Raaz: The Mystery Continues.

The film is the second installment in the Raaz series, but the story-line is not a direct sequel to the 2002 film Raaz. The film deals with issues of the ghosts which are allegedly prevalent in India and the world around us. The film attempts to challenge one’s beliefs about paranormal phenomena. Emraan Hashmi plays a painter, named Prithvi, who has an extraordinary gift, the ability to paint the future. His paintings tell Nandita’s (kangna ranaut) future.

The film opened to theaters on 23 January 2009. It received generally mixed reviews, with praise for performances and music, but criticism for its pacing. Made on a budget of ₹18 crore (equivalent to ₹45 crore or US$5.7 million in 2023), the film earned ₹38.09 crore (equivalent to ₹96 crore or US$12 million in 2023) globally and emerged as a commercial success. A third installment in the Raaz series was released in 2013 with Emraan Hashmi in the lead. It was first in a series of quasi-sequels released under the Bhatt Banner including Murder 2, Jannat 2, Jism 2, Raaz 3D and 1920: Evil Returns, each of which had nothing to do with their respective prequels, but somehow fell in the same genre following a similar story.

He sees the priest of the temple in a horrific state – he had slit his body with a scythe and written ‘Om’ on his body. Horrified, David flees. The story shifts to model Nandita, who is in love with Yash, the director and host of a reality show “Andhvishwas,” dealing with superstitions of ghosts. Yash and Nandita start living together and Nandita gets pregnant.

One evening, Nandita encounters Prithvi, an aspiring artist. Prithvi had made a sketch months earlier of a girl who is actually Nandita. He shows her a painting where she is lying with her wrist slit, and warns her of danger. Nandita accidentally slits her wrist after a ghostly attack in the bathroom and Prithvi saves her. Yash learns of her pregnancy and miscarriage at the hospital. He gets Prithvi arrested, though he is later released.

Meanwhile, David, the owner of a chemical plant, hangs himself after writing in Hindi the words “You are impure, you are rotten from inside” with his blood. Prithvi sees Nandita becoming possessed at her fashion show and attacking a spiritual guru. She says the same lines that David wrote. Yash has Nandita publicly apologise and declares that she has mental health problems.

After another possession, Nandita goes to Prithvi for help. He refuses, showing her a new painting in which she is hanging herself with the lines written behind her. At a party with Yash, Nandita is possessed again and starts bleeding. Prithvi spots her running from the party and follows her to a slum, where she tries to kill herself. He intervenes as Yash arrives.

Yash agrees to help Nandita on the condition she leaves Prithvi, but she decides to stay with Prithvi and visit Kalindi to find out the truth. Prithvi and Nandita spend the night in a guesthouse. Nandita is attacked by paranormal beings in a forest but Prithvi saves her. They arrive at Kalindi and meet the priest’s wife, who tells them that her husband was evil and his death was not surprising, considering the crimes he had committed against innocent people. They visit the house of the police officer who investigated David’s suicide but find him unstable; he commits suicide as well.

One night while travelling, they are attacked by animals. Nandita escapes the Jeep and finds a well in the trees. She jumps in and Prithvi follows her. Inside the well, she realises that it was Prithvi’s father, Veer Pratap Singh, who was possessing her: he had discovered that the Kalindi chemical plant dumped its toxins into a lake where thousands gathered once a year to bathe in a sacred ritual. He lodged a complaint against David but was warned by the policeman and the priest against taking action. He merely replied, “You are impure, you are rotten from inside”. Veer tried to tell the truth to everyone, but was killed by the goons of the priest. His body was dumped in the same well. His spirit returns for revenge; he killed David and the policeman and the priest who sided with David.

Prithvi is still confused why Nandita was used for this. They learn that Yash had the evidence of Veer’s death, but sold it to David in return for sponsorship of his show. Nandita tries to escape with the evidence and Prithvi is stabbed by Yash; in the end, Veer’s ghost kills Yash and heals Prithvi’s wounds. Nandita and Prithvi are reunited.