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Bhoothnath - Notepad

Bhoothnath

Amitabh Bachchan, Aman Siddiqui, Juhi Chawla Dir: Vivek Sharma
wogma rating: The keen should rent; else TV (?)
quick review: The first half-second half syndrome strikes again. Bhoothnath starts off with imaginative use of animation and has a cute, very enjoyable first half. The latter half not only makes you sorely miss all of it, but also replaces it with lectures (albeit short), a depressing attitude towards youth that go abroad for better prospects, and very avoidable religious connotations.
347 views | Add comment | Movie Details

This page has additional observations, other than the ones noted in the main review.

Plot Summary

Bhoothnath (Amitabh Bachchan), the resident ghost of Nath villa, refuses to let anyone stay in his home. Banku's (Aman Siddiqui's) family moves into this house and Banku befriends Bhoothnath.

What Worked

  • Aman's point of view shot when he first sets his eyes on Bhoothnath.
  • In the hospital scene, Juhi Chawla says, "dheere se daudo". Hilarious!!
  • Aman's delight in throwing stuff into fire - believable and adorable.

What did not

Note: This section simply lists the things that I did not like in this movie. This is not the overall impression about this movie. Please read the full review here

  • What's this whole deal about making your kids feel guilty for not behaving as expected? Is that why Kailashnath had kids? So that he could run him down when he was older?!
  • The scene where Aditya confronts Vijay? Why would Vijay heed to Aditya in matters related to his family? Also the scene looked like Priyanshu and Shah Rukh Khan were shot separately against a blue screen to be joint together later.
  • Surely parents can't laugh at the principal of their child's school!
  • The crowd watching the movie. No woohoos for either Amitabh Bachchan or Shah Rukh Khan? Where's the energy gone?
  • Why would a person with a short and sweet name like 'Aman' be elongated to 'Banku'?
  • How come Bhoothnath's hand passes through Banku's hand once and doesn't at other times?
  • Where is Banku's mom on his sport's day?
  • How come Bhoothnath's grandson, doesn't have an accent?
  • I didn’t get the whole significance of the statement, "kuchh kaam adhure reh jaate hai" (some things are left incomplete)
  • Shah Rukh Khan buttoned-down kurta to bare his clean shaven chest, when he is sitting for a Pooja (prayer)!!!

Nitty-Gritty

This section lists things that I think are not important to the overall impact of the movie. In most cases, it could be explained away by something like, "we noticed the glitch after the scene was shot and there were schedule/budget issues and thus we could not re-shoot it". I like giving the makers the benefit of doubt, but I am amused nevertheless. Hopefully, they will tickle you too.

  • How come Banku, a new student, garner so much support on Day 1 at new school?
  • Are we really expected to believe that the family of a cruise-liner employee shifts home, school, etc everytime the employee goes to a different port? Where's the logic in that if the family is going to be away from the employee, anyway?!
  • Who makes a call to his family to check on them with an engineering drawing in his hand!?
  • Bhoothnath's nails are supposed to be dirty and unkempt. But they are all the same shape - sharp edges, et al! They should have crudely cut the false nails!!
  • Why is a sport's day announcement being made indoors?

Bhoothnath - Movie Details

Bhoothnath - Trailer

Bhoothnath - All reviews summary

External Reviews

26 reviewers have given Bhoothnath an average rating of 3.0/5.0. 11 yays, 6 nays, 9 so-so. See all external reviews »

Readers' Ratings

8 readers have given Bhoothnath an average rating of 5/5.0. 7 yays, 0 nays, 1 so-so. See all reader reviews »

Comments (11)

:

Bhoothnath...

The thing that attracts me most these days to movies with superstars in them is the curiosity about the script they have chosen....

posted 4 years ago
Bhoothnath review | DesiPundit:

[...] liked Bhoothnath but felt it came apart at the end. Meetu agrees that “the first half-second half syndrome strikes again“. She particularly disliked the use of religious issues in the second [...]

posted 4 years ago
Rakesh:

you should check out my version of the bhoothnath movie review http://star-warrz.blogspot.com. Pls leave you feedback.

posted 4 years ago Rakesh has posted 2 comments and has rated 0 movies. See Rakesh's page for more details.
meetu:

Wow, Rakesh, you are really something! You first copy from here and then ask me to leave a comment on your site. So I left my comment on your site.

Now your turn... STOP PLAGIARIZING!!!!

posted 4 years ago
Rakesh:

hi,
no you got me wrong. my review is a modified version of the review on rediff and i also gave them credit for it.
i would suggest you read it again http://star-warrz.blogspot.com

posted 4 years ago Rakesh has posted 2 comments and has rated 0 movies. See Rakesh's page for more details.
meetu:

@Rakesh yeah, right! Without linking to the article!! Deleting a few words/sentences here and there doesn't make it 'your' review...And is that why you deleted my comment from your site - because you are so confident its 'your' review!?

I know it isn't my post you have COPIED, but the very concept of just copy, paste, delete words/rephrase-using-the-same-phrases is sickening!!

posted 4 years ago
Sudhir Nair:

Temper temper Meetu. Why do u give so much space to such irrelevant people.

Just edit his comment and remove the links from it n he'll get the msg.

posted 4 years ago Sudhir Nair has posted 28 comments and has rated 0 movies. See Sudhir Nair's page for more details.
meetu:

Thanks, Sudhir! But I really have had enough of these people who copy. If I just deleted, other readers wouldn't know he is copying and deleting comments that are pointing that out.

posted 4 years ago
lidia ostepeev planet bollywood:

[...] film certainly feels padded and dreary??? See full review: Hanumant Bhansali , Radio Sargam Rating:http://withoutgivingthemovieaway.com/main/bhoothnath-to-each-his-own/Review - Namastey London » without giving the movie awayLidia Ostepeev, planet bollywood [...]

posted 3 years, 10 months ago
Top commenter
TimELiebe:

BHOOTHNATH was a lot of fun and, a few mildly "spicy" dance bits involving Amitabh Bachchan and Aman Siddiqui with scantily-clad ladies aside, could play unedited on The Disney Channel over here in the US. We started calling it "Ghost Grandpa", and wondering what a weekly television series version of it would look like....

The main cast of Bachchan, Siddiqui and Juihi Chawla was doing such a great job with the plot that yeah, I kind of wondered what Shahrukh Khan was doing there in what amounted to a glorified cameo. (To us, it would be like seeing Tom Cruise show up in SPY KIDS as a neighbor Dad starting a carpool - it sort of yanks the movie out of shape having a major star in a minor non-"star turn" role.) Did he owe the producers or Bachchan a favor? Did he need a quick couple Crores for a day or two's work? Did he wander onto the wrong set, and just went along with it? Personally, I like the last explanation best - "You mean, this isn't OM SHANTI OM 2? Bloody Hell - and I was about to take my shirt off, too!" ;)

@meetu - Since Bollywood movies usually front-load their fun comic stuff in the first half, and start getting "darker" after the Intermission, I accepted all the drama coming up near the end as a storytelling convention. We liked that it was more than just light silliness all the way through - that he was a proud stubborn traditional old Indian man who felt abandoned ::and I think I'm treading into spoiler territory here!:: The religious ceremony that bothers you is, as I said about 1920, a trope of supernatural movies in every culture - and I found it significant that ::wow - not giving away the ending is hard !::

Anyway, I think you may be a bit more concerned about the religious aspects than most audiences are, meetu. Or perhaps, as Western viewers in a predominantly Christian culture (though we have Buddhist, Hinduist and Muslim places of worship in the Upstate New York city I live in now, as befits our large Central Asian population), we can watch movies featuring rituals of religions not our own with interest rather than rage over perceived blasphemy.

posted 9 months, 2 weeks ago TimELiebe has given this movie a Thumbs up (Amitabh Bachchan as "Ghost Grandpa" - entertaining family fantasy, well-acted and produced.) . TimELiebe has posted 47 comments and has rated 22 movies. See TimELiebe's page for more details.
meetu:

@TimELiebe I don't think the religious rituals were blasphemous either here or in 1920. Honestly, I couldn't care. For me the worry is that it could be perceived as blasphemous by people who do care and distract from the film. It could also go a step further, if the balance is tipped even a bit, if a particular religious group took offense and took action like causing physical damage to another religious group. I could be catastrophizing - it's only a movie after all - but lesser known mediums have known to cause trouble. I wonder if movies should actively avoid that?

posted 2 months ago

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