# Junoon (जुनून) (1992 film)
**Junoon** (जुनून; also known in English as *Obsession*) is a 1992 Hindi-language horror thriller directed by [Mahesh Bhatt](https://www.edgepedia.org/mahesh-bhatt) and produced by Mukesh Bhatt for Vishesh Films, in which a man cursed by a tiger transforms into a man-eating tiger on every full moon night.[1](https://boxofficeindia.com/cast_crew.php?movieid=5847) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156658) It stars [Rahul Roy](https://www.edgepedia.org/rahul-roy) as Vikram Chauhan, Pooja Bhatt as Dr. Nita, and Avinash Wadhavan as Ravi, with music by the duo Nadeem-Shravan.[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156658)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | 18 September 1992 (India), Hindi, horror thriller[1](https://boxofficeindia.com/cast_crew.php?movieid=5847) |
| Director / producer | Mahesh Bhatt / Mukesh Bhatt, Vishesh Films[1](https://boxofficeindia.com/cast_crew.php?movieid=5847) |
| Lead cast | Rahul Roy (Vikram Chauhan), Pooja Bhatt (Dr. Nita), Avinash Wadhavan (Ravi)[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156658) |
| Music | Nadeem-Shravan; lyrics by Sameer and Surendra Sathi[1](https://boxofficeindia.com/cast_crew.php?movieid=5847) |
| Runtime | 122 minutes per Box Office India; 123 minutes per IMDb and Cinemaazi[1](https://boxofficeindia.com/cast_crew.php?movieid=5847) • [3](https://www.cinemaazi.com/film/junoon-1) |
| Censor certificate | CBFC 'A' (adults only), certificate A-2083-MUM, dated 27 July 1992[3](https://www.cinemaazi.com/film/junoon-1) |
| IMDb rating | 5.6/10 from about 775 user votes[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156658/ratings/) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
The story begins on a full moon night (puranmashi ki raat), when a villager, Bhima ([Mushtaq Khan](https://www.edgepedia.org/mushtaq-khan)), warns Vikram (Rahul Roy) and his friend Arun (Bhushan Patel) against hunting in the forest, where the ghost of a dead tiger prowls on full moon nights; anyone who survives an attack by it becomes a tiger himself by the next full moon.[5](https://www.ottplay.com/features/30-years-of-mahesh-bhatts-junoon-a-cursed-weretiger-and-a-magical-dagger/a19b967ddd830) The tiger kills Arun and mauls Vikram, who survives and is admitted to a city hospital where the young doctor Nita ([Pooja Bhatt](https://www.edgepedia.org/pooja-bhatt)) treats him.[3](https://www.cinemaazi.com/film/junoon-1)
Vikram becomes obsessed with Nita, who is in love with the struggling musician Ravi (Avinash Wadhawan). Vikram secretly ensures that Ravi misses the couple's planned elopement; the heartbroken Nita then agrees to marry Vikram.[5](https://www.ottplay.com/features/30-years-of-mahesh-bhatts-junoon-a-cursed-weretiger-and-a-magical-dagger/a19b967ddd830) The wedding night falls on a full moon: Vikram leaves his bride, transforms into a tiger, and kills. Each night he disappears and kills, and bizarre murders spread panic in the city.[3](https://www.cinemaazi.com/film/junoon-1)
Nita eventually locks Vikram in a room and watches him change into a tiger. Ravi believes her, but the police do not. The forest officer Harry ([Tom Alter](https://www.edgepedia.org/tom-alter)), versed in local folklore, explains that shooting the weretiger would only pass on the curse, and tells them of a goddess's dagger in a cave that can end it.[5](https://www.ottplay.com/features/30-years-of-mahesh-bhatts-junoon-a-cursed-weretiger-and-a-magical-dagger/a19b967ddd830) In the climax, as Vikram is mid-transformation, Nita throws the dagger to Ravi, who kills the weretiger and ends the curse.[5](https://www.ottplay.com/features/30-years-of-mahesh-bhatts-junoon-a-cursed-weretiger-and-a-magical-dagger/a19b967ddd830)
## Production and special effects
The film was written by [Robin Bhatt](https://www.edgepedia.org/robin-bhatt) and Sujit Sen (story, screenplay, and dialogue), shot by cinematographer Pravin Bhatt, and edited by Zafar and Dilip Kotalgi.[3](https://www.cinemaazi.com/film/junoon-1) Shooting locations included Film City, Filmalaya, Seth Studios, Mayur Mahal, Bhalla Bunglow, and [Mahabaleshwar](https://www.edgepedia.org/mahabaleshwar).[3](https://www.cinemaazi.com/film/junoon-1)
**Transformation effects.** A Hindustan Times retrospective notes that the film followed a familiar formula, man hunts on a forbidden full-moon night, kills a tiger, and becomes one, and that the one difference was the transformation sequence, achieved with the help of special effects experts from Hollywood, led by Ken Diaz, whose other credits include *The Mask of Zorro* and *Erin Brockovich*, with assistance from Jay Arthur Wegeve and Michelcary.[6](https://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/horror-movies-are-back-and-how/story-icJLxgJwNMY6bQ9OV80x2I.html) Moviebuff's trivia records that the morphing sequence alone cost 6 million rupees (60 lakh rupees).[7](https://www.moviebuff.com/junoon-1992-hindi) IMDb's trivia describes the film as a remake of the 1981 Oscar-winning *An American Werewolf in London* and of *Cat People*.[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156658) A 2022 OTTplay retrospective by Saritha Rao Rayachoti argues that Junoon adapted that Hollywood model for Indian audiences, keeping the curse backstory, a weretiger instead of a werewolf, family-values sentiment, and Nadeem-Shravan songs as breathers in a serious drama, while raising production values above the Ramsay Brothers' low-budget horror formula.[5](https://www.ottplay.com/features/30-years-of-mahesh-bhatts-junoon-a-cursed-weretiger-and-a-magical-dagger/a19b967ddd830)
## Music
The soundtrack, composed by Nadeem-Shravan with lyrics by Sameer, Surendra Sathi, Rani Malik, and [Santosh Anand](https://www.edgepedia.org/santosh-anand), contained 11 songs sung by, among others, [Anuradha Paudwal](https://www.edgepedia.org/anuradha-paudwal), Kumar Sanu, S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, Vipin Sachdeva, and Kavita Paudwal.[8](https://www.zoomtventertainment.com/hindi/bollywood-news/mahesh-bhatt-film-junoon-1992-rahul-roy-horror-story-article-156250116) The music company was Super Cassettes Industries (T-Series).[3](https://www.cinemaazi.com/film/junoon-1)
## Reception and legacy
On IMDb the film holds a rating of 5.6/10 from roughly 775 votes, with one award nomination recorded.[4](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156658/ratings/) • [2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156658) The Hindustan Times retrospective places 1992 as a strong year for Bollywood horror, naming Junoon and [Ram Gopal Varma](https://www.edgepedia.org/ram-gopal-varma)'s *Raat* as the two films of that year that made the grade, while judging neither story especially original.[6](https://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/horror-movies-are-back-and-how/story-icJLxgJwNMY6bQ9OV80x2I.html) The film is referenced in [Amar Kaushik](https://www.edgepedia.org/amar-kaushik)'s 2022 werewolf comedy *Bhediya*, which OTTplay credits to Junoon's having bridged, thirty years earlier, the gap between the Ramsay Brothers' style and the Hollywood werewolf genre.[2](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156658) • [5](https://www.ottplay.com/features/30-years-of-mahesh-bhatts-junoon-a-cursed-weretiger-and-a-magical-dagger/a19b967ddd830)
Streaming availability has been intermittent: the film streamed on Google Play Movies and the Apple TV Store from August 2017 until December 2022, and was subsequently unavailable to stream in India.[9](https://www.justwatch.com/in/movie/junoon)
## References
1. [Junoon, Box Office India](https://boxofficeindia.com/cast_crew.php?movieid=5847)
2. [Junoon (1992), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156658)
3. [Junoon (1992) - Movie Details, Cinemaazi](https://www.cinemaazi.com/film/junoon-1)
4. [Junoon (1992) - Ratings, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0156658/ratings/)
5. [30 years of Mahesh Bhatt's Junoon - A cursed weretiger and a magical dagger, OTTplay (Saritha Rao Rayachoti, 2022)](https://www.ottplay.com/features/30-years-of-mahesh-bhatts-junoon-a-cursed-weretiger-and-a-magical-dagger/a19b967ddd830)
6. [Horror movies are back, and how!, Hindustan Times (2010)](https://www.hindustantimes.com/bollywood/horror-movies-are-back-and-how/story-icJLxgJwNMY6bQ9OV80x2I.html)
7. [Junoon on Moviebuff.com](https://www.moviebuff.com/junoon-1992-hindi)
8. [34 years of Mahesh Bhatt's 'Junoon', Zoom TV (Hindi)](https://www.zoomtventertainment.com/hindi/bollywood-news/mahesh-bhatt-film-junoon-1992-rahul-roy-horror-story-article-156250116)
9. [Junoon streaming: where to watch movie online?, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/in/movie/junoon)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Indian films (individual works) › Hindi films of the 1990s › Action and thriller films › Released 1990 to 1995*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 3, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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