Bhoothnath Returns is a combination of an interesting first-half and a sluggish second-half. I also have a problem with the length and the editing of the film; what could be said in two hours was stretched unnecessarily for an additional 35 minutes.
Bhoothnath Returns is a combination of an interesting first-half and a sluggish second-half. I also have a problem with the length and the editing of the film; what could be said in two hours was stretched unnecessarily for an additional 35 minutes. Parth Bhalerao is inarguably the dynamite of the film; he mouths those ‘tapori-esque’ dialogues with such great effortlessness. He entertains, he makes you go all affectionately awww…and displays a great sense of maturity onscreen; he portrays the kind of guy who has learnt the lessons of life a little too early, and blame the circumstances and the abysmal state of the country for that where providing basic education to their kids is a mammoth task for a lot of parents out there.
The movie starts off with Amitabh Bachchan entering the castle-like bhoothworld, which despite its old-world charm and serene atmosphere turns out have a main administration, which operates at a snail’s pace just like the typical government offices on earth. As Big B canvases the area, he realises that people are sneering and jeering at him. From beady-eyed aunties to uncles with toothy grins, everyone is laughing at him for not being able to scare a single kid down there on earth. To save himself all this disgrace, the cool bhooth that Big B is – he decides to go back to prithvi and scare at least a bunch of smart-ass kids to earn the same ‘spick and span’ untarnished reputation that a ‘bhooth’ in bhoothworld must have. But the amusing turn of events forces Big B to extend his stay longer than usual. After he meets the only kid who can see him, he gets involved and tangled in a series of events and situations. The Bhooth, who had just come to frighten a couple of kids, suddenly harbours a wish to contest the elections and all this happens after he meets his partner-in-some-interesting-crimes…Akhrot, who’s ‘bahar se sakht aur andar se naram’ – that’s how the kid introduces himself.
As Big B gears up to fight the elections in full force along with the sinister Boman Irani (Bhau), there’s this very interesting line he says while talking to the media in one of the scenes – ‘Ab main bhooth nahi bhavishya hoon’ – Kudos to the scriptwriter for thinking of that. Boman is despicable to the core in the movie. But he also manages to give you the giggles in certain scenes. For some reason, he is the only actor in the industry whose hamming doesn’t irritate me.
The film releases at the right time, synchronizing with the real world election brouhaha, inspiring people to cast their votes and take the issue of choosing their leader very seriously. Even Shahrukh, Ranbir and Anurag Kashyap make special appearances in the film to give the much needed boost to the cause. But the sole reason I saw the film was because I loved Chillar Party to the hilt and I was convinced that Nitesh Tiwari can’t go wrong with this once, he’s an expert in making a kiddie film. But something did go wrong unfortunately. For a moment it also felt like I am watching a longer version of a public service advertisement, which just refuses to end. The smile, the feeling of pathos, the amusing grin – none of it came naturally to me, it had to be forced. Despite awe-inspiring performances by Parth, Big B, Sanjay Mishra, Boman and a string of strong character actors – this film bored me to death!
