Veerana

Veerana
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Ramsay Brothers (Shyam Ramsay and Tulsi Ramsay)
Written by	Ramsay Brothers
Screenplay by	Ramsay Brothers
Story by	Ramsay Brothers
Produced by	Kanta Ramsay
Starring	Jasmin Dhunna Hemant Birje Kulbhushan Kharbanda
Music by	Bappi Lahiri Anil Arun
Release date	6 May 1988 (1988-05-06) (India)
Running time	132 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi
Budget	₹60 Lakh
Box office	₹2.50 Crore in India

Veerana (transl. Deserted Place) is a 1988 Indian Hindi-language erotic supernatural horror film directed by Shyam and Tulsi Ramsay, credited as the Ramsay Brothers. It stars Jasmin as a woman who becomes possessed by the spirit of a dead witch, turning her into a bloodthirsty creature who seduces and kills men. The film's music was composed by Bappi Lahiri and songs were sung by Suman Kalyanpur, Mohammad Aziz and Sharon Prabhakar.

Made on a low budget, Veerana has been described as a cult film that garnered success on home video and in television airings. The film's antagonist, Jasmin, has been referred to as "one of the most iconic Ramsay monsters".

Plot

Priests surround a young boy tied up inside a cage in a cave. He pleads with them to spare him and asks what they want from him. A priest says that his blood and flesh will give life to Nakita. Just then a lovely young woman enters the cage. She removes the bat locket from her neck, transforms into a witch and kills the boy.

Thakur Mahendera Pratap Singh finds out that a witch Nakita is creating havoc in an adjoining forest. One night, his little daughter comes to him and says that villagers have got a dead body outside. He goes and sees the corpse of an unknown boy, the villagers are surrounding him. When asked they say that a woman roaming in the lonely lanes of the forest has done this. They call her a witch. His younger brother, Sameer, says that witches and demons are just superstitions. But one man says that some years ago when he came to the village from a nearby city, he lost his way and wandered off into the jungle where he saw a young girl. She later turned into a bat and attacked him.

Mahendra Pratap decides to investigate for himself. Sameer Pratap decides to go on a witch hunt. His wife Preeti tries to dissuade him by saying that he should think of his daughter and niece. Just then they go downstairs and Mahendra Pratap says that he trusts his brother and their ancestors have always helped needy people to get justice. He gifts an "OM" to his brother and wishes him good luck while giving his blessings. As Sameer is passing through the forest, while driving his car he meets a beautiful young woman, just as the one the villager had described. The woman gets a ride in Sameer's car. They arrive at the old mansion which is located behind a lake in the forest. Sameer seduces her into the bathtub. Diverting her attention, he snatches the bat locket from her neck. The lady transforms into the hideous witch Nakita that she really is. Sameer renders her weak and helpless by holding a holy Om in front of her. The witch is taken to the outskirts of the village and the locals, on the orders of the Thakur, hang her to death. A tantric (sorcerer), Baba, manages to steal her body along with his followers in the dead of the night, and takes it to the shrine, where he keeps it in a sarcophagus and promises to provide her a new body. The body would be of Thakur Mahendra Pratap's daughter.

Some days pass off happily and peacefully, with the brothers sharing merry hours together and their respective daughters, Jasmin and Sahila, being lovingly nurtured by Preeti, who is the mother of Sahila and wife of Sameer and loves the girls equally.

In the wee hours, Sameer is going to Mussoorie to drop his niece, Jasmin, at her boarding school. While crossing a lonely stretch of the forest, the car overheats and stops. He asks Jasmin to wait in the car for him and leaves to fetch water for the radiator. However, Baba suddenly creeps out from behind a bush, hypnotises the girl, and by cutting a piece of her frock and few strands of her hair makes a doll from it. He then places the glass bottle holding this doll in the witch's sarcophagus. A hypnotised Jasmin gets out of the car and walks over to the shrine. Meanwhile, Sameer returns with the water and is shocked not to find the child in the car. He follows her trail and is astonished to find himself going off deep inside the forbidden bushy path. The girl walks into the demon's lair and stands in front of the witch's tomb. The witch reaches out and pulls the kid inside with her. Sameer tries to save the girl but is too late, as the witch's evil spirit already manages to enter the girl's body. Soon, Sameer is captured and killed by Baba's men.

Baba then brings Jasmin back to her dad's mansion. The tantric informs Mahendra's family about the death of his brother due to a violent storm in the forest and informs that Sameer's dead body drifted away in the river and could not be recovered. After taking the child back to her room and putting her to sleep, Thakur leaves 2–3 servants in charge of the child and goes downstairs to meet the Baba. Baba asks for the Thakur's permission to leave but Thakur requests that he stay back as the caretaker of his daughter, since he has saved the child's life.

Preeti gradually notices a difference in Jasmin's behaviour. She talks to her brother-in-law regarding the weird changes in his daughter and tries to convince him to get a witch-doctor to treat Jasmin. However, Nakita overhears this and kills Preeti in Jasmin's bedroom that night. Thakur, horrified by this incident, then decides to send his newly orphaned niece Sahila to Mumbai to stay with her grandmother so that she can be safe and stay protected from the ominous situations.

After 12 years, the Thakur receives a letter from Sahila. He is happy that she ranked first in her intermediate examinations. During the time that has passed, Jasmin grows up into a beautiful young girl who spends most of her time alone locked inside her bedroom or occasionally wandering into the wilderness. She tends to be moody and lost in her own world, making her father worry. Thakur saab informs Baba that his niece has topped her exams and he is planning to call her to spend her summer vacation at his mansion. Baba directs one of his servants Zimbaru to kidnap Sahila so that she would not reach her ancestral home. On the other side, a man attacks Sahila's car and chases after her. Her second cousin Satish shouts for help. Hemant turns up to rescue the damsel in distress. He manages to send the monster packing and saves Sahila. Back in the village, Jasmine meets a new young man at the fuel station who is a mechanic and repairs her car expertly. She is impressed by him and asks him to come over to the old mansion behind the lake that night. When the man arrives there, she welcomes him and they both drink and dine together. While intoxicated, he forces himself on Jasmine and rapes her. Around midnight, the man gains consciousness and is stunned to see Jasmine's eyes are grey and her eyelids not moving at all. He tries to run away but falls on the bed. Jasmine wakes up, with the witch in control of her, takes a silver dagger and stabs the man to death. Jasmine hastily returns home in the darkness. His body is found by the police next morning but as no one recognises him, the investigation is stalled. Hemant and Sahila get close to each other during the journey and they both reach the mansion together. Thakur Saab is very happy to see Sahila and when he hears the story of how she was helped out of the tight spot by Hemant, gets impressed by the handsome and burly young boy and readily gives him a job in his timber factory. He also accepts Hemant as his son and family member.

However, murders continue. One evening, Jasmine takes a lift in a drunk man's car and then, after crossing some distance, the witch's spirit kills the man by tearing through his neck. One night, Sahila decides to sleep by Jasmine in their old bedroom and she suddenly notices something very strange and frightening in her cousin and informs her uncle and Hemant. Thakur decides to send his Jasmine for a psychiatric evaluation to his old friend who is a noted psychiatrist. Under hypnosis, Jasmine recounts the incident in her past and she transforms into a completely different person. Her voice changes and she vows to kill every member of Thakur's family. Thakur firstly refuses to believe the doctor, but when he hears the recording by the doctor, he believes him when he informs about his daughter being possessed. However, due to their friendship, the doctor promises to stay and treat the young girl. The doctor also asks Hemant to pretend to be close to Jasmine so that the truth comes to light but they both fail in their attempts.

One night, on seeing weird shadows and smoke coming out of Jasmine's bedroom, the doctor walks inside and sees the witch's grotesque face. He tries to warn Thakur but he refuses to believe him. The doctor runs away from the house to save his life but is mocked at by the servant, Raghu while departing from the mansion. In a huff, the doctor shuns Raghu and leaves from the Haveli as Jasmine looks at him with a strange victorious smile on her face standing in the balcony.

While the doctor is driving his car at a breakneck speed through the old village, he takes a wrong turn in confusion, bangs into a tree and stops right in the middle of the lonely forest. The witch, who is lying in wait for him, suddenly comes out from the shadows and while the doctor is barely conscious to look at her with wide shocked eyes, she pierces his body and kills him.

The servant Raghu is the next to die. He is killed when out of the witch's fear he decides to sleep in the factory at night instead of going to the haveli. Then Hemant and Sahila while discussing the killings with Satish, bring out the topic of Baba. Hemant decides to follow the Baba along with Sahila on a hunch. They both chase him to the Veerana. But they are captured and Sahila discovers that her father Sameer Pratap is alive. Satish Shah, in a twist of events, reaches the Veerana and rescues all of them. Now, Sameer goes straight home to his brother with the youngsters. Thakur is thrilled to see his dear brother hale and hearty. Sahila and Hemant relate the story of Baba's plots and Sameer informs his brother of the plan that helped the Baba make the witch's evil spirit possess Jasmine.

In the meantime, Baba plans to kill Jasmine on new moon day so that the witch can be reborn and attain immortality. He takes her from the haveli to the demon's lair and prepares her for the ritual. But the family manages to reach the scene. Jasmine is saved by making the witch leave her body by destroying the bottle containing her voodoo doll. But, by sheer bad luck, loses his life to grant his daughter happiness and a long survival. The family briefly grieves and, as now the witch has got her spirit back in her own foul body, they succeed in locking the witch inside the sarcophagus with the help of the holy Om and Baba is also killed.

The Thakur family and the villagers take the sarcophagus to the temple of Lord Shiva. The sarcophagus is carried inside the temple and Sameer unlocks it with Hemant's help. Both girls are sent out of the temple. The witch comes out of the sarcophagus and to her horror finds herself in front of the holy Lord. She writhes in pain, tries to run away, but loses all her powers and falls to the ground. Within seconds, she burns away and is destroyed. The surviving Thakurs and Hemant begin their life anew.

Cast

• Jasmin Dhunna as Jasmine M. Pratap
• Hemant Birje as Hemant, Sahila's boyfriend
• Sahila Chadha as Sahila S. Pratap
• Kulbhushan Kharbanda as Thakur Mahendra Pratap
• Satish Shah as Hitchcock
• Vijayendra Ghatge as Sameer Pratap
• Gulshan Grover as servant Raghu
• Rama Vij as Preeti S. Pratap, wife of Sameer Pratap
• Rajesh Vivek as Baba, the wicked sorcerer
• Leela Mishra as Sameer's mother-in-law
• Vijay Arora as mechanic and petrol pump worker.
• Narendra Nath as doctor uncle, Psychiatrist
• Tina Ghai as Jasmine's governess
• Rajendra Nath as the Manager of Thakela Guest House
• Bhushan Tiwari as Villager
• Vaishnavi Mahant as Young Jasmine
• Kamal Roy as the witch Nakita, main antagonist
• K. K. Raj as Police Inspector, investigating the murder of Mechanic and Petrol Pump Owner.

Production

Production on Veerana began in 1985.

Music

Track listing

No.	Title	Singer(s)	Length
1.	"Sathi Tu Kaha Hai"	Suman Kalyanpur
2.	"Sathi Tu Kaha Hai (Sad)"	Suman Kalyanpur
3.	"Dil Ki Dhadkan Kya Kahe, Apne Dil Se Puch Le"	Sharon Prabhakar, Mohammed Aziz
4.	"Sathi Tu Kaha Hai (Version 2)"	Suman Kalyanpur

Release and reception

Censorship

Veerana was initially rejected by the Central Board of Film Certification due to its mixture of sexual and horror imagery, such as in the seductive portrayal of Jasmine and the "gruesome make-up" used in depicting her transformation into a monstrous witch. The film was re-edited with cuts and released theatrically in May 1988.

Critical response

In his review of Veerana for Mumbai Sakal, film critic Ashok Rane characterized the Ramsay Brothers as seeking to entertain "through extreme or shocking elements" without any story or underlying themes, and wrote that, "Veerana is that kind of a film by them. But despite having thoroughly combed through this narrow style of storytelling, the director brothers, Tulsi and Shyam Ramsay, seems not to have been moved to look for anything new in this small area they inhabit. They keep using the same formulae of haunted stories, the same tricks for creating fear (a black cat, a beautiful girl on the road asking for a lift, the car losing control). They are not successful with creating fear through these fantastic means, so they end up using crude masks as well and end up failing in their attempt."

Veerana went on to achieve popularity on home video and in subsequent television airings, and is now considered a cult film.

Home media

In 2009, Veerana was released on DVD by Mondo Macabro as a double feature with the 1989 film Purani Haveli (also directed by the Ramsay brothers), as part of the Bollywood Horror Collection Vol. 2. In 2023, Mondo Macabro released Veerana on Blu-ray as part of the Bollywood Horror Collection boxed set, which also includes the Ramsay brothers-directed films Aatma (2006), Bandh Darwaza (1990), Purani Haveli, Purana Mandir (1984), and Tahkhana (1986).

Proposed remake

In 2013, the Ramsay Brothers announced a remake of Veerana in 3D.

References

Bibliography

• Sen, Meheli (2017). Haunting Bollywood: Gender, Genre, and the Supernatural in Hindi Commercial Cinema. University of Texas Press. ISBN 978-1477311578.
• Tombs, Pete (1998). Mondo Macabro: Weird & Wonderful Cinema Around the World. St. Martin's Griffin. ISBN 978-0312187484.

External links

• Veerana at IMDb