Bhootnath

I was totally surprised by this movie even though I had watched some of the promos. In a way, this is not a typical BR Chopra film and yet in a way it is - a simple film portraying a simple story.

Anjali Sharma, with her husband, Aditya, who works on cruise liner and their son, move to Goa and when they inform several taxi drivers as to where they want to go, all except one, refuse to take them. Enroute to the house, the driver informs them that the house is haunted and soon Aditya has to go to work, leaving Anjali to set up everything and including sending their son to a nearby school. One night, upon waking up, she sees her son looking for an ice cream bowl that he dropped only moments back. He even tells her that he has seen a ghost. But soon the ghost and the little boy become friends.

The movie stars Amitabh Bachchan, Juhi Chawla, Satish Shah, Rajpal Yadav, Lalit Parasher and both Priyanshu and Shah Rukh Khan make a friendly appearance. This is produced by Ravi Chopra and is directed by Vivek Sharma.

This movie, to an extent, has the echoes of "Baghban" where family drama is concerned and is a good comedy where the friendship between the boy and the ghost, as well as Rajpal Yadav and Satish Shah are concerned. But the friendship between the ghost and the son is more like a relationship between a grandson and grandfather. Besides the director, Vivek Sharma, roping in two of the most popular Bollywood stars, in his directorial debut, what is really interesting the family drama angle of the story - its not just for children as some have suggested or as some think, its also for adults.

The music by Vishal - Shekhar is quite melodious and worth listening and more so when Amitabh sings.

Conclusion: This is one movie that is worth while watching with family, including children. But if a family drama does make you cry, then I suggest you take some tissues with you.

Frankly speaking after some big recent flops, I decided to leave all my expectations at home before watching "Bhoothnath". And what a pleasant and quality surprise it was. Director Vivek Sharma's debut movie is purely as per the tradition of BR films, who believe in simple family dramas told in a sober way. It is not a scary movie at all, but on the contrary it is a loving, emotional family movie, mainly for the kids.

As a cool breeze in the summer, here comes a novel script with a new outlook towards the "Atma" phenomenon. Don't expect a tried and tested formula, as the movie does have some fresh content with an emotional touch. The usual family drama is also there which can be termed as the trademark of BR films. But putting all together you will enjoy watching it with your family, especially with the kids.

The main character of the movie is a 8 year old "Aman Siddiqui" playing "Bonku" who becomes friend with the spirit in his house. Amitabh Bachhan plays the old man (the spirit) living in the house and is visible only to Bonku. The child Aman has given a splendid performance high on confidence. He has delivered an act at par with the veterans. Amitabh Bachhan has again proved that he is the "one & only" in the industry capable of giving such performances at this age. The people who gave comments about his retirement should start searching places to hide after seeing Bhoothnath.

Though the movie starts a little slow but then picks up fast as the spirit is introduced. The first scene of Bonku's interaction with Amitabh is well executed and has excellent special effects. The best scene comes before the interval when Bonku gets injured in an accident. This well written and brilliantly executed scene at once connects you with the key characters and you start enjoying the movie more.

The second half is heavy on emotions, but all the emotions are on the happy side. You enjoy the tears along with the happenings on the screen. The last 20 minutes of the movie are very well written and directed. The director is right on his tracks all the way and does a brilliant job in his first venture. He shows his hold over the medium as he talks to the point and has very less unwanted scenes in the script. It is clear that he doesn't believe in too much style but believes in content told in a simple but impressive way, without any gloss.

Performance wise, no doubt both Aman & Amitabh are at the top of the list. Juhi Chawla is fresh and bubbly as ever. Surprisingly Shahrukh Khan (in special appearance) gives a very soft and underplayed performance and manages to impress in the few scenes he had. There is one under-rated actor in the movie who shines bright in the climax and he is Priyanshu Chatterjee. He is a bundle of talent still waiting for the right opportunity to come his way and he proves this in his small role in the movie. Satish Shah is enjoyable as the School Principal but Rajpal Yadav is completely wasted as a mad man.

The weakest point of the movie is its music by Vishal & Shekhar. This is their second let down in a row after "Tashan". If only they had given some better songs, the movie would have been more enjoyable. Still it was nice to hear Amitabh & Juhi Chawla singing a song. Sukhwinder's voice was perfect in the climax song. And the act by Aman & Amitabh was of first rate in the song "Mere Buddy". They both look very cute together in the Hip –Hop avtar.

In nutshell, "Bhootnath" is an entertaining family movie, with two Amitabh's in it, one 8+ and one 60+. It looses point only due to its music.

I loved it. I was 8 then when I did watch this. nostalgic

BHOOTNATH is a comedy genre movie which has a tragedy as its base. It shows the unfortunate condition of our modern society where children don't want to take the responsibility of their parents in old age similar to Kailash Nath whose son Vijay after studying in America settled there with his wife and avoided his parents. The limit of selfishness crossed when his mother passed away and he came back to India to earn profit by selling his home NATH VILLA. His father didn't allowed so as the memory of his wife Nirmala is attached to this home. This irritates his son and he decided to left him alone there.

Here happens the TRAGEDIC EVENT ,when Kilash run behind Vijay to stop him ,he slipped from stairs and died but his son didn't listened to his last words. Till then his dissatisfied spirit roaming in the home decided that he will never let anyone reside there.

THE TURNING POINT came when there comes a family of BANKU his kitchen-shy mom and slap-happy dad to live in the house. The ghost has the plan of scaring the family away. But he runs into the notorious 7 year old Banku who mistakes the ghost as an angel (named him Bhoothnath) and befriends him. Thereby begin the funny antics of Banku and Bhoothnath. With a mere flick of his finger, Bhoothnath is able to do magical feats, and more so willingly at Banku's command.

The film focuses on the FUNNY ADVENTURES OF THE KID AND THE GHOST until Bhoothnath's past catches up with him.

BHOOTNATH focuses on the POWER OF LOVE & FORGIVENESS which Kailash regains with the friendship of Banku. Kailah forgave his son but got bounded with the love of Banku ,so he didn't get MOKSHA(or SALVATION) & he returned back to him secretly and the movie is "TO BE CONTINUED" waiting for his next part including me and other fans of Big B.

I gave movie 10/10 because it has everything -a lot of FUN ,MORAL ,MAGIC ,FICTION as well as EXCELLENT ACTING by all the characters .It should be seen by all the age-groups.

WOW you should surely buy a DVD of this great movie !!!

At 66 you don't expect an Indian actor to romp in skull Caps, Cargo Pants and Designer goggles.But he does it and carries it off with finesse even while playing a lovable Bhoot(ghost) to an 8 year old..The camaraderie between Amitabh and Aman, the kid,is just so lovable that you wouldn't want this to end and even when your eyes are moist you still would be loving it.. A simple story told in even simpler format by Vivek Sharma touches your strings. The music is okay, so is the cinematography but what stands out is the chemistry between the duo and its fun to see an 8 year old standing and matching shoulders with the greatest actor of all times..But, in any case it's a movie worth watching this summer and might provide for some good lessons on forgiveness. As for parents, watch out for the athletic meet scene where Amitabh explains that success can be achieved only by hard work and not magic- A good lesson to be learnt...And yeah Juhi Chawla is good and so is Shahrukh Khan who is there for a few scenes..

Go watch this at least its far better than the so called mindless movies dished out..Do take a few tissues with you..You might just need them but wouldn't mind nevertheless..