Raaz Reboot Reviews by Critics

Raaz Reboot has been trashed by the critics – which is expected because it’s not the kind of film that you expect critics to like. Except one review, critics have unanimously rejected Raaz Reboot. It’s the first film this year to score an average of less than 2 stars.

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Raaz Reboot Review by Indicine

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The movie which was supposed to kick-start the Raaz franchise is looking more and more like the death nail to the franchise. The spooky moments are few and far between, and even the ones which are there aren’t quite as impactful because the effects are stereotypical and the Vfx is downright insulting to the audience. They should have spent more time on rendering the Vfx. Ignoring all that, Raaz Reboot doesn’t work as a film either because the narrative is too slow and the pacing too uneven.

Raaz Reboot Review by Bollywood Hungama

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When RAAZ REBOOT’s trailers got released, it definitely upped the curiosity factor amongst the audiences. And the film does not disappoint. Even though RAAZ REBOOT’s screenplay (Vikram Bhatt) gets into the cliched space at times, it is definitely tight and gripping. It successfully manages to keep the audiences engaged and hooked to the film till the end. And it is purely because of this that the attention of the audience refrains from dwindling till the end. The film’s narrative is simple and lucid. The film does have a handful of memorable and hard hitting dialogues (Girish Dhamija), mostly in the second half.

Raaz Reboot Review by Sreeju Sudhakaran on Bollywood Life

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The film has one very decent twist post interval that saves the film from being an absolute mess. I am not going to reveal that to you, but it could surprise people who have certain expectations about the film and its protagonists. Raaz Reboot is one such rare Bollywood film where the second half is better than the first half of the film, but that doesn’t stop the film from touching mediocrity at places. There are a couple of engaging sequences here that will mildly pique your interest. But it will also make you doubt whether it is too late to save the film by then, also leaving a lot of questions in the wake. Amidst the performers, Gaurav Arora is actually the best amongst the lot, speaking a lot through his eyes. Despite having nothing much to do in the first half, Emraan Hashmi gets to score in a few scenes in the second half, especially in the confrontation scenes with Gaurav.

Raaz Reboot Review by Shubhra Gupta on Indian Express

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Suck on that, all ye who propagate the use of garlic buds and crosses to defeat blood-sucking vampires. Whether is ‘des’ or ‘vides’, no ‘buri aatmaa’ or plain vanilla ‘bhoots’ can stand up against the might of the ‘mangalsutra’. Or, we must hasten to add, a plaintive ‘sufi’ song. One is enough. Both together can chase anything away from anywhere, including the poor chumps who have paid to be scared.

Raaz Reboot Review by Rohit Vats on Hindustan Times

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Meanwhile, you will keep spotting Hotel Transylvania, a Gypsy woman and other clichés, so that you don’t feel out of sync. Don’t forget it’s a Vikram Bhatt film. The cleric’s failed exorcism bid means God’s reputation is at stake and that calls for some extreme measures. The rest is a permutation and combination of words – ‘spirit’, ‘possessed’, ‘danger’, ‘haunted’ and ‘Jesus’. Soulful music will soothe your ears, and Emraan Hashmi is also there. Some initial scenes of arguments between Rehaan and Shaina are well written, but that’s about it.

Review by Tatsam Mukherjee on India Today

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To be honest, Raaz Reboot is not a boring film. It is so unintentionally hilarious that they might as well have marketed this as India’s first ‘unintentionally-hilarious-horror-comedy with violins and sex’. The music of the movie is scored by Jeet Ganguly, who churns out melodies to justify his monthly paycheck from Vishesh Films. Same old Arijit Singh wailing in the recording studio and the same old melodies.

Review by Manisha Lakhe on Nowrunning

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Emran Hashmi must have has a whale of a time in this film. He is Aditya again. This time a Creative Director, photographer who has had a passionate affair with Shanaya (rehashed… I mean ‘Rebooted’ character), and just like Prithvi who drew slashed wrists pictures, this time he dreams vivid dreams…By the time the music has lulled you into thinking you have heard these tunes before, thankfully spirits have emerged from the possessed girl in a black smoke and crashed into the windows and it is daylight again (the ushers in the theater have opened the ‘exit’ doors for you). It’s a relief from this terribly rehashed story.

Review by Jaidev Hemmady on Movietalkies

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As for the thrill factor, Raaz Reboot uses every possible formula used in thousands of horror films in the past- creaking doors, a sinister raven, a possessed person who can climb walls and levitate et al. Indeed, it is time Bollywood filmmakers realized that they need to move beyond this if they ever hope to scare viewers (maybe they could go watch Radhika Aptestarrer Phobia to know how to send a shiver up everyone’s spines). If that was not all, the amateurish CGI effects are so laughable that there is no chance of being afraid of anything that the film throws at you. When I heard that the film has been set in Transylvania, I had hoped against hope for a story flirting with the legend of Dracula, but alas! It all boils down to old-fashioned revenge and predictable twists and turns. The music is totally forgettable and except for Hashmi’s ‘bad boy’ charm, there is nothing really worth watching in the film.

Review by Namrata Thakker on Rediff

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Raaz Reboot is full cliches and will remind of you of a few horror movies in both Bollywood and Hollywood. Kriti Kharbanda, who makes her Bollywood debut with this film, is strictly okay. Since most of the film is riding on her, it’s sad that she doesn’t take advantage of it and gives a not-so-great performance. Gaurav Arora is surprisingly good but his character doesn’t have much to do. Emraan Hashmi arrives just before the interval and though he has quite a few good scenes, it’s not enough to make up for the loopholes. Though the Bhatt movies have always had melodious music, this one doesn’t match up. Most of the songs aren’t needed but are still there, making the viewing experience worse. Also, the spirit for some reason keeps using the F-word, which gets quite annoying.

Review by Meeta on Wogma

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Fortunately, the performances are above what we have come to expect from films in this genre from this production house. Now, Kriti Kharbanda and Gaurav Arora have a lot of chemistry-free, flat moments. But, individually, they do well to scare and be scared. I enjoyed Emraan Hashmi’s performance too. He keeps you guessing to the best of his capabilities. That he is let down by the writing department is another story. I was engaged more than I expected to be. I had inadvertently tight muscles till the culprit was obvious. But then again, I scare easily. If you want to be spooked but not too seriously, you could just skim through this one when there’s nothing else on TV.

Review by Rohit Bhatnagar on Deccan Chronicle

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Directed by Vikram Bhatt, ‘Raaz Reboot’ makes use of all the clichés to scare the audience and hence falls flat towards the end. The 2001 release ‘Raaz’, which was directed by Vikram Bhatt, was a sincere effort at making a ‘horror flick’ and was able to send a chill down the spine. But like every other sequel, this one also disappoints. ‘Raaz Reboot’ will make you remember how many of our horror films were made in the past with its black crows, hidden pasts, stale love triangles. Run-of-the-mill dialogues by Girish Dhamija are woven with boring love scenes. The film’s ‘chill factor’ rests on the shoulders of an ugly ghost, who tries hard to scare the audience, but leaves everyone disappointed instead. The facial expressions of the ghost tend to have the opposite effect on the audience and unintentionally bring out more laughs than screams. I guess we can never match the standards of Hollywood demons on screen, be it the background or VFX.

Review by Renuka Vyavahare on The Times Of India

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Doors keep slamming on their own, strange whispers keep echoing throughout and the girl sees horrific things but none of it disturbs you, let alone be worried. Also since it’s a reboot, a twist in the tale is guaranteed. You can see it from a mile away, something our ‘clever’ heroine fails to gauge till the end. The dialogues and overall sensibility are equally cheesy. The film implies that ‘Pyaar hi Bhagwan hai’ and that Mangal sutra can act as a suraksha kavach for a woman. There’s also a blind man who knows ‘psychometry’ – the power of touching things, feeling them and understanding their energy. “Two mouths! She has been possessed by an evil spirit,” he screams in disbelief as he studies Shaina’s mug. Tsk tsk.

Review by IANS on Zeenews

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The performances of the cast too are perfunctory. Gaurav Arora and Kriti Karbanda are un-relatable as the couple Rehaan and Shaina. Their characters lack the chemistry and their ordeal, panic and grief all seem forced. Nevertheless, Kriti shows promise. Apart from the oomph factor, her transformation into a feral woman with frenzied energy, is worth a mention. Emraan Hashmi as Aditya, Shaina’s past and the antagonist of the tale, walks through his performance. The rest of the cast which include Amar and Shreya – the couple’s friends, Trilok – the blind psychometrist, the clairvoyant and the priest, have their moments of on screen glory. The music, along with the background score, too is passable. With moderate production values, the film is well-mounted. Manoj Soni’s cinematography is worth a mention. He captures the scenic locales in all their glory. And his frames seamlessly merge with the computer generated effects. Overall, “Raaz Reboot” is mediocre fare and may appeal only to fans of the “Raaz” franchise.

Review by Sameeksha on News18

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Raaz Reboot has nothing new to offer, even the old offerings have been executed badly. The entire setup in Romania, Dracula’s own country, could’ve been exploited more but the makers didn’t even cash in the scenic beauty of the place. The music is the only average thing in this poorly made film. The lazy installment of Raaz franchise does not deserve your time. Looks like the makers lost their own spirit while making the film and ended up making one of the most boring films of the year. Now Bhatts should understand that time has come to get out of past and make films with more vigour, vision and new story.

Review by Mayank Shekhar on Mid-Day India

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This one, of course, is the fourth installment of Raaz. It’s called Reboot, I’m told, because of some copyright issues. Besides a couple of ‘Raazes’, one loses count of how many such pictures Vikram Bhatt has filmed in the past — Intehaa, Aetbaar, 1920, Shapit, Haunted etc. etc. Sure, it’s predictable stuff. But that’s to do with the genre, which like mindless comedy, is fairly easy to judge or appreciate. There is a meter ticking inside your head that registers how many times you’ve felt fear inside the dark hall. That’s pretty much it. And I’m sorry, I felt nothing. To be fair (up until a fine climax), they don’t try too hard to scare us much either.

Review by Kunal Guha on Mumbai Mirror

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Gaurav Arora perseveres to lend dignity to his perplexed Rehaan but his character’s lazily-written lines take away from his performance. For the record, Rehaan’s sexual abstinence remains a raaz even after the film ends. One would imagine that Emraan Hashmi has carved his own niche by now. But his home production stretches his part beyond tolerance and dunks his oversized wig in sewage to undo his worth by at least ten years. The perennially wailing debutante, Kriti Kharbanda had the worst deal. Her possessed character is made to wolf down crunchy cockroaches, bend over backwards and lie in a pool of her own mucky drool. Luckily, her OTT makeup eclipses her face and she can make her debut again. If Vikram Bhatt fancies himself as a weaver of stories, he’s gone over the hemline of logic here. Leaning on tested techniques of evoking fear, the eventual jolt never lives up to the build-up.

Review by Vishal Verma on Glamsham

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The actors didn’t get good support from the script but do their job with honesty. Emraan Hashmi is decent. Rehan impresses and Kirti Kharbanda makes an attempt. RAAZ REBOOT continues Vikram Bhatt’s obsession to the ‘possessed’ movies from the west, mansion, church, old town, good spirit, bad spirit everything happens.

Raaz Reboot Review by Indiaglitz

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It’s a bland film with forced scenes, language and nudity.Gaurav Arora tries hard to carry the film on his young shoulders but mostly fails. Emraan Hashmi is strictly average in the movie, though you will like his make-up in the finale portions. The makers could have made a much better film only if they would had added more depth and detailing to Emraan’s character. ‘Raaz: Reboot’ is nothing but rehash of all the old horror films Vikram and his team have made. The saddest part is that the horror quotient is not even one fourth of what we had seen in his earlier films.

Review by Subhash K Jha on Bollyspice

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Unfortunately Emraan doesn’t allow himself to be as freed of inhibitions as the character affords. His role and performance have one foot caught in the door even as soul pines to soar. Gaurav Arora and Kriti Kharbanda grappling with a marriage that seems to be going wrong even as a ghost makes an unwanted entry in their lines, put up a brave show. Both are made to perform scenes that make them look sordid and messed up on screen.

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