''Rakht'' () is a 2004 Indian
supernatural horror film
Supernatural horror film is a film genre that combines aspects of horror film and supernatural film. Supernatural occurrences in such films often include ghosts and demons, and many supernatural horror films have elements of religion. Common them ...
, written and directed by
Mahesh V Manjrekar. The film stars
Bipasha Basu
Bipasha Basu Singh Grover (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress and former model. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and English films. Basu is the recipient of numerous accol ...
,
Sanjay Dutt
Sanjay Balraj Dutt (born 29 July 1959) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, Dutt has won several accolades and acted in over 100 films, ranging from romance to comedy genres, though ...
,
Suniel Shetty
Suniel Shetty (born Sunil V. Shetty; 11 August 1961) is an Indian actor, film producer, television personality and entrepreneur who is predominantly active in Hindi films he has also worked in tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and kannada films. In a ...
,
Dino Morea
Dino Morea (born 9 December 1975) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films.
Early life
Dino Morea was born in Bangalore to an Italian father and an Indian mother. His mother hails from Kalamassery in Kochi. He is the second of three b ...
,
Amrita Arora
Amrita Arora Ladak (born 31 January 1978) is an Indian actress, model, television presenter and video jockey (VJ), who primarily appears in Hindi-language films.
Personal life and education
She completed her secondary education from Swami V ...
and
Neha Dhupia
Neha Dhupia (born 27 August 1980) is an Indian actress and model who works predominantly in Hindi, and some Punjabi, Telugu and Malayalam films. She has won the Femina Miss India 2002 pageant and was among the top 10 finalists in Miss Universe ...
.
The film released on 3 September 2004, and received mixed to negative reviews from critics, who praised the performances of Basu and Shetty, but criticized the story and screenplay.
Plot
The story is about a young widow named Drishti Nair. She is a
psychic
A psychic is a person who claims to use extrasensory perception (ESP) to identify information hidden from the normal senses, particularly involving telepathy or clairvoyance, or who performs acts that are apparently inexplicable by natural laws, ...
and has the gift of seeing into the future of anybody. After her break up with boyfriend Manav who truly loved her but had to move away to a different city, Drishti moves to a small remote village, where she meets Mohit, an eccentric car mechanic who needs psychiatric treatment due to years of abuse at the hands of his father. Mohit has a crush on Drishti, which Drishti is unaware of. She performs the job of
Tarot card reading
Tarot card reading is a form of cartomancy whereby practitioners use tarot cards to purportedly gain insight into the past, present or future. They formulate a question, then draw cards to interpret them for this end. A traditional tarot deck con ...
to locals, one of her customers being Rhea Trehan. Rhea is a young woman who is repeatedly beaten up by her husband Sunny. Rhea pleads for help to Drishti, when Drishti agrees to help her. Until, Drishti's son coming home from school one day and is harassed by Sunny, who calls Drishti a witch. Sunny tells her son to stay away from his mother.
Sunny also breaks into their house and threatens Drishti to stay out of Rhea's life. When Mohit investigates that Drishti is being troubled by Sunny, the two enter a violent confrontation. After the brawl, Sunny is seen nowhere near Drishti. Drishti is living happily, until one day, the daughter of Mayor Raja Bahadur Singh, Natasha, suddenly goes missing. Her fiancé Rahul comes to Drishti and asks her for her help to find Natasha. Since Rahul is Drishti's son's school principal, she accepts. Soon enough, Drishti sees a vision of Natasha hung to her death opposite a river. Drishti informs Rahul, and the police finally find Natasha's dead body.
On top of this, it turns out that Sunny owns the river opposite to Natasha's death place. Sunny is then arrested, and the case of Natasha's murder is handed to ACP Ranbir Singh who does not believe in Drishti's gift, and also believes that Sunny is innocent, and the actual murderer is still free. And finally it is known that Rahul is the real murderer. He says he did it to avenge the loss of his dad in the mayoral election and is about to kill Drishti when Mohit knocks him out from behind. Mohit drives . Drishti to the police station where the inspector reveals Rahul accepted his crime but also says that Mohit committed suicide but according to Drishti he is waiting in the car. When she looks outside, Mohit is not there.
In the end, Drishti is finally reunited with Manav
Cast
*
Sanjay Dutt
Sanjay Balraj Dutt (born 29 July 1959) is an Indian actor who primarily works in Hindi cinema. In a career spanning over four decades, Dutt has won several accolades and acted in over 100 films, ranging from romance to comedy genres, though ...
as Principal Rahul
*
Suniel Shetty
Suniel Shetty (born Sunil V. Shetty; 11 August 1961) is an Indian actor, film producer, television personality and entrepreneur who is predominantly active in Hindi films he has also worked in tamil, Telugu, Malayalam and kannada films. In a ...
as Mohit
*
Dino Morea
Dino Morea (born 9 December 1975) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films.
Early life
Dino Morea was born in Bangalore to an Italian father and an Indian mother. His mother hails from Kalamassery in Kochi. He is the second of three b ...
as Suniel Trehan / Sunny
*
Bipasha Basu
Bipasha Basu Singh Grover (born 7 January 1979) is an Indian actress and former model. Primarily known for her work in Hindi films, she has also appeared in Tamil, Telugu, Bengali and English films. Basu is the recipient of numerous accol ...
as Drishti Nair
*
Amrita Arora
Amrita Arora Ladak (born 31 January 1978) is an Indian actress, model, television presenter and video jockey (VJ), who primarily appears in Hindi-language films.
Personal life and education
She completed her secondary education from Swami V ...
as Natasha
*
Neha Dhupia
Neha Dhupia (born 27 August 1980) is an Indian actress and model who works predominantly in Hindi, and some Punjabi, Telugu and Malayalam films. She has won the Femina Miss India 2002 pageant and was among the top 10 finalists in Miss Universe ...
as Rhea Trehan
*
Himanshu Malik
Himanshu Malicki is an Indian actor, screenwriter and producer known for his works in Bollywood. He started his acting career with the film, '' Kama Sutra: A Tale of Love'' (1996) and gained recognition with his portrayal of Abhigyan, a wealthy C ...
as Abhigyan Gupta
*
Rajat Bedi as ACP Ranbir Singh
*
Sharat Saxena
Sharat Saxena (born 17 August 1950) is an Indian actor who appears in Hindi films along with Telugu, Malayalam and Tamil films. He has acted in more than 250 Bollywood films.
Saxena started his career in the early 1970s and has mainly played s ...
as Mayor Raja Bahadur
*
Payal Rohatgi
Payal Rohatgi (born 9 November 1984) is an Indian actress and reality TV performer who appears in Hindi films. She was a contestant in the reality show '' Bigg Boss'' in 2008. In 2022, she participated in ALT Balaji's reality television show ...
as Tanya
*
Shivaji Satam
Shivaji Satam (born 21 April 1950), is an Indian television and film actor. He is best known for his role as ACP Pradyuman on the TV series '' C.I.D.'' on SET India. A former bank official and Inspection Officer, he has appeared in Hindi and ...
as Drishti's father
*
Shashikala
Shashikala Saigal (née Jawalkar; 4 August 1932 – 4 April 2021), better known by her first name, was an Indian film and television actress, who played supporting roles in hundreds of Bollywood films beginning in the 1940s.
Early years
Shash ...
as Drishti's grandmother
*
Sachin Khedekar
Sachin Khedekar (born 14 May 1965) is an Indian actor and director known for his work in Hindi, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam and Gujarati language films. His well-known films include ''Kaksparsh'', ''Astitva'' and Shyam Benegal's '' Neta ...
as Defending Lawyer for Sunny.
*
Abhishek Bachchan
Abhishek Bachchan (born 5 February 1976) is an Indian actor and film producer known for his work in Hindi films. Part of the Bachchan family, he is the son of actors Amitabh Bachchan and Jaya Bachchan and the grandson of poet Harivansh Rai B ...
as Manav (guest appearance)
*
Yana Gupta
Yana Gupta (born Jana Synková; 23 April 1979) is a Czech model and actress who lives and works in India.
Early life
Gupta was born as Jana Synková in 1979 in Brno, South Moravian Region, Czech SR, Czechoslovak SR (now Czech Republic) ...
as dancer in item song oh what a babe. (special appearance)
Soundtrack
Critical reception
Rediff.com stated that, "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." Planet Bollywood rated the film 5/10, stating, "Bipasha Basu impresses in a different look and role. She plays her role conservatively. Sanjay Dutt looked old, but was still okay. Sunil Shetty and Neha Dhupia are wasted. Amrita Arora as a hoochie is convincing. Dino Morea in a new avatar is a revelation."
Taran Adarsh
Taran Adarsh (born 13 June 1965) is an Indian film critic and trade analyst. He is best known for giving trade figures and box office updates on social media.
Career
Taran Adarsh started his journalism career at the age of 15 with ''Trade Gui ...
writing for
Bollywood Hungama
Bollywood Hungama (lit. "Bollywood Madness" in Hindi), previously known as IndiaFM (or IndiaFM.com), is a Bollywood entertainment website, owned by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment, which acquired the website in 2000.
The website provide ...
rated the film 2.5/5 and stated, "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
hanks to its classy look and city-centric treatment
Hanks is a surname of English, or Dutch origin, meaning "son of Hankin" and may refer to:
* Boo Hanks (1928–2016), American Piedmont blues guitarist and singer
* Carol Hanks Aucamp (born 1943), American tennis player
* Colin Hanks (born 197 ...
but its prospects at mass-oriented cinema halls could prove to be a matter of concern.."
References
External links
*
{{Mahesh Manjrekar
2004 films
2000s Hindi-language films
2000s supernatural horror films
2000s ghost films
Indian supernatural horror films
Films directed by Mahesh Manjrekar
Indian horror film remakes
Films set in India
Indian ghost films
Indian mystery films
Films scored by Anand–Milind
Films scored by Anand Raj Anand
Films scored by Naresh Sharma
Films scored by Shamir Tandon
Indian remakes of American films