Junoon (1992) User Reviews

Mahesh Bhatt's first horror film and quite good

[silvan-desouza · 6/10 · 2 November 2014]

In 1980's Mahesh Bhatt made mostly films with good subjects like Arth,Naam.etc but after 90s he started making commercial films like Dil Hai Ki Maanta Nahin(1991) Junoon was his 2nd film with Rahul Roy after RR's debut in Aashiqui which was a big hit. The film also starred his daughter Pooja Bhatt and Avinash Wadhavan. The film is based on Oscar winning 1981 film An American Werewolf in London. It starts off well, Rahul Roy and his friend go to a jungle for hunting when a tiger attacks him, the filmmaker adds mythology too. The film also has a love story of Pooja Bhatt and Avinash Wadhavan which is typical but well woven The twist when Rahul Roy changes forms is well handled and keeps you glued till the end.

Direction is good Music is superb, the songs are melidious, Mahesh Bhatt and NS mostly gave hit songs, this time they roped in Vipin Sachdeva for most songs.

Rahul Roy does a good job, he is quite decent in a complex role though with many rough edges Pooja Bhatt is decent in her role which is quite similar to her previous works, Avinash wadhavan is adequate Bhatt regulars like Avtar Gill make their presence felt Homi Wadia, Mushtaque Khan are good,Rakesh Bedi provides some fun moments

Mahesh Bhatt's shot at horror!!

[nadkarnisumeet · 6/10 · 24 September 2022]

Junoon review :

A commendable attempt by Vishesh Films (Bhatt bros) to create a 'desi' werewolf; Junoon was the only horror film Mahesh Bhatt directed in his entire career. Rahul Roy was cast as the anti hero who turns in to a Tiger at midnight and preys on women. Pooja Bhatt is the common love interest of both Roy and Avinash Wadhawan.

The tiger transformation sequences were brilliantly choreographed for the '90s. The Bhatts had hired foreign technicians for the same. I still remember one scene where Tom Alter sees a Tiger/ Rahul Roy slowly walking towards him in slow motion. Its spine chilling!! Another striking moment is Rahul Roy going to a pub and then killing a lady (Roma Manek) after dancing with her. "O meri dilruba..tu dil ke kareeb hai" was the best of Nadeem Shravan's compositions for this movie. Another catchy number was "Yeh jaan gaye sab" which had Pooja Bhatt in a sexy yellow saree seducing Rahul Roy.

Junoon could've been significantly better if not for that hushed up badly executed climax in a makeshift cave where Avinash and Pooja search for some divine dagger to kill the tiger. That end ruined the overall experience of an otherwise fine film!!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

Generous with a 3 for the unintentional comedy due to the poor effects n a weretiger on a full moon.

[Fella_shibby · 3/10 · 5 May 2021]

I first saw this in 1992 with my brother in a theatre after skool n we both had a blast laughing out loud.

The poor effects n a huge tiger face made outta rubber during the transformation scene is a big wtf.

Revisited it recently on a fast forward mode.

The best lol moment Bollywood did is they added religious mumbo jumbo climax, very contrary to the simpler one in An American Werewolf in London.

The makers of An American Werewolf in London shud definitely check this blatant rip off n mayb they shud try adding the weretiger in the remake, of course they shud buy the rights first.

I liked the song "prem prem" which was a huge hit in the early 90s. Check out the side actors in that song with their Bollywood attire.

The lead actor Rahul Roy was famous for his long hair n i tried to ape his long hairstyle but got suspended from skool for one day for the long hair.

Studying in Catholic skools was an amazing growing experience for us kids those days, specially with all the rules n regulations.

A Film Thas Was Inspired From The Cult Horror Film: An American Werewolf In London (1981).

[Vivekmaru45 · 3/10 · 11 February 2014]

Instead of a man turning into a wolf, he turns into a tiger instead. This film is directed by veteran director Mahesh Bhatt who has directed some decent films over the years like: Arth (1982), Saaransh (1984), Awaargi (1990), Jurm (1990), Aashiqui (1990), The Gentleman (1994) and many more.

I think this is his only horror film he made in his career.

Plot: Junoon tells the story of Vikram (Rahul Roy), who is nearly killed by a cursed tiger when he and his friend go for a hunting spree in the jungle. His friend is killed on the spot by the tiger, but Vikram manages to shoot the beast. Still, the tiger wounds Vikram badly before it dies.

Later on in the hospital, Vikram's hopes of survival are minimal. But the spirit of the tiger gets into Vikram. Vikram is treated by Dr. Nita (Pooja Bhatt) and he begins to like her. As the days go by, Vikram realizes that there is an evil present in him. His dead friend's spirit tells him about the cursed tiger and that he himself will become the same beast on the upcoming full moon and every full moon thereafter. His friend also tells Vikram to kill himself, but Vikram refuses saying that he will accept whatever his future has in store for him.

Vikram's liking for Dr. Nita turns into an obsession (Junoon) after he comes to know that she is in love with an up-and-coming singer, Ravi (Avinash Wadhawan). The evil in Vikram comes forward and he plots to separate Nita and Ravi. Then he consoles and convinces Nita's father to allow him to marry Nita. The night of their marriage is the night of the full moon, and that night Vikram transforms into a tiger in the hotel and kills an unknown woman. The following nights, Vikram's hunting spree continues as he kills more people after transforming into a tiger.

His wife Nita finds something fishy going on as every night Vikram leaves the house on some pretext or another. That is why one night she manages to keep him at home. Vikram transforms into a tiger in front of her and tries to kill her, but she manages to escape because of Ravi, a villager from the jungle where the beast came from and a policeman who has doubts about Vikram's strange behavior. But both the villager and the policeman are killed trying to save Nita.

A priest (Tom Alter) informs Ravi and Nita that there is a dagger in a specific cave which can actually kill Vikram because trying to kill him in any other way would mean taking the curse upon oneself. Ravi and Nita go in search of the dagger and are successful in finding the dagger. But before Ravi and Nita can get out of the cave, Vikram shows up and demands the dagger for himself. That is when a fight ensues and after a long battle with Vikram in the cave, they manage to slay him and end the curse.

Verdict: I did not find this film suspenseful enough. The effects in the film sometimes let it down. The script also was below par and this is the reason it fails in many aspects, even though it has a good cast of actors.

Better Horror Films: Tahkhana, Bandh Darwaza, Purana Mandir, Purani Haveli, Veerana.

One of the better Indian Horror Films

[yhoque82 · 9/10 · 23 December 2006]

Horror movies in the early 90s were typically Ramsay Brothers low budget fares starring B list actors. Junoon was the rare exception, produced by the Mukesh Bhat and with a quite strong cast, including the then rising young stars of Bollywood, Rahul Roy and Puja Bhat. The story was pretty good too, with a quite original take on the werewolf myth, only with tigers. Rahul Roy plays a spoilt rich brat, who is attacked by a cursed tiger during a nocturnal hunting expedition. The next full moon, he himself turns into a tiger and must hunt for prey. The rest of the story is his wife (Puja Bhat) and her ex boyfriend racing against time to stop him. Not really that scary, but the original story and very good special effects, considering the times make this the best Indian horror movie of the 90s, and one of the better ones of all time. Recommended.

Didn't expect this from Bhatt sahab.

[rahul-rdthecool-das · 2/10 · 25 February 2020]

This was not expected from Mahesh Bhatt. Poorly penned. Boring at times. Poor narration of the movie. Also a poor background score and music.

Vikram Chauhan and his friend Arun go out for hunting expedition on a moonless night.

[dialrahul · 8/10 · 15 September 2013]

It's a windy night and it's a creepy forest. And the ghost of a man eating tiger awaits them.

Loosely but efficiently adapted from American Werewolf in London. Junoon boasts of good production values and a strong cast for a movie of the early 90's.

Vishesh Films usually deliver films of good quality and with Mahesh Bhatt at the helm of Junoon, it turns out to be a very good flick.

The pace and rhythm in the second half are relentless and it certainly ranks as one of the best horror movies that Bollywood has churned out.

The special effects are noteworthy for a Hindi film of that period. It is one of the first Indian venture to hire a crew of well known foreign technicians and make-up artists for the special effects and these still look good for today's standards. They shot a lot of the scenes that needed special effects at Pinewood Studios, London.

Rahul Roy's first transformation into a tiger still looks scary.

This easily ranks as Roy's best career best performance. You can see he whole heartedly digs his teeth into the role. He looks handsome, mysterious and scary and seems to have put his heart into the performance.

Amongst the rest of the cast, Tom Alter, Homi Wadia and Mushtaq Khan are effective.

The film has a couple of good songs from duo Nadeem-Shravan. The background music score by Viju Shah is another plus point of the film.

Altogether, it makes a very good watch. Gripping, adventurous and scary. Recommended.

One of India's best horror movies ever made

[mrdeezer · 10/10 · 6 November 2012]

It is one of my favorite Horror movies of all time. It was inspired by a Hollywood movie "An American werewolf in London" but the writer of this film added extra thriller and horror and made the story better than the original one. The music of the movie is excellent and the background scene during beginning credits is awesome. I saw this movie when I was just 6-7 years old and then I suffered from insomnia because I thought that I will be transformed into a tiger too in midnight. ha ha. The story is about a college student named Vikram who went for hunting along with his friend Varun in full moon night and got attacked by a cursed tiger and then Vikram became cursed because he killed the beast and transformed into the same in next full moon night.

Fun Tiger Hybrid Flick!

[fuadkhan2002 · 8/10 · 23 January 2020]

Why doesn't Bollywood make movies like this any more? Had me hooked from the very beginning. I love both shapeshifter and wildlife adventure movies. This is both. They should make a part two. Maybe Hritihik Roshan as the new tiger-hybrid with Rahul Roy playing his dad, with gray hair! Funny enough, when they show Pooja Bhatt reading the " Do sau saal purani angrez ki likhi hui kitab" about the tiger legend, she is actually sifting through " Textbook of Obstetrics and Gynecology", showing pictures of the human childbirth process on one page, if you freeze the frame, Lmao!

A Cult Classic!

[marandisumit · 10/10 · 2 July 2023]

Vikram goes on a hunting trip with his friend Arun into the forest on a full moon night. While in the forest, Vikram is warned by a tribesman named Bheema, who tries to persuade him to go back home, stating that the night of the full moon is the cursed tiger's night to hunt. Vikram laughs it off and decided to go after the tiger, not believing that this tiger is the cursed tiger. Arun finds something fishy and asks Vikram to go back. Suddenly it starts raining and the duo have to find a place to stay. Some strange voices were heard by the duo and they find the voices were coming from a den, but as the duo have to find a place to stay in, they decided to enter the den.

The shots fired by Vikram are heard by Harry and the Forest Officer Bhaskar Inamdar, who rush to the spot. There they find Bheema attacking Vikram to kill him. He claims that Vikram has gotten cursed and if he is killed before the curse reaches him, it will save him from a cursed life. Bhaskar, however, transfer Vikram to a hospital in an attempt to save his life.

Later on in the hospital, Vikram's hopes of survival are minimal and he is confirmed dead. The spirit of the tiger then enters Vikram and he returns from the dead, much to the shock and amazement of the doctors. Vikram is treated by Dr. Nita and he begins to like her. As the days go by, Vikram realises that there is an evil present in him. His dead friend's spirit tells him about the cursed tiger and that he himself will become the same beast on the upcoming full moon and every full moon thereafter. His friend also tells Vikram to kill himself, but Vikram refuses.

This movie makes use of morphing, a special effect in which an image changes (or morphs) into another, to transform a human face into a tiger and back from a tiger to a human.

The film's story, casting, acting, direction, music, background score were good, its special effects were good according to that time, I used to get scared watching this movie in my childhood, it is still a cult classic horror for me.

Good horror of 90s

[vibsuster · 10/10 · 11 April 2024]

Now its laughable but was good for that time..Was very scared as a kid...good copy of american werewolf in london. Every time rahul roy came on screen afterwards we thought he is still a tiger inside..Good acting by avinash wadhwan...only thing i noticed now is how did rahul roy's friend die with just a scratch from the tiger..the ending would have been more effective if the half formed tiger tried to catch the two, he was just standing there and getting formed which allowed the hero to stab him with the dagger which was unfair..overall a good movie made without any CGI and experts called from hollywood..

A Nice Try In A New Genre

[shikhkabirul · 8/10 · 18 April 2024]

Junoon Is A Brilliant Try In Comparison To Other Horror Movies In This Time And Despite Being A Weretiger Movie Its A Very New Genre For Bollywood But Vishesh Films Nailed It And The VFX Looks Little Bit Old For Now In Transformation Scenes And The Concept Is Very Good And Songs Are Also Good But The Movie Was Not Able To Give A Scary Experience And In The Last Scene Or We Can Say Climax It Gets A Little Bit Over The Top And VFX After The Transformation Scenes Is Very Good But I Missed One Thing In This Movie Which Is Brutality, After Watching The First Scene I Thought That This Will Be A Brutal Horror Movie.