BHOOTHNATH RETURNS MOVIE REVIEW

Bhoothnath was a lighthearted comedy revolving around a ghost and a child, about things that assume less significance in life. And it was mainly targeted at children. Bhoothnath Returns, however, takes much larger issues in hand – corruption, urban developing elections and voting.

At its heart Bhoothnath Returns remains a children’s movie and if you are willing to pardon the movie for its somewhat juvenile tackling of issues at hand, you will see a social satire emerging out of this attempt. Except that many scenes might perplex children who are the primary target audience but the result will be a lot of questions for parents. And it is necessarily a good thing.

In this unconnected sequel (except that SRK returns in a brief cameo, there is no connection whatsoever from the previous one), Bhoothnath is seen knocking the doors of the bureaucratic heaven (the social satire starts there) he is living in, to seek another chance to be reborn. On the contrary, he accepts a challenge and comes to Earth. Things take a different turn in the Earth and he ends up contesting elections.

Though Amitabh is the movie’s centrifugal force, Parth Bhalerao as Akhrot steals hearts much early in the film. His Akhrot is nicely written, performed with certain amount of nuance found only in seasoned actors. His unconventional looks, spot on Mumbaiyya accent and dialogue delivery make him one of the most interesting characters of the movie.

That Parth is also little known for Bollywood screens is another plus for the movie and his character Akhrot. In fact that is also true about most of the characters in the movie. Usha Jadhav who plays Parth’s mother Bindia, Sanjay Mishra as Mishti the lawyer, Usha Nadkarni as Lolita portray their roles with such earnestness they make you forget the movie’s lagging pace after the interval. That is also the success of the casting.

Nitesh Tiwari and Piyush Gupta’s writing takes the tone of social satire touching upon relevant issues. Dialogues like (about eligibility for contesting in election) this are extremely relevant: Degree ki zaroorat nahin hai? Clerk ki bhi naukri nahin milegi, par chunav lad sakte hain?

Though haunting and hard-hitting, the song Sahib looks a little out of place. That is not to underplay the credentials of the song as such; it is worth every second of its screen time. So are the other songs – they are catchy and the background score is pertinent to the movie’s flow without hindering the proceedings. Cameos by SRK, Anurag Kashyap and Ranbir are aptly appended too.

The movie gets silly and incredulous at times (after all we are talking about a ghost contesting elections), but if it wasn't hiding behind the robe of a children's movie, it could've worked as a mature social satire. But for that to happen, a bit more maturity is warranted. There's that slight disconnect since it's a children's movie aspiring to be a social satire.  Nevertheless, it is a relevant lesson on the significance of voting though it feels like a promo video for voting itself but that’s not a complaint. Either ways, it is a perfect summer lesson for children.

Watch it for Amitabh, Parth and other brilliant actors and a movie that might just spark some questions in your child’s mind in this election time. Without compromising so much on the commercial elements (song and et al) Nitesh has delivered an entertaining movie with a relevant social message, perfect for its times – election and summer vacation.