The Hindu : New Delhi News : Bollywood gets a brand new angelic ghost

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Sunday, May 11, 2008
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Bollywood gets a brand new angelic ghost

ZIYA US SALAM

A new find: Bollywood sculpts a new version of a likeable ghost played by Big B in ‘Bhootnath’.

BHOOTHNATH

(At Golcha and other theatres in Delhi and elsewhere)

Bollywood is learning to laugh. And we don’t need banana peels, thank you! Just step away from those double entendres too. Now is the time to evolve, to look at the mirror, laugh without facial contortions. Some witty one-liners, calculated situational humour and a more than competent actor are just enough. That is what saves debutant director Vivek Sharma’s new film “Bhoothnath” from slipping into the realms of average fare. He takes a couple of st eps forward, then one back, to finally put together a show that is a decent one-time watch.

The peerless Amitabh Bachchan plays a ghost. Not the scary kind one has been accustomed to from Bollywood all along ever since the good old Ramsay Brothers dished out their aatma-parmatma, bhoot-pret stuff. Or the more recent one projected by Ramgopal Varma to prove you could not talk of a ghost without slipping into mediocrity. Here Bachchan’s ghost is a bit of an angel, a guarding uncle to a little boy who lives in the villa the old man died in.

Turns out ever since Big B passed away, he actually did not pass away. His body is gone, his soul lingers. A series of occupants are driven away. Until there comes a little family of three – Shah Rukh Khan in a special appearance he probably did as a favour, with Juhi Chawla and the brilliant debutant kid Aman Siddiqui.

This time, the ghost runs into a wall. The little boy won’t be scared. You scream at him, he would scream louder at you. You try to browbeat him, he would simply snare. The going is smooth in the first half of the film as young Aman trades punches with Big B. And Big B actually manages to show an emotion he probably has not in his long and illustrious career, a nice little scary expression with his red-shot eyes popping out and his tongue slithering like a snake. Brilliantly executed, very well captured by the camera.

The first part is marred only by pedestrian songs and dances which slow down the progress of the story without adding any entertainment quotient. However, it is in the second half that the director takes a step backward, thereby reducing what could have been a delightful film for children into a stereotyped family film for conservative viewers. Maybe he simply lacked the guts to have a comedy around a ghost or maybe there was too much pressure from the market forces. Either way, the compromise he strikes jars.

His friendly ghost who would enjoy a joke with the kid turns out to be a loner, a family man who lost his wife, and his son had gone away to America leaving him alone in a mansion the son would rather sell than keep for a single occupant. It is supposed to be a tear-jerker here which does not work. It all seems too superficial, too contrived, leaving behind more questions than answers. How come the ghost who was initially seen only by the child is suddenly seen by everyone in the family? And then again disappears as miraculously. And all that bit at the end about a wandering aatma…. please, take that away. And we said Ramsays were part of history? Well, history is alive and kicking. As is superstition.

Ready to ignore these shortcomings? Well, then go watch “Bhoothnath” for Amitabh Bachchan. He is not marvellous here. He does not have to be. His usual bit is good enough. And little Aman shows a spark too. “Bhoothnath” is not the cliff-hanger one would expect with that name. Rather a pleasant comedy in parts, and an average family film in others.

JIMMY

(At Delite, New Delhi, and other theatres)

Good old Mithun Chakraborty has been a reference point for a generation of aspiring actors. Unfortunately closer home not many lessons have been imbibed. His young son Mimoh now takes his baby steps here in “Jimmy”, a Raj N. Sippy film that is lucky to finally see the light of day. And like all babies, Mimoh falters, flounders, falls.

Comparisons can be odious, particularly if you compare a guy who starts off with a masala film like “Jimmy” with somebody who was way ahead of his times with “Mrigya”. But frankly, Mimoh disappoints. He has neither the presence to set the screen afire nor exactly the emoting ability to set your tear glands running. And when he speaks, he presents a classic case for keeping dubbing artistes in business. In fact, if his voice had been dubbed by a senior pro, he might possibly have covered himself with greater credit.

Here in an author-backed role he fails to score many points. He plays a DJ by night and an automobile engineer by day. No father, lots of debts, a terminal illness and a couple of dance floor numbers all are thrown in by Sippy in a desperate attempt to keep the masses occupied with the fare. Not to be. The story has a sameness to it that induces boredom. The pace of the film is slack and the flashback narration does little to keep the viewers engrossed. The dialogue is consistently forgettable. And music shockingly so: by the way, when was the last time Anand Raaj Anand gave us a score we could tap our toes to?

Amid all this are two newcomers: Vivana, the heroine, who is in danger of going away unseen, unheard; and Mimoh, poor guy. He is like an emperor without clothes standing amid ruins.

Avoid “Jimmy” if you can. Overcome with a dash of nostalgia and generosity for good old Mithun-da? Better opt for a soundtrack of his very own “Jimmy, Jimmy aa ha….”

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