Reviewed by Bhargav Saikia
Entertain yourself, watch Bhoothnath!
Bhoothnath is a pleasant relief from all the nonsense we've been seeing on the big screen lately. A tale about an unlikely relationship between a deceased grandfather played by Mr. Bachchan and a young boy named Banku played by Aman Siddiqui, Bhoothnath to some extent offers something we can finally cheer about.
I won't go into the details of the plot but you can be rest assured that Bhoothnath isn't your formulaic Bollywood love story. The pre-intermission half has been made very well. The introduction of Bhoothnath and his initial interactions with Banku are immensely enjoyable. Mr. Bachchan's portrayal of the title character is nothing short of brilliant and special brownie points to the young Aman Siddiqui for a such a confident performance. He reminded me of last year's terrific revelation, Darsheel Safary. Post intermission, the plot focuses on Bhoothnath's past and somewhat takes form of a traditional B.R. Films family drama but fortunately the director has handled it well and with Mr Bachchan's engaging screen presence and some solid emotional moments, it is fairly entertaining. What I felt lacking in the writing are the half baked characters played by Rajpal Yadav and Satish Shah. We have seen a similar Shah playing a Principal in Main Hoon Na where he was absolutely hilarious but in Bhoothnath he just doesn't get it quite right. No fault of his, he is a brilliant actor, the writing does all the harm. Rajpal Yadav as the drunkard Anthony disappears without a warning to nowhere. Had his role been sketched out more carefully, a few more laughs were guaranteed in the first half. Pity the writers were ignorant. Juhi Chawla as Banku's mother, plays her part well and Shahrukh Khan in the special appearance makes sure all eyes are on him when he is on screen! Priyanshu Chatterjee is average in a brief role. Nauheed Cyrusi and Ashish Chaudhury too make guest appearances at the very beginning. One word of advice, Ashish Choudhury needs some hardcore acting lessons. He's still with his irritating Dhamaal hangover.
Technically, the film is top notch. It's good to see some 'proper' special effects in an Indian film after a very long time. Special effects in films like Tashan and Jab We Met were bad enough to raise a few laughs, but Bhoothnath gets it right. Cinematography is good, some scenes have been shot brilliantly. Editing is fair but the scissors should have been used to cut out a few unnecessary songs like Mere Buddy, which could have been instead in the closing credits. Choreography by Remo and the very talented Vaibhavi Merchant is their usual best. Banku Bhaiyya is a fun watch! All that said, what's really disappointing is the music score by Vishal Shekhar. Not that the music is downright poor, but the audience expects better work from such a popular composer trio. Background score works well and sound design by Rakesh Ranjan is superb yet again.
Debutante director, Vivek Sharma, does well for a first film. He shows good balance between storytelling and its techincal aspects. The film was in the making for almost two years and his dedication is evident in the final product. It'll be interesting to note his next attempt considering Bhoothnath is a fairly brave effort.
Overall, Bhoothnath is a film you should watch with your family and have a good time at the cinema. It isn't path breaking cinema, but at a time when you get films as poor as Krazzy 4, Black & White etc. etc., Bhoothnath is a refreshing change from the usual mess. This one is definitely worth your hard earned money. Highly recommended!
CREDITS
Directed by Vivek Sharma
Produced by Ravi Chopra for B.R. Films
Genre Comedy/Family/Drama
Running Time 2hrs 45 mins
Featuring Amitabh Bachchan, Aman Siddiqui, Juhi Chawla, Priyanshu Chatterjee, Rajpal Yadav, Satish Shah & Shahrukh Khan (special appearance)
Original Soundtrack by Vishal Shekhar, Salim Sulaiman
Lyrics by Javed Akhtar
Background Score by Salim Sulaiman
Sound Design by Rakesh Ranjan
Release Date - May 9, 2008
The Last Word: Anurag Basu needs to think over his comment on Mr. Bachchan again. You won't find a more versatile actor like Mr. Bachchan in mainstream cinema. With every film, he's experimenting and just take a look at his expressions, screen presence, dialogue delivery and what not! To me he's the pinnacle of Indian cinema. It's an act of irresponsibility to say publicly that he should retire from films. There's much more AB to come, that's for sure!
