The screenplay tries to entertain two types of audience at the same time. The child & it’s TV drama-addict parents. There is no proper story in the film. The first half stretches itself without moving ahead in terms of story structure. This is one of the few films in which the actors & technique covers up for the lack of good screenplay. Direction by debutant Vivek Sharma is decent. If given a good script Vivek can deliver a much better film than this one. He has very good command over visual story telling. The way he blocks his frames gives a feeling that he is coming from an ad film background. As a director he takes care in giving out the right messages through several scenes. One case in point is a scene set against the backdrop of sports day. The child actor is losing most of the games to his competitor. Here the writer/ director could have easily used the powers of the ghost in helping the child win which would have had the audience cheering along. But the writer/ director deserves praise for the way he has handled this scene. This shows how responsible the director is in using the medium of cinema.

What the film lacks big time in terms of writing is novelty. The set up is predictable, the scenes are clichéd and there is nothing new in terms of story. What saves the film is the camaraderie between Big B & the child actor. Their relationship is the soul of the film. What evokes emotions is the heart wrenching natural performance by Aman Siddhiqui. Most of our so called bollywood stars should learn a thing or two about attitude by just watching Aman in the song “hum toh hai aandhi”. A big loud request to Mr. Bachchan: Sir, please choose your roles carefully. This role doesn’t deserve you.

Music is average compared to Vishal Shekar standards. It also slackens the pace in the second half.  The choreography of a couple of songs are superb especially ‘hum toh hain aandhi.’ The cinematography by Vishnu Rao is top notch. He lights up a magical frame even for the most mundane scene. The vfx of the film is something India can be proud of. It doesn’t make you cringe in your seats wondering when we will achieve Hollywood standards.

Final few words: A few days back I saw a short film called Hide & Seek. I laughed through the film. I was wondering when we will move out of haunted houses & lost spirits! And then I saw Bhoothnath. I got my answer. Not so soon. The premise of both the films is almost the same. The directors are new. One is on a short film format & the other is a feature.  The difference lies in the fact that Hide & Seek has a budget which isn’t worth mentioning, star cast nobody knows of but Bhootnath has budget, Amitabh Bachchan , Shahrukh Khan & the summer vacation on it’s side.

** ½  (Above Average)

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