Yet another good performance from the indefatigable Amitabh Bachchan - the man has had such high standards over the decades and has generally kept up to them. This very moral tale was apparently inspired by Caspar but seems to me to owe slightly more (in spirit) to The Ghost And Mrs. Muir (Hollywood, 1947).A family move into a house haunted by friendly old ghost Amitabh, who strikes up a warm and honest relationship with their son Aman. There's plenty of genuine family entertainment with a few nice songs and it starts out very well but the film eventually gets bogged down in vapid sentimentality, albeit always with a high moral tone. Avuncular Amitabh is the only reason to stay to the end, to see him go through every conceivable emotion, although one of my favourite pieces was Samay Ka Pahiya sung at the climax. I felt it when he fell all the way down the stairs even if he didn't! SRK had a minor part, but as with the main players was not well-used - only chubby Aman shone in his special relationship with the ghost. And some nice photography with faultless production. So, fairly good but not particularly memorable - a pleasant way to fill a couple of hours.

Kiddie films are so difficult to make, yet some people think it's easy Show a school, show a naughty child, show some forced emotional angles, some songs like MERA BUDDY and ready Show some emotional scenes like he falling off a staircaseHere Ravi Chopra go a step furtherShow a kiddish Bhoot, who instead of frightening the kid acts like a funny Bhoot, This was meant to be funny? There is some good chemistry between Bachchan and the child but later-on when the focus shifts to the melodramatic events the film gets so boringRavi Chopra doesn't know where to go, maybe he felt that he should put some melodrama to make the film look smart and appeal to the audiences of all ages, sadly it didn'tThe director gives a back story to the Bhoot of being a sad person whose Son didn't treat him well straight out of BAGHBAN and that ruins the story and also the Bhoot characterAmitabh acts well and is the best part of the film The Kid is also endearing Shahrukh Khan has few scenes, he has his moments but he looks too tired Juhi Chawla plays the modern day mother, who has an unbelievable sense of humor, she impresses in parts Rajpal does provide some funny scenes Priyanshu is good in a clichéd role

Debutant director Vivek Sharma's 'Bhoothnath' is a delightful treat to watch. His execution shows that he's among the promising directors. The camera-work is very impressive. The special effects are superb (something one hardly witnesses in an Indian film). Not only do they look great, they are very effectively used. What makes 'Bhoothnath' better than other films of its genre is that it appeals to both adults and children especially because of the comedy. Viewers can easily connect to the characters as are very likable and very real. Anjali isn't just the stereotypical mother one has grown too familiar with in a children's film. She's a loving mother alright but one that hates to cook and one that's honest enough to the principal to tell him (in good humour) that her son is a 'nightmare'. Banku isn't your average filmy kid (and credit goes to the actor for that). He is the likable little brat one would recognize in themselves. And of course, there's 'Bhoothnath' who could have easily been a caricature but remains a well-defined character that is courageous, stubborn, vulnerable, caring and eventually friendly.The writing is mostly good. The inspiration by films like 'Bogus', 'Casper' and 'The Sixth Sense' may show but 'Bhoothnath' is very much its own film. The dialogues are great and the film moves at a steady pace. However, the Ashish Chaudhury-Nauheed Cyrusi track could have better been left out. Their below-average acting give the impression that 'Bhoothnath' is just another cheesy horror film. That may have been Sharma's intention in order to surprise the viewer but I don't think it's necessary. The demonic daughter-in-law is a caricature that feeds the stereotype of Americans being careless towards family. There are a few plot holes. how is it that Bhoothnath can touch Banku at times but during a key scene, Banku is about to fall down the stairs but Bhoothnath is unable to save him because his hand moves through Banku's. Also, the whole death ritual track looks a bit out of place but at the same time this scene brilliantly displays Banku's innocence. Banku thinks that ritual is to celebrate Bhoothnath's birthday and he happily participates. Moreover this scene is wonderfully executed. The close-ups shifting back and forth from Amitabh's sad face (as he knows he'll never see Banku again) to Aman's thrilled face (as he thinks Bhootnath will be promoted to 'star' angel). Though things get more emotional in the second half, Sharma manages to balance it well with the rest.I have to say that Amitabh Bachchan really blew me away as 'Bhoothnath'. I did not like him in any of his films post 1980something (with the exception of 'Baghban') but he totally owns Bhoothnath. There is one scene where he overacts but I suppose it's become his trademark to have at least one scene where he screams. Nonetheless, this flaw is very minor and can be overlooked given his otherwise consistent performance. His heartbreaking acting scene while he watches a happy Banku and his parents perform his 'last rites' reminded me of the exceptional actor he was in the 70s. Juhi Chawla is excellent as she brings charisma, devotion and liveliness to Anjali. Her Anjali is a laid-back woman but a caring mother. I don't understand why they people compared her to Aishwarya Rai's glycerin shedding performance in 'Umrao Jaan'. Whether she used glycerin or not in the crying scenes, she played her part very well and brought out Anjali's fear of losing her child and her sympathy for Bhoothnath. Last year there was 'Taare Zameen Par's Darsheel Safari and this year it is newcomer Aman Siddiqui who surprises the audience with a superb performance. Siddiqui simply acts like a child in a very natural way. He isn't one of those kids who overly tries to be cute, begging for the audience to go 'awww'. He too owns his part. Shahrukh Khan has a strong presence in a small role. He and Juhi have always been magic together on screen and it was great to see them play parents. Satish Shah and Rajpal Yadav are respectively hilarious as the 'bullying' principal and thief. All these actors share a good chemistry. While it's good to see Priyanshu Chatterjee after his absence from films, he is simply okay here.Among the songs, I really liked the 'Aandhi' track, filmed on the children in their different get-ups. But, it was weird to see the little girls dressed as prostitutes. 'Chale Jaane Do' is a sweet track sung by Amitabh and Juhi. I didn't like the hip hop track 'Mere Buddy' so much.In a nutshell, 'Bhoothnath' is one of the better films of the genre. Forget all those pretentious crap 'Krishh' and 'Koi Mil Gaya'. 'Bhoothnath' too may be a larger than life film but one that connects to both adults and children. In spite of a 2hour 15 minutes length, it didn't feel like a waste. Why should it if you're having fun?

Right from Scene 1, Shot 1 – I knew what I was going to expect. The very first scene of this movie shows two people trespassing into an abandoned home and being scared away by a ghost. Um, sounds familiar – awe, come one! You watched it in Casper, didn't you? Yep, so did I.Bhoothnath is a movie that loosely inspires itself from the 1995 Hollywood movie Casper. It's about a ghost (Amitabh Bachchan), who doesn't allow anyone inside his home but fails every attempt to scare a little boy out of the house. Soon, he discovers that this boy isn't afraid of him at all and then they develop friendship. Then there is this mother (played by Juhi Chawla), a principal (Satish Shah) and a variety of other supporting actors – and yes, I almost forgot to tell you, there is Shahrukh Khan as well. So to all those people out there who love these star studded no-substance movies – welcome aboard.The basic problem of Bhoothnath is that the spine of the story is very very flaccid. It's simply about this little boy and a ghost who do nothing but develop intense love for each other. They become friends, hang out, take part in sports and drama contests and well, that's about it. Can't tell you a great deal of things because the film simply deals with more event-oriented storytelling. Then there are these characters who do not develop at all, there are comedians who fail every attempt to make you laugh (though Juhi is funny at times, those clichéd jokes simply take away from humour from the situation.) In fact, the film is so clichéd that watching the first 20 minutes will tell you most of the story, but then that's where things become a bit tricky, and believe it or not, I grew more and more inquisitive as the film started taking a bloody Baghban twist. Surprised, don't be – it's BR Films trademark.I went absolutely stunned when the back story about Mr AB becoming a ghost started unfolding. It's about these helpless parents whose son has left them, and believe it or not, that the mother DIES in grief and father (Bachchan) meets an accident (well, falls off a flight of stairs) and dies. (Though I loved the scene when he discovers he's dead.) Then he decides to keep everyone off his property and that's the part supposed to scare us.Character-wise, Mr Bachchan is fine. Well, over acted a bit here and there, but one thing is for sure that he is able to get into any character. He fits in this one as well. He still manages to make us adore him with unwashed clothes (the movies says so) and unfiled nails with hideous silver paint on his face. Juhi Chawla is opening up to experimental roles and glad she accepted this part. She has fully justified her character and has shown that's she'd good as a mom too. The Shahrukh-Juhi chemistry works this time around too, but I simply did not understand the reason to have SRK do that role.For Heaven's sake, just picture SRK standing in the background and only his hands visible in the frame. What a waste. Thankfully he did not charge a penny for that role because if he would've, it would make his worse choice of character in his entire career. Delnaz Paul, Priyanshu Chaterjee and Rajpal Yadav too are such a waste of paychecks. Satish Shah is rather irritating than funny. Rajpal Yadav sucks big time and we're not even told what happens to him in the end.However, the good thing is that we have yet another Darsheel Safary in the block. Little kid charms us all the way through the movie. The best moments of the film are credits to him. The scene where he challenges Nath to arrange the furniture was simply adorable and the other one when he's looking up in the sky and calling out to Bhoothnath.Overall, there's nothing great you'd want to watch in this movie. Your kids (mind it, very very small kids with absolutely no sense of judgement) may find it nice, but even 12/13 years will find this movie going to the nuts. It's predictable, it doesn't make use of the comic potential the plot has to offer, big names are attached to the film but their presence does not add any substance to the movie at all. You'll simply hate some scenes for the rest of your life. Music is so-so. Vishal Shekhar flunk again after Tashan. Javed Akthar had given some nice compositions but I think they're a bit over the top for a kid's movie. Production design (ageing dept) sucks big times, especially the first time we're shown this aged building with brightly polished wooden door and shining door knobs. Background score is thrilling at times but couldn't understand the reason why they composed one particular score very identical to that of Baghban's. There was definitely more room for special effects (you'll love a leaves animation sequence) though what's been done feels right in the place.The director definitely needs to come up with something better next time because with such a big production house, all the best choices of actors and still a big hole persists in the whole thing. I don't know what went wrong – but Bhoothnath failed to impress me.6/10 – for you Mr. Bachchan. Been a big fan of yours.