Bhoothnath Returns Review: Mockingly Good

Director: Nitesh Tiwari
Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani, Anurag Kashyap, Parth Bhalerao. Cameos by Shahrukh Khan and Ranbir Kapoor
Music: Ram Sampath, Palash Muchhal, Meet Bros Anjjan, Yo Yo Honey Singh
Rating: 3.5/5

Little guy Akhrot (Parth Bhalerao), a street smart lad who can see Bhoothnath due to some ‘techincal galti‘ of the Bhoot World exclaims:

“India mein trailer hit to picture superhit”

I think the vice-versa works for Bhoothnath Returns. While the trailer to the sequel of Bhoothnath (2008) wasn’t actually great, the film turned out to be an absolute treat.

Kailash Nath / Bhoothnath (Amitabh Bachchan) after his adventurous time with Banku leaves for the Bhoot world. Surprisingly, he is an infamous personality in the Bhooth World as he failed to even scare off a little kid.

The working department helps him save face from the embarrassment and he is sent back to earth so that he can scare a few kids and clear off his name.

He gets back to earth and as the friendly good-guy ghost he is, he befriends a witty and smart kid who not only mocks Bollywood quite a few times, he also shows great caliber and personality in deciding what’s right and what’s wrong.

Bhoothnath and Akhrot decide to crack one big deal

He doesn’t believe in taking the wrong way and takes up his honest self with the help of the friendly Bhoot and helps his mother get rid of the constant jibber jabber of the loud landlord.

Bhoothnath and Akhrot decide to crack one big deal after which Akhrot will make 20 lakh rupees and will be settled, saying goodbye to the helping ghost. However, certain things lead them off and they decide to take a stand against the corrupt politician Jamez (Boman Irani). They device a plan of electing ‘Bhoothnath’ for the election campaign against the menacing and dangerous Jamez.

The plot is fictitious and a bit convoluted, I wouldn’t disagree that it has a few loopholes but what’s surprising is the film manages to be perfectly grounded throughout, making it not only entertaining but a thrill ride.

The film not only jokes, mocks the present situation, it manages to bring out political loopholes and corruption issues which most of the wannabe political thrillers (including Bachchanji’s ‘Aarakhshan’) didn’t manage to show.

Boman Irani, as the corrupt politician was convincing and hateful, he never ceases to amuse me with his versatility.

The things which stand out are firstly, the brilliant writing by Nitesh Tiwari and Piyush Gupta. They manage to showcase every possible aspect of what’s wrong with today’s youth and why are wrong people elected. They manage to show us why corruption still prevails in our country.

At one point in the movie Bachchan Saab says:

“Elections main humein usseh vote dena chaiye jo humein accha lagta hai, par hum vote usse dete hain jo thoda kam bura hota hai.” (In the elections, we should ideally vote for the person we like most, but we end up voting for the one who is a little less bad than the others).

I couldn’t do anything but admire at the writing and the flair with which they manage to bring out small things which are constantly talked about on every single social networking site and every other discussion board but is never spoken out loud to the larger audience.

I’ll give Nitesh Tiwari props for at least trying. The film drifts a bit in the second half and loses a bit of it’s pacing which was shown in the energetic first half, but it never gets out of hand. The issues raised are genuine and quite frankly true to each and every word.

I read some critics had some problems with the climax, calling it a wee bit over the top. I beg to differ. I had goosebumps while Sanjay Mishra and Amitabh Saab discussed about the two outcomes of the elections, pretty much like the two sides of a coin. Even though the movie has a happy ending it was both beautiful and powerful.

Amitabhji owns the film, with his power-packed and energetic performances he served both the kids and the adult audience equally. This was his best since R. Balki’s ‘Paa’.

Amitabhji owns the film, with his power-packed and energetic performance

Boman Irani, as the corrupt politician was convincing and hateful, he never ceases to amuse me with his versatility. Sanjay Mishra has a small role, but after ‘Aankhon Dekhi’ I have a new found respect for that guy, what an artist he is!

However, the real star here is the little guy Parth Bhalerao. He is a definite find. I just hope he gets better roles like this one in the future, else he would end up being a one film wonder like Darsheel Safary.

The movie has 3 smart cameos from Shahrukh Khan, Anurag Kashyap and Ranbir Kapoor. Even though they are big names they play an essential part here. Props to the direction, writing and the screenplay.

The film would have done wonders with crispier editing in the second half. The music was surprisingly good and Hitesh Sonik’s background score plays a very essential part of uplifting this film to a great extent.

Final Verdict: Not only is ‘Bhootnath Returns’ better than the prequel, it’s emotionally jarring, immensely thought provoking and profoundly entertaining. Go Watch It !

Shikhar Verma is a Member of Moviemaniacs Facebook Group. The opinions shared by the reviewers are their personal opinions and does not reflect the collective opinion of Moviemaniacs Facebook Group or Learning and Creativity emagazine. 

Dharavi Rap in Bhoothnath Returns

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Shikhar Verma ( 1 Post)

Shikhar Verma is a Movie Critic at JAM Magazine. Lives, eats and smokes Movies. Blogs at God's Unwanted Children
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