Veerana: Vengeance of the Vampire (Blu-ray Review)
Director
Tulsi Ramsay, Shyam RamsayRelease Date(s)
1988 (September 9, 2025)Studio(s)
Sai Om Productions (Mondo Macabro)- Film/Program Grade: B-
- Video Grade: B+
- Audio Grade: B+
- Extras Grade: C+
Review
Veerana may be the most Bollywood of the Bollywood Horror films the Ramsays ever made. It’s got song and dance, sexy romance, comedy and one of the most horrifying monsters ever created with tanning bed goggles, wet toilet paper and plastic teeth—and that’s not trying to be an insult, by the way. Opening, as many Bollywood Horrors do, in the past, we meet a high priest of the demon Mahakal—master of all who seek evil in this world. Representing Mahakal is Nakita, a beautiful woman who isn’t quite a vampire, nor is she a witch by any definition I know and isn’t quite a zombie but is in fact all monster when you take off her talisman on a silver bat necklace. Meanwhile, Thakur, the owner of the local sawmill and leader of the village outside of the temple of Mahakal, learns that Nakita has been killing men in the dark woods and people are afraid. Thakur’s brother Sameer decides to hunt the monster down himself. He meets Nakita in human form in the woods, gives her a ride back to her place, seduces her in a bath and afterwards on a hunch I suppose, snatches her bat off her neck and she turns into a monster. Sameer then subdues her with an Aum jewel gifted to him by his brother and Nakita is brought to the village and is hung by her neck until she is dead, dead, dead. Baba and his followers steal Nakita’s body and bring her back to the temple, promising she will live again. A few weeks later, Sameer offers to bring his niece Jasmin back to school, but his car breaks down and he runs back to get water for the radiator. Jasmin, left behind to wait, is found and hypnotized by Baba, brought to the temple and is trapped in a sarcophagus with Nakita’s body where Baba creates a doll wrapped in a locket of Jasmin’s hair placed in a bottle that traps her soul, making her a new vessel for Nakita’s evil spirit. When Sameer finds his niece no longer in the car, he locates the temple, runs inside and is apparently killed by the cult of Mahakal. Baba then brings Jasmin home to her father and tells the family Sameer was killed in a flash flood and Jasmin was found in a comatose state—no one knowing that when she grows up, she will become a monster. Baba is welcomed into the home as a butler of sorts, with revenge against Thakur and his family in his heart. We then pick up 15 years later, when Baba’s very long revenge plan starts to go, with Jasmin as the most beautiful woman in all the land, hungering for the blood of goofy dudes who hit on her and agree to meet her in sketchy places all alone. The cult marks Jasmin’s cousin (Sameer’s daughter) Sahila to be kidnapped and as she returns home on break from college she is saved from that kidnapping by Hemant who quickly becomes her boyfriend after a courtship song and dance. And that’s when the movie starts. Bollywood, gotta love it.
Veerana is a fun film. The monster is a truly creepy design and the fact that it’s a female makes it an interesting entry in the Bollywood Horror oeuvre. The songs and dancing is top notch for the genre and the comedy (mostly provided by comedy legend Satish Shah playing aspiring horror filmmaker Hitchcock and his antics) hits on all cylinders. It’s a fine entry in the Ramsay line.
Like most of the films from Mondo’s Bollywood Horror Boxset that have been individually released, Veerana’s negatives are damaged by water/humidity so there are areas where you can see wear and tear. It’s not too distracting when you know going in, and the restoration makes for an overall good-looking presentation. Video is 1080/24p at a full frame, 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Sound is in Hindi DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 with English subs and it sounds good. Extras include the optional Bollywood Nightmares intro with Tim Paxton fighting with a poster for the Kanti Shaw remake, as well as a trailer for the film.
- Todd Doogan