'Veerana' aka 'Wilderness' as the name suggests is a phenomenal horror film. This sensational flick was released in 1988 and soon received a strong positive verdict from the viewers. The story itself is very impressive and builds tension from beginning till end. I rented this movie long back and remembered it for superb performances and vengeful Nikita.
Thakur Mahendra Pratap (Kulbhusan Kharbanda) is the landlord of Chandan Nagar and lives happily with his daughter Jasmin (Baby Swati), younger brother Sameer (Vijayendra Ghatge), Sameer's wife Preeti (Rama Vij) and their daughter Sahila. Mahendra Pratap is a very rich man and owns a big saw mill. It so happens that the Thakurs hear a story of a local witch who wanders in the wilderness and kills people. So Sameer heads to the wilderness to find her. Unfortunately he stumbles upon seductive Nikita (the witch itself), who invites him to her palatial mansion. Sameer discovers that Nikita is a witch and forces her to take her true non-human form. Nikita is captured and is lynched by the mob. Moments later some 666 cult members take the corpse to a safe place.
Few days later Sameer is driving his niece Jasmin to her hostel when their car zonks out in the wilderness as the engine goes hot. Sameer leaves Jasmin there and goes to find water. During this time an evil cult leader Baba (Rajesh Vivek) comes to Jasmin, hypnotizes her and cuts some of her hairs and a piece of cloth from her frock, wraps them around a voodoo doll and goes away. After few minutes we see Jasmin following the Baba. Sameer returns but Jasmin is nowhere to be found. Discovering some trails Sameer comes to an old building where he finds Jasmin lying with Nikita's corpse. Baba's henchmen subdue Sameer and it appears that they kill him.
Baba takes Jasmin to her house and wins Mahendra Pratap's trust. He tells that he could only save this little girl while the man who was with her (Sameer) died in a terrible storm. Mahendra Pratap requests Baba to live with them and look after Jasmin. Soon Jasmin's aunt Preeti witnesses Jasmin's vengeful intentions. In an iconic scene Preeti is killed by evil Jasmin. Mahendra Pratap doesn't want Sahila to live along with them and sends her to her maternal grandmother.
Years pass by and now Jasmin (Jasmin) is grown up. She spends most of her time in her room, doesn't behave normally and often strolls in the wilderness. Mahendra Pratap tries hard to make her understand that she is a normal girl and should behave like others but everything goes in vain. Sahila (Sahila Chaddha) is also grown up and is planning to return to Chandan Nagar. She writes a letter regarding this to her uncle Mahendra Pratap. Baba comes to know of Sahila's arrival and sends a gigantic man Zimbaru (Gorilla) to kill her on the way. However, she is saved by Hemant (Hemant Birje) and Hemant takes her safely to Chandan Nagar.
Sahila comes to know that Jasmin is not a normal girl as she behaves like someone who is possessed. Now the death count around the village is shooting up. Jasmin lures the young men to the palatial mansion (that once belonged to Nikita) and kills them after making love. Mahendra Pratap asks Jasmin about this but she responds in a voice that's not hers but Nikita's. Mahendra Pratap takes the help of a Psychiatrist (Narendra Nath), who also witnesses Jasmin's transformation to a witch with unkempt hairs, long fangs, burnt face and over-the-top evil eyes. The doctor also gets killed in one such encounter. Soon Jasmin kills the housekeeper Raghu (Gulshan Grover) by slicing him open with an industrial wood saw at the saw mill.
After hard trials Hemant and Sahila are able to find out the reason behind Jasmin's erratic and vehement behavior. The question is will they succeed? The movie is not just a tale of horror, but has several spicy moments that one would surely expect from a Bollywood horror movie. The budget is out of question as most of the Ramsay movies hail from low budget but do a decent business. I think this is the last best Bollywood horror movie of the last century. Ramsays' efforts is well visible because most of the foreboding moments are fairly spooky. Satish Shah has tortured the viewers to his best and so has Rajindernath. The good thing is that Rajindernath doesn't have much time to irritate the viewers.
It's a must buy movie. I consider it a video nasty and also an ideal midnight movie. 8/10
Thakur Mahendra Pratap (Kulbhusan Kharbanda) is the landlord of Chandan Nagar and lives happily with his daughter Jasmin (Baby Swati), younger brother Sameer (Vijayendra Ghatge), Sameer's wife Preeti (Rama Vij) and their daughter Sahila. Mahendra Pratap is a very rich man and owns a big saw mill. It so happens that the Thakurs hear a story of a local witch who wanders in the wilderness and kills people. So Sameer heads to the wilderness to find her. Unfortunately he stumbles upon seductive Nikita (the witch itself), who invites him to her palatial mansion. Sameer discovers that Nikita is a witch and forces her to take her true non-human form. Nikita is captured and is lynched by the mob. Moments later some 666 cult members take the corpse to a safe place.
Few days later Sameer is driving his niece Jasmin to her hostel when their car zonks out in the wilderness as the engine goes hot. Sameer leaves Jasmin there and goes to find water. During this time an evil cult leader Baba (Rajesh Vivek) comes to Jasmin, hypnotizes her and cuts some of her hairs and a piece of cloth from her frock, wraps them around a voodoo doll and goes away. After few minutes we see Jasmin following the Baba. Sameer returns but Jasmin is nowhere to be found. Discovering some trails Sameer comes to an old building where he finds Jasmin lying with Nikita's corpse. Baba's henchmen subdue Sameer and it appears that they kill him.
Baba takes Jasmin to her house and wins Mahendra Pratap's trust. He tells that he could only save this little girl while the man who was with her (Sameer) died in a terrible storm. Mahendra Pratap requests Baba to live with them and look after Jasmin. Soon Jasmin's aunt Preeti witnesses Jasmin's vengeful intentions. In an iconic scene Preeti is killed by evil Jasmin. Mahendra Pratap doesn't want Sahila to live along with them and sends her to her maternal grandmother.
Years pass by and now Jasmin (Jasmin) is grown up. She spends most of her time in her room, doesn't behave normally and often strolls in the wilderness. Mahendra Pratap tries hard to make her understand that she is a normal girl and should behave like others but everything goes in vain. Sahila (Sahila Chaddha) is also grown up and is planning to return to Chandan Nagar. She writes a letter regarding this to her uncle Mahendra Pratap. Baba comes to know of Sahila's arrival and sends a gigantic man Zimbaru (Gorilla) to kill her on the way. However, she is saved by Hemant (Hemant Birje) and Hemant takes her safely to Chandan Nagar.
Sahila comes to know that Jasmin is not a normal girl as she behaves like someone who is possessed. Now the death count around the village is shooting up. Jasmin lures the young men to the palatial mansion (that once belonged to Nikita) and kills them after making love. Mahendra Pratap asks Jasmin about this but she responds in a voice that's not hers but Nikita's. Mahendra Pratap takes the help of a Psychiatrist (Narendra Nath), who also witnesses Jasmin's transformation to a witch with unkempt hairs, long fangs, burnt face and over-the-top evil eyes. The doctor also gets killed in one such encounter. Soon Jasmin kills the housekeeper Raghu (Gulshan Grover) by slicing him open with an industrial wood saw at the saw mill.
After hard trials Hemant and Sahila are able to find out the reason behind Jasmin's erratic and vehement behavior. The question is will they succeed? The movie is not just a tale of horror, but has several spicy moments that one would surely expect from a Bollywood horror movie. The budget is out of question as most of the Ramsay movies hail from low budget but do a decent business. I think this is the last best Bollywood horror movie of the last century. Ramsays' efforts is well visible because most of the foreboding moments are fairly spooky. Satish Shah has tortured the viewers to his best and so has Rajindernath. The good thing is that Rajindernath doesn't have much time to irritate the viewers.
It's a must buy movie. I consider it a video nasty and also an ideal midnight movie. 8/10