REVIEW 159: BHOOT RETURNS (3D)

Release date:	October 12, 2012
Director:	Ram Gopal Varma
Cast:   Language:	Manisha Koirala, J.D. Chakravarthy, Alayna Sharma, Madhu Shalini Hindi

This review will be as much of a bare-bones affair as the film in question: Bhoot Returns is scarey in the first half, but fails to add a single new dimension to the old new-occupants-in-a-haunted-house tale. Seriously, nothing new. The result: after the chills in the first half, the rest of the film and particularly the ending are an absolute damp squib.

The story: when a family of five moves into a spacious new house, the little daughter Nimmi discovers a friend in Shabbo who she claims to see though no one else can. Soon strange noises and voices start booming through the house, then bodies are dragged around by an invisible force and some bloodshed wraps up the action. That’s it. There’s nothing more to tell.

Yeah sure, the production quality is slick and the 3D is as good as anything you get to see in any Hollywood film these days. That’s a given I  guess since this is a Ram Gopal Varma film and however disappointed we may feel with Ramu’s recent ventures, we have to grant to him that he’s not saving pennies in the technical departments. Besides, both the camerawork and 3D are used to good effect to build up a sense of foreboding in the first half of Bhoot Returns. What the film sorely lacks is a worthwhile story and any degree of novelty in the plot.

Given that this is a ghost flick, it doesn’t make sense to dwell too much on the performances but it needs to be said that Alayna Sharma is sweet as the little girl possessed while Manisha Koirala and J.D. Chakravarthy acquit themselves reasonably well as her traumatised parents ... I mean, how much better could they possibly be in a film that gives them so little to work on? Can’t say the same though of Madhu Shalini playing Nimmi’s aunt. Her very short shorts, lovely legs and excellent figure can’t camouflage the acting limitations that were evident earlier this year too when she starred in Ramu’s Department. 

All this is a pity because RGV’s 2003 film Bhoot starring Urmila Matondkar and Ajay Devgn was a genuinely fear-inducing film. Sigh! Bhoot Returns ki baat chhodo … when will the old Ram Gopal Varma return?

Rating (out of five): *1/2

CBFC Rating (India):	A
Running time:	94 minutes

 

Photograph courtesy: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhoot_Returns