The fourth edition of the Raaz series takes us to Romania, specifically Transylvania, just so the caretaker of a large house can intone: yes, this is Dracula country. Instantly, you want to look out for skulking fellows in black robes, empty eyes, and bloody fangs. Instantly, you are all prepared to shiver and shudder.Instead, you shake with laughter that is entirely unintended. Because Rahaan ( Gaurav Arora) and his pretty wife Shaina ( Kriti Kharbanda) , and a shadowy blast from her past Aditya ( Emraan Hashmi) spend all their time talking thusly: ‘kuch toh raaz hai’, ‘kya raaz hai’, ‘kahin toh raaz chhupa hai’, ‘yeh raaz hamein alag kar dega’, over and anon, till this purported ‘raaz’ startscoming out of our ears, but refuses to come in front of our eyes.Meanwhile, there are some moments which are meant to be scary—whispersfrom a drain, blood flowing from objects, painted faces with empty eyeballs. And we are treated to scenes which look as if they have been ‘inspired’ from The Exorcist, Paranormal Activity, and many of Bhatts’ own previous outings with creatures who scale walls and make animal noises.There’s an evil spirit around, declares a ‘psychometrist’. A soothsayer goes intohysterics. A priest invokes the name of the lord. But, the one thing that saves the good guys and vanquishes the bad ‘un is, drumroll, an ancient ‘mantra’, andthe power of a good wife.
