<p>Bhoothnath Returns<br />Hindi (U) *<br />Director: Nitesh Tiwari<br />Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani, Parth Bhalerao, Sanjay Mishra, Usha Jadhav<br /><br />You expect the film to be good when its makers utilise good acting, dialogues, story-telling and music to develop a good premise to have you hooked within the first 20-25 minutes. </p>.<p>The achievement appears bigger considering that the this has happened without a single vulgar act or a topic that requires maturity to understand.<br /><br />Then again, director Nitesh Tiwari is nothing new to this type of filmmaking: He had viewers impressed through most of Chillar Party, with beautifully developed characters, sterling performances and sparkling dialogue.<br /><br />But while Chillar Party was an all-out children's film—which let the audience forgive a few lapses—Bhoothnath Returns loses sight of its target audience after those promising initial minutes. What starts off as another “spirit”-ed adventure turns ghastly fast, and by the time it all ends, the novelty factor melts away like an apparition as soon as the lights are turned back on.<br /><br />It begins with the original Bhoothnath (Amitabh Bachchan) being made fun of by the other ghosts for having failed to scare a child (as we saw in the original film). So, the top boss in “Bhoot-world”, the afterlife office where people go to be reincarnated, allows him to return to Earth to salvage his honour by scaring some more children. Our otherwise-friendly ghost manages to do that, but only with the help of tough-outside-soft-inside Akhrot (Parth Bhalerao). So, he decides to help him and his mother (Usha Jadhav) out. <br /><br />A few comic capers later, the duo runs into corrupt politico Bhausaheb (Boman Irani), and decides to topple him by contesting elections, aided by probably the most hare-brained lawyers ever (Sanjay Mishra). It is after this point in the film that the narrative fast devolves into the crooked-politician-versus-hapless-common-man story, and never recovers. And even as you expect a very strong climax and a satisfactory resolution after quite a bit of meandering, Tiwari delivers what can best be described as the Election Commission's voting propaganda! <br /><br />The audience is forced to leave the hall with a keen sense of disappointment on all fronts, especially after hopes went up after a very strong start. There is little good to write in praise of Bhoothnath Returns, and without the few just-average performances it boasts of, it's not worth watching, even for the kids! For, who wants their kids to keep mum about a death threat when speaking about it could have made a world of difference?</p>
<p>Bhoothnath Returns<br />Hindi (U) *<br />Director: Nitesh Tiwari<br />Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani, Parth Bhalerao, Sanjay Mishra, Usha Jadhav<br /><br />You expect the film to be good when its makers utilise good acting, dialogues, story-telling and music to develop a good premise to have you hooked within the first 20-25 minutes. </p>.<p>The achievement appears bigger considering that the this has happened without a single vulgar act or a topic that requires maturity to understand.<br /><br />Then again, director Nitesh Tiwari is nothing new to this type of filmmaking: He had viewers impressed through most of Chillar Party, with beautifully developed characters, sterling performances and sparkling dialogue.<br /><br />But while Chillar Party was an all-out children's film—which let the audience forgive a few lapses—Bhoothnath Returns loses sight of its target audience after those promising initial minutes. What starts off as another “spirit”-ed adventure turns ghastly fast, and by the time it all ends, the novelty factor melts away like an apparition as soon as the lights are turned back on.<br /><br />It begins with the original Bhoothnath (Amitabh Bachchan) being made fun of by the other ghosts for having failed to scare a child (as we saw in the original film). So, the top boss in “Bhoot-world”, the afterlife office where people go to be reincarnated, allows him to return to Earth to salvage his honour by scaring some more children. Our otherwise-friendly ghost manages to do that, but only with the help of tough-outside-soft-inside Akhrot (Parth Bhalerao). So, he decides to help him and his mother (Usha Jadhav) out. <br /><br />A few comic capers later, the duo runs into corrupt politico Bhausaheb (Boman Irani), and decides to topple him by contesting elections, aided by probably the most hare-brained lawyers ever (Sanjay Mishra). It is after this point in the film that the narrative fast devolves into the crooked-politician-versus-hapless-common-man story, and never recovers. And even as you expect a very strong climax and a satisfactory resolution after quite a bit of meandering, Tiwari delivers what can best be described as the Election Commission's voting propaganda! <br /><br />The audience is forced to leave the hall with a keen sense of disappointment on all fronts, especially after hopes went up after a very strong start. There is little good to write in praise of Bhoothnath Returns, and without the few just-average performances it boasts of, it's not worth watching, even for the kids! For, who wants their kids to keep mum about a death threat when speaking about it could have made a world of difference?</p>
