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Cast:
Amitabh Bachchan, Juhi Chawla, Rajpal Yadav, |
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Tejas, Satish Shah, Aman Siddiqui |
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Special Appearance:
Rajpal Yadav, Shah Rukh Khan |
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Banner:
B.R. Films |
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Story:
Rajaatesh Nayar, Shashikant Verma |
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Year:
2008 |
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Music:
Vishal Shekhar |
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Lyrics:
Javed Akhtar |
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Presenter: Indian Films |
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Producer:
Ravi Chopra |
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Director:
Vivek Sharma |
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We've grown up watching Bachchan do a lot in his own
inimitable way, and funny faces -- be it as a drunkard, an
English-ignorant bumpkin, or a paan-chewing inspector --
have been a large part of that repertoire. Therefore, while
it is more than a trifle saddening to see him in roles that
really demand nothing more than a perfunctory performance --
and standard issue face-pulling -- the makers of Bhootnath
can at least rest assured that they have the best actor for
the part. |
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They don't have much else, however. Vivek Sharma's
directorial debut starts off 'sweetly' enough, and
once you realise that Bhoothnath is a kids' film
that isn't even trying to be anything else, the
unspectacular first half pretty much works. All is
likeable enough right till the third act, where the
movie abruptly and unapologetically turns into the
kind of handkerchief-friendly melodrama-fest we have
come to associate with BR Films of late.
So we go from a movie only for kids to a movie that
kids |
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wouldn't
watch unless they were bribed with action figures.
Juhi ChawlaThe film's leading lad is a natural enough young
fellow called Aman Siddiqui, who plays local mischief-maker
Banku. Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla play his parents, who
have just rented a Goa bungalow, and while Daddy dear works
on a cruise liner, Mommy has her hands full force-feeding
Banku breakfast and unpacking the furniture on her own
because no bai would venture close to the place: it's
haunted, you see. After many sets of lips wag about these
haunted rumours of Nath Villa, Banku confronts his mother
with The Ghost Question. There are no ghosts, she says,
before filling his head with some good-natured malarkey
about angels. Sure enough, Banku comes face to face with a
ghost and stoically refuses to accept it. (Between rationale
and what ma says, the latter wins, every time). |
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The rest of the film is predictably about this kid
and the dynamic he develops with this ghost, with
this angel who needs a manicure. And while there is
absolutely nothing you haven't seen before in
innumerable films like Blackbeard's Ghost -- and a
gag involving school principal Satish Shah is even
borrowed from Bruce Almighty -- both Grizzled Old
Ghost and Easily-Angered Young Man play their parts
with warmth and gusto and, in Bachchan's case, even
grace. |
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Be warned, however, those over 10. These are times
when we're used to geniuses taking on children's films, like
Tim Burton and Vishal Bhardwaj or those marvellous Pixar
maniacs, all ensuring there's enough in the story and the
telling to keep non-children of every age involved. This,
then, comes as a simpler, sillier film, one that doesn't
have levels or in-jokes or references to more than is
clearly evident. Not that there's anything wrong with that.
The
problems, as mentioned, arise in the film's third act, where
we suddenly confront Bachchan's life, and flashbackingly
start ruminating on not just his death, but delve into an
entirely needless backstory involving his wife, his
neglectful son and lots more claptrap -- 'from the makers of
Baabul,' you see -- that all seems contrived because the
director has realised that Priyanshu Chatterjee looks
convincingly enough like a young Bachchan to play his son.
Rajpal Yadav and Satish ShahIn sum,
Bhoothnath is more than a bit of a drag, despite the lead
players trying hard to make it stick. |
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The rest are just okay: Satish Shah makes
white-bread sandwiches look yummy, Rajpal
Yadav appears to be playing himself, a
simpering Shah Rukh Khan looks like he's
just bid Knight Riders players Brandon
McCullum and Ricky Ponting goodbye, but it
is Juhi Chawla that onetime mistress of
misfits, an on-screen comedienne without
compare -- whose performance ends up as the
most laboured one, one that in conjunction
with the film's abrupt heavy-handedness,
lethally drags Bhoothnath's, um, spirit,
down. |
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Siddiqui himself is quite good, sparring
amusingly with the old ghost and doing immensely well in the
film's penultimate scene, on a rooftop. As for the ghost
himself, here isn't much to say but that director Vivek
Sharma is a lucky man: for Amitabh doesn't just pull a face,
he often saves it. Or at least he tries. |
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