The Bhootnii review: A virgin tree, love curse, and lot of nonsense

India Today

01-05-2025

In an age of modern dating, where young people are busy 'ghosting' each other, here arrives a bhootni in love with a mortal. While this obsession could have been the premise for either an emotional drama or a laugh riot, the Sunny Singh-led 'The Bhootnii' fails to do either. Also starring Sanjay Dutt, Mouni Roy, and Palak Tiwari, the film instead ends up as an unfunny, two-hour-long drag.advertisementThe Siddhant Sachdev-directed film revolves (quite literally) around the 'Virgin Tree' - a magical tree that helps people find sacchi mohabbat, or true love. A heartbroken Shantanu (Sunny Singh) pleads with the tree to find his soulmate, only to stumble into the curse of a love-lorn soul. What follows is a half-hearted attempt at love, comedy, horror, and drama.The first half gives you nothing to latch onto, with a wafer-thin plot and subdued performances. While the makers try to add all sorts of tadka in the latter half, the damage is too severe to be salvaged. The jokes feel forced, the romance lacks chemistry, and the horror fails to even startle. It's also a stark reminder that not every horror-comedy can be a Stree, and filmmakers need to stop abusing the genre. advertisementNot much can be said about the performances, even though Sanjay Dutt as Baba adds some swag to the otherwise dull script. However, the star has very little to do other than strut around in a Krrish-like costume as the ghostbuster shooting down good and bad aatmas (spirits). Sunny Singh tries hard but falls short, while the two female leads - Mouni Roy and Palak Tiwari - are dismissive in their acts.
With multiple films up for release, The Bhootnii will definitely face tough competition, though the extra holiday today in most cities could give it the much-needed push.2 out of 5 stars to The Bhootnii.