Movie: Bhoothnath Returns
Director: Nitesh Tiwari
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Parth Bhalerao, Usha Jadhav, Boman Irani, Anurag Kashyap and Sanjay Mishra
Rating: ***
Children on screen can either look the spontaneous manifestations that you long to watch for or be the sad fabricated cinematic caricature directors want them to model into. Bhootnath, as foolish as its actual theme might sound, managed to achieve a fine balance between being a ghost-comedy and a complete kid-friendly result. Bhootnath Returns extends the stay of the ghost on earth, specifically in India, now in a political milieu and still strives to be a simplistic continuation, involving the younger lot as a driving force to tell its story. As outrageous as you might want to dismiss Bhootnath Returns’ plot and equally applaud its attempt to drive some change into the minds of a viewer, the truth happens to be that its soul diminishes at the cost of political overdose and melodrama which aren’t aspects that its target audience are likely to appreciate him for.
The film commences on a shaky note with Amitabh Bachchan’s fabricated voice-over, elaborating on how a ghost-like world actually exists. This takes us to the character Kailashnath who now lands up at Dharavi to be visible only to a free-spirited child Akrot whose arrogance masks his naĂŻve hopes and desires that any counterpart of his age would have. Kailashnath proves that he’s a ghost wanting to do good and is devoid of all the notorious intentions that souls like him generally possess. This is nothing different from what its prequel set out to do, but for the slum setting. Giving it a liberty that it is a sequel, the conversations between the poles-apart characters, for a while, frees you off its follies. They share an unconventional bond and the ravishing confidence of the child actor Parth Bhalerao works in its favour. The duo solves all ghost-related conflicts and the child makes a living out of it.
But, there the problems begin. The director treads the preachy path and turns desperate to underline the film as a socially significant one. Next arriving into the scene is the corrupt politico Bhav. Out of nowhere, there’s a documentary condensed into a song which showcases the supposed hapless of the nation which they want to change. It’s so out-of-place that it is a clear admission from the writer’s table to have run out of ideas to revamp Bhootnath as a national savior. As you get over it though, there’s consistent humor to get this political flavor going. It’s surprising that whenever you would want to write off the film to be a disappointment, there’s something that gets you hooked to the happenings. The consistent political satires in a way add weight to the namesake setting. For a matter of fact, the voting campaigns, speeches and those debates that Boman Irani and Amitabh have are incredible individual pieces.
The grass-root details and flaws of the system are revealed with enough subtlety too that you’re almost convinced of a ghost’s authority to contest an election. However, keeping the facts aside, you never really know the direction to which the film’s heading. The intentions are multifarious in number and this is a space that neither kids nor grown-ups want a film to be in. The tone transforms a tad regularly to keep a viewer constantly interested. It is sadly a melodrama too for the larger part of the climactic sequences.
Amitabh Bachchan’s lines aren’t as free-flowing as you expect him to deliver. You can blame that for the attention that Parth demands. There’s not a touch of a method in his act. He lives through the part and moulds his character as the most lovable one in the film. Boman Irani is terrific in his stereotyped portions that show his vulnerability and wile in addition to Sanjay Mishra who puts up a good show as well. Bhootnath Returns has intermittent instances of absolute sparkle with utmost credits to the cast. Just wished there was more heart and shorter lectures about politics and simplification for a children’s film.
Review by Srivathsan N, who had originally written it for Cinegoer.net
