discovers a stray cat with a distinctly eerie, vacant stare. Shortly after, the cat wanders behind Mr. Sharma’s vehicle and is accidentally crushed to death as he reverses the car. To spare Bunty from grief, the family buries the animal in the backyard. Their eccentric elderly neighbor reacts with profound dread upon discovering that the family has occupied the property.
The family experiences their first unsettling shock when Bunty brings home a new cat that bears an uncanny, identical resemblance to the deceased one. Later, Mini and Deepak go for a motorcycle ride to the outskirts of the city. On their return journey, the motorcycle suffers a flat tire. Deepak hitches a ride with a passerby to a nearby village to procure a spare, instructing Mini to wait by the roadside. Upon his return, he discovers Mini weeping under a tree near a pond. When he approaches her, she glares at him with fierce, reddening eyes that mirror the dead cat’s gaze, causing a terrified Deepak to stumble into the water. Suddenly reverting to her normal self, Mini frantically calls out for him to climb out.
The following day, Mini accompanies her classmate, Rashmi, to a friend's wedding. During the event, Rashmi is brutally murdered inside a restroom, her neck completely snapped backwards. During the subsequent homicide investigation, the detective notices a deeply unsettling detail: while being questioned, a catatonic Mini absentmindedly twists the head of her doll in the exact manner Rashmi's neck was broken. Shortly after this realization, the investigating officer dies in a fatal vehicular accident. Terrified by their daughter's increasingly volatile behavior, Mini’s parents split on how to proceed. While Mr. Sharma seeks the assistance of a skeptical psychiatrist to run clinical tests like MRIs, an anxious Shalini consults the elderly neighbor.
The lady advises Shalini to seek the help of Sharji, a powerful exorcist. Before intervening, Sharji visits the Samadhi (shrine) of his deceased spiritual guru in a remote area to obtain consecrated ashes infused with mystical firepower. Upon inspecting the Sharma residence, Sharji detects a malevolent entity residing beneath the basement floorboards. He uncovers the history of the house: the ghost is that of Sunanda, the mistress of the previous homeowner, who had been brutally murdered by her paramour on the property. Concurrently, the ghost exacts vengeance on her actual killer; as he lies in bed with his new paramour, Sunanda's spectral arms emerge from the mattress and twist his neck.
The entity completely possesses Mini’s body, leading to a series of violent incidents, including an attempt to murder Deepak. Sharji confronts the possessed Mini in a final spiritual showdown. Utilizing sacred chants and the consecrated ashes, he successfully neutralizes the spirit, forcing it to exit Mini's body in a thundering flash of light. While Mr. Sharma remains convinced that the psychiatrist's medical treatments cured his daughter's psychosis, Sharji offers a different perspective, warning that the primordial darkness existing beyond human comprehension never truly vanishes, but merely recedes into the shadows.
Cast
[edit source]- Revathy as Manisha Sharma
- Chinna as Deepak, Manisha's boyfriend
- Rohini Hattangadi as Mrs. Sharma
- Akash Khurana as Mr. Sharma
- Om Puri as Sharji
- Anant Nag as the psychiatrist
- Master Atit as Bunty
- Jaya Mathur as Rashmi
- Nirmalamma as the old lady
- Tej Sapru as the inspector
- Sunanda as the spirit
- C. V. L. Narasimha Rao
Music
[edit source]Background score for the film was composed by Mani Sharma, marking his debut as a music composer[8].
Reception
[edit source]Upon release, N. Krishnaswamy of The Indian Express gave the film a positive review, calling it "technically superb" and writing that it "should be a reasonably tasty item in the horror film buff's menu card".[9] In 2013, Amrah Ashraf of Hindustan Times called it the scariest film he had seen, saying Varma's Bhoot was a "subtler, sweeter remake of Raat".[10] Suchitra Patnaik of Film Companion credits this film for changing the Indian horror film scene, stating: "It had actors pulling off stellar performances and a serene yet dramatic background score, making this 1992 movie a blockbuster hit."[11] Scroll.in wrote "The movie is crisply written, tautly paced and deftly performed, with superb use of close-ups, silences and jump scares. There is no flab, nothing more or less. It is as promised: a never-ending night of terror"[12]. Swati Singh of The Daily Jagran wrote "With its gripping storyline and effective performances, Raat became a notable entry in the horror genre of 90s Bollywood cinema"[13]. Jasneet Singh of Collider.com wrote "The turning point for Indian horror cinema is marked by the release of Raat in 1992"[14].
See also
[edit source]References
[edit source]- ↑ Saravanan, T. (21 February 2014). "Following RGV". The Hindu. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ↑ Paunksnis, Šarūnas (2019). Dark Fear, Eerie Cities: New Hindi Cinema in Neoliberal India. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-909693-0.
- ↑ Dhusiya, Mithuraaj (2017). Indian Horror Cinema: (En)gendering the Monstrous. Taylor & Francis. ISBN 978-1-351-38648-7.
- ↑ Moreland, Sean; Pervez, Summer (29 March 2013). "Acts of Re-Possession: Bollywood's Re- Inventions of the Occult Possession Film" (PDF). In Ahmad, Aalya; Moreland, Sean (eds.). Fear and Learning: Essays on the Pedagogy of Horror. McFarland. p. 79. ISBN 978-0-7864-9260-2.
- ↑ Ghatnekar, Aniket (10 April 2026). "Recalling Ram Gopal Varma (64) At His Brilliant Best". Retrieved 3 June 2026.
- ↑ "Spookiest of them all". The Hindu. 7 March 2013. Retrieved 10 January 2021.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link) - ↑ Gopal, Sangita (2012). Conjugations: Marriage and Form in New Bollywood Cinema. University of Chicago Press. p. 101. ISBN 978-0-226-30427-4.
- ↑ "THIS Ram Gopal Varma-Directed Cult Horror Movie With Revathi And Om Puri Once Sent Audiences Screaming Out Of Theatres". The Daily Jagran. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
- ↑ Krishnaswamy, N. (28 February 1992). "Raat". The Indian Express. p. 7. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
- ↑ Ashraf, Amrah (3 May 2013). "Brunch Opinion: the scariest film I ever saw". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 29 September 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
- ↑ Patnaik, Suchitra (28 October 2020). "Ram Gopal Varma – His Glorious Stint With Indian Horror". Film Companion. Archived from the original on 18 November 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
- ↑ Staff, Scroll (27 October 2025). "Start the week with a film: In 'Raat', a never-ending night of terror". Scroll.in. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
- ↑ "THIS Ram Gopal Varma-Directed Cult Horror Movie With Revathi And Om Puri Once Sent Audiences Screaming Out Of Theatres". The Daily Jagran. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
- ↑ Singh, Jasneet (6 July 2024). "This Terrifying '90s Psychological Horror Changed Hindi Cinema Forever". Collider. Retrieved 3 June 2026.
