Bhoothnath

Director: Vivek Sharma
Producer: Ravi Chopra
Starring: Amitabh Bachchan, Juhi Chawla, Shahrukh Khan, Aman Siddiqui, Priyanshu Chatterjee, Rajpal Yadav, Satish Shah
Lyrics: Javed Akhtar
 

Ghosts in Bollywood have come a long way. A decade back no one could have thought of Super Star of India Cinema Amitabh Bachchan playing a ghost in a Hindi film. But, first Vikram Bhatt's 'Raaz' and then Ram Gopal Varma's 'Bhoot' changed the status of spooky films in Bollywood.

These two films uplifted the status of horror films in Mumbai film industry and the audience started thinking that someone other than Ramsay Brothers could also make entertaining horror films and that too with a list actors. Change in the people's perception is such that Shah Rukh Khan played a ghost in 'Paheli' and tried to reach Oscars.

Similarly, Salman Khan plays a ghost and tickles your ribs and so also Amitabh Bachchan plays a ghost and makes your kids go roller coaster. In between these acts other a list actors like Vivek Oberoi, Isha Koppikar and Esha Deol too played smart ghosts in films like 'Darma Mana Hai', 'Krishna Cottage' and 'Darling', respectively.

But, Master of Ghosts, 'Bhoothnath' is not a scary creature in that reference. He is more linked to Jackie Shroff in 'Bhooth Uncle'. 'Bhoothnath' is not a horror film, but is a bonanza for your kids in this summer vacation.

Director Vivek Sharma is lucky enough to get not one but two super stars -- Amitabh and Shah Rukh Khan, and that too in his debut film and he has not let this golden opportunity slip from his palms. Good work!

'Bhoothnath' is basically a story that we used to listen in our childhood days from our grannies and the winning point for Vivek in this film is that he has made it a point to stick to the basic soul of not only his story but to his narration style as well.

There are no major special effects; no background score gimmicks and no major masks or getups. The story is about a relationship between a kid Banku (Aman Siddiqui) and his friend Kailash Nath (Amitabh Bachchan). Banku finds himself in a totally alien place when their parents (Juhi Chawla and Shah Rukh Khan) shift to a new place in Goa.

The place has not been in use for years as the people in the locality have coined it as a haunted house. Banku encounters the so-called spirit living in this haunted house but is unshaken.

With every incident of horror, Banku's confidence in himself grows and with that also grows a relationship between him and Kailash Nath. This relationship is for fun, for time pass and for sheer enjoyment of lonely moments.

Kids will love them. But the story takes a very emotional turn, when news breaks that Kailsah Nath's son has decided to see the house. What starts as a fun changes into a melodrama soon and the viewers fall in the trap that Vivek Sharma lays for them from the very first scene of the film.

The film that takes off like any other horror film soon amalgamates into a saga of bonding. Did I use the term Saga? Yes, 'Bhootnath' is a saga but minus its due share of musical scores.

'Bhootnath' could have been a super duper hit, if there were even few songs to catch attention of kids. I still remember the 'lakdi ki kathi, kathi pe ghoda' song from 'Masoom', or many more songs like 'Ichak dana beechak dana', "Nani teri morni ko chor le gaye' or 'Railgadi' song sung by Ashok Kumar till date.

Somewhere somehow we have got detached from the psyche of childhood and the result is seen in films like 'Bhoothnath'. Vishal Shekhar who are otherwise known for their sync with current generation, are totally lost in this film.

A good film becomes better just by its music, and 'Bhoothnath' being a better film ends up being an average just because it has no music support . Vishal Shekhar must take a break from their hectic work and go for some long vacation; their creativity seems to have vapored out. They need to sit silently and let the new thoughts come in. Else, films like this will suffer a lot in future.

As a debutant, Vivek Sharma has shown immense confidence in his subject and it is his conviction that makes him wade through strong waters of managing such a huge star cast. And also credit goes to a producer like Ravi Chopra who not only agreed with the conviction of a new director but also got him his dream cast.

Bollywood needs more producers like Ravi to make the changing face of Indian cinema get a more identifiable image world over. Aditya Chopra can learn a lesson from his cousin Ravi, stars do work for a film, but it will sustain the pressures of box office only if it has good content to rely on.

Amitabh Bachchan keeps on coming up with surprises -- surprises of making a character like Gabbar look so timid in 'Ram Gopal Varma Ki Aag' and surprise of making a character like Kailash Nath so lovable.

His bag of experiments still has some more to come out with. And, if Aman Siddiqui could really understand as to who this Amitabh is, with whom he is sharing the frame, he would have never been able to give such memorable performance.

There is not even a single sign on Aman's face in any scene that he is working with The Super Star. Juhi and SRK who just come in to oblige friend Ravi Chopra end up doing some good job, and Raj Pal Yadav, who was called in to do his job has once again proved that his days are over in the film industry. He needs to really resurrect himself before he follows the Johny Lever path.

On the whole, 'Bhoothnath' is a good film to pass this weekend with your kids.