Dino Morea on Raaz clocking 20 years: The off screen romance with Bipasha helped us on screen

Raaz remains one of the most loved horror films till date for any true aficionado of all things horror and even the harshest critics of the genre consider it as one of the best from India. As Raaz clocks 20 years, Dino Morea shares that along with the story of the film and the music, his on screen chemistry with his then girlfriend, actor Bipasha Basu Singh Grover still remains a talking point.

“For Bipasha it was her second film after Ajnabee (2001). It was my second film too after Pyaar Mein Kabhi Kabhi (2000). Bipasha and I were together at that time, so we already had some sort of chemistry. We had done a music video as well together Sauda Khara Khara which was Sukhbir’s song. People had seen a bit of us but when people saw the chemistry on the big screen, they immediately fell in love with us, our chemistry. We won a ‘nayi jodi award’ also,” he shares.

Morea, who played the role of Aditya Dhanraj in the film further adds that working with Bipasha, “was fantastic. “It makes shooting far more easier when you know the person and you already have a romance going.The off screen romance helped us have that chemistry on screen.”

But when the film had released, many had drawn comparisons between Raaz with Hollywood film, What Lies Beneath (2000) and even labeling it a rip-off. While Morea says it wasn’t an official remake, there were references that were taken from the Robert Zemeckis directed Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer starrer.

“Yes, there were similarities and references in the story. I had watched What Lies Beneath long before I signed Raaz. It was similar in terms of the story premise and the infidelity part. But I didn’t have to go and watch the other film. Once I read the script I wanted to bring my own perspective. I didn’t want to copy from a Hollywood film,” he tells us.

The horror genre back then was still reeling from the stigma of being reduced to B-grade films and sleaze that was seen in the ‘80s and ‘90s. So did Morea have any apprehension dabbling with this genre right in the beginning of his career?

“No,” he says, adding, “At that point I was getting to work with the Bhatt’s, who had given some fantastic films. At that time working with them was an honour for me and getting my second opportunity in a big film. When Vikram Bhatt (director), narrated the story and I found it to be very interesting that they decided to make a supernatural film with love angle and the topic of infidelity.”