Saaya dares to scare viewers!

The Sixth Sense had the little boy hearing the voices of dead people. Saaya has a husband hearing the voice of his dead wife. Well, the latest production of Mahesh and Mukesh Bhatt is, yes, about the supernatural. But then, post-Raaz, Bollywood can’t seem to have enough of the scary stuff.
Starring John Abraham and Tara Sharma, Saaya is being directed by Anurag Basu who, technically atleast, made his directorial debut with Kucch Toh Hai — a film he left midway due to ‘‘creative differences’’ with its producer Ektaa Kapoor.Nevertheless, Anurag has been credited as being Kucch Toh Hai’s director along with Anil V Kumar.
Incidentally, Katrina Kaif was initially supposed to play the character now being essayed by Tara Sharma —that of John’s wife. But, as they say, that’s history now as the film races towards completion and a possible release in May.
Saaya tells the story of a husband who loses his wife at a flood-relief camp when she is swept by a powerful current. The twist in the tale comes in when John continues to hear his wife speaking to him. The whole world, of course, thinks that he has gone nuts and needs medical help. ‘‘In reality, I don’t believe in ghosts,’’ maintains Tara, who follows her husband like a saaya in the film, ‘‘And this is simply because I have never seen one! At the same time, Saaya has not been made for the sake of making a movie on the supernatural. Rather, it explains why certain things happen in the film in a rational manner.’’
Ex-model Tara, by the way, made her film debut opposite Abhishek Bachchan in Om Jai Jagadish and is half-English, half-Indian. Among other projects, Tara, who spends a lot of her time in England, has appeared in a British theatre production based on Shakespeare’s Romeo And Juliet.
Coming back to Saaya, Mahima Choudhary too makes an appearance in the film, albeit in a special role which has her playing the friend who provides John Abraham emotional support.The big question, of course, is: will Saaya become the next Raaz? Well, if no one else, atleast Mukesh Bhatt, the film’s producer, will be keeping his fingers crossed.
pankaj.kapoor2000@indiatimes.com