‘The Bhootnii' movie review: Sanjay Dutt's ghosthunter act cannot enliven horror comedy
Mild spoilers…
What's the deal with Sunny Singh? The actor, in his fairly long career, has been a curious nonentity in Hindi cinema, turning up in any and every film that will have him. He was a mildly amusing presence in the Luv Ranjan Cinematic Universe. But his recent output has been especially bleak. It does not seem to matter if he is playing Lakshmana in Adipurush or a boozy beefcake in Wild Wild Punjab. Whatever the assignment, Singh gives the impression of an amiable jock who's wandered in from the nearest Hakim's Aalim.
In The Bhootnii, a new horror-comedy, Singh plays Santanu, a student of 'St. Vincent's College of Arts and Culture', a true cradle of learning. Its students occupy themselves with the pursuit of sachi mohabbat (true love), which is understandably hard to come by. Each year, on Valentine's Day, they hang trinkets and pictures on a wishing tree called the 'Virgin Tree'. It is worshipped as a bringer of romantic good luck, but it also bodes ill: a tree nymph, played by Mouni Roy, haunts the campus, and has apparently precipitated a string of recent suicides.
The Bhootni (Hindi)
Director: Sidhaant Sachdev
Cast: Sanjay Dutt, Mouni Roy, Sunny Singh, Palak Tiwari, Aasif Khan, Nick
Run-time: 130 minutes
Storyline: A tree nymph stalks a Delhi University campus, apparently targeting single virgin men
To rid the college of its woes, a 'paraphysicist', played by Sanjay Dutt, is called in. Fans of Munna Bhai M.B.B.S. will grin at the prospect of Dutt steamrolling through a large and busy campus, riding roughshod over assorted chumps and prudes. This, sadly and unforgivably, never comes to pass. Dutt's character here, Baba, is a cartoon creation, an 'elite' ghosthunter who zips around in an armoured truck, packing an array of glowing gizmos that look stolen from a toy shop.
The trick with horror-comedies is striking a certain tonal equilibrium. Not consistency, that is, but balance. The Stree films, for instance, do this well, plying the audience with silly gags and pop-culture references while dialling up the scares. The Bhootnii winks at Stree—the wellspring of modern Hindi horror comedies—yet it does not heed its advice. Writer-director Sidhaant Sachdev mashes all his ideas together into one, undifferentiated pulp. There are sequences in this film that wouldn't scare a six year old. The whole production seems dunked in trippy confetti, like a wedding party that suddenly turned into a rave.
I have never seen the Naagin television serial featuring Mouni Roy, although, on account of this film and Brahmāstra: Part One – Shiva, I am more than convinced she comes through beautifully. Sanjay Dutt's costumes are a nice throwback to Ssshhhh...Koi Hai, which I have definitely seen. But The Bhootnii does not merit comparison with the heyday of satellite TV in India. It belongs in a league of its own. This is not just bad filmmaking—it's anti-filmmaking.
The Bhootnii is currently running in theatres
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
India Today
13 minutes ago
- India Today
Zohran Mamdani turns New York City mayoral race into Bollywood blockbuster
When Zohran Kwame Mamdani announced his candidacy for New York City mayor last October, he was seen as a long shot. But an affordability-centred messaging and social media-driven campaign sprinkled with Bollywood tadka has propelled the 33-year-old assemblyman to the forefront of the Democratic primary to Ugandan academic Mahmood Mamdani and acclaimed Indian-American filmmaker Mira Nair, Zohran Mamdani has leaned into his South Asian heritage and captured the attention of younger, immigrant, and working-class New Yorkers with his populist platform and savvy use of Hindi film week, Mamdani dropped a campaign video on X peppered with classic Bollywood film scenes and music. Speaking in Hindi, he explains the voting process, makes the case for affordability, and takes aim at his main rival: former New York governor Andrew Cuomo, who is backed by US President Donald Trump. A democratic socialist, Mamdani framed the race as a choice between a people-powered movement and billionaire-backed 2-minute, 23-second video features the iconic scene from Deewar, where Amitabh Bachchan's character Vijay boasts, "Aaj mere paas buildingein hain, property hai, bangla hai, bank balance hai, gaadi hai. Tumhare paas kya hai? (Today I have buildings, property, a bungalow, a bank balance, and a car. What do you have?)."A beat later, Mamdani appears on screen, arms spread in Shah Rukh Khan's signature pose, responding simply: "Aap" (I have the people).Billionaires ke paas already sab kuchh hai. Ab, aapka time already have everything. Now, your time has come. Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) June 4, 2025advertisementThe message is clear: Mamdani is positioning himself as the candidate of the people, against Cuomo, whom he portrays as emblematic of elite privilege and establishment explain New York's ranked choice voting system, Mamdani borrows Kishore Kumar's voice from Karz and uses glasses of lassi as props: "Hey, have you ever voted for anyone? Have you ever ranked anyone?"This is not your typical New York City mayoral has fused desi pop culture with policy to communicate a progressive vision: free city buses, controlling apartment rents, city-run grocery stores, and a $10 billion tax hike on the ultra-wealthy to pay for it all.'We can guarantee cheaper groceries, we can raise the minimum wage, we can freeze the rent for more than 2 million tenants, and build more than 200,000 affordable homes. We are done settling for less,' he declares in another ad—rooted in the spirit of Roti, Kapda aur Makaan, the 1974 Bachchan-starrer that named the three most basic human ad starts airing are done settling for less. Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@ZohranKMamdani) June 11, 2025With a short-lived career as a hip-hop artist, Mamdani now calls himself the Kendrick Lamar of affordability—intent on sticking to a message that speaks to working-class ke paas already sab kuchh hai. Ab, aapka time aageya (Billionaires already have everything. Now, your time has come)," he says in his video, a callback to the rap anthem from Ranveer Singh and Alia Bhatt-starrer Gully Mamdani's rise has not come without controversy. His vocal criticism of Israel and advocacy for Palestinian rights have earned him a fair share of has also been branded anti-Hindu for calling Prime Minister Narendra Modi a "war criminal" with reference to the latter's alleged role in the 2002 Gujarat riots. PM Modi was given a clean chit by a Supreme Court-appointed probe."Narendra Modi helped to orchestrate what was a mass slaughter of Muslims in Gujarat to the extent that [people] don't even believe there are Gujarat Muslims anymore," Mamdani recently said at a forum. "This is someone we should view in the same manner we do Benjamin Netanyahu. This is a war criminal."His Muslim heritage has also drawn vitriol, but Mamdani has turned the attacks into campaign fodder."When you're the first Muslim elected official to run for mayor, people say some pretty wild things," he quipped in a New York City—America's largest metropolis—grappling with a cost-of-living crisis, housing shortages, transit issues, and deep inequality, the next mayor faces enormous challenges. Mamdani, powered by Bollywood swagger and socialist fire, has cast himself as the underdog hero standing up for the little guy.
Mint
30 minutes ago
- Mint
Will ZEE5's new slate of content, regional push, and micro-drama help it win the OTT war?
ZEE5, the video streaming platform owned by Zee Entertainment Enterprises Ltd, will release over 130 new titles in FY26, including web series, films, and non-fiction shows, with a focus on family audiences and younger viewers. To expand its offerings, the firm has also partnered with tech startup Bullet, which has developed a micro-drama application featuring fast-paced, vertical-format episodes designed for younger audiences. 'In FY25, we had only 60-odd launches through the year, including movies, but this coming year, you would see over 130 launches happening," Amit Goenka, chief executive of the international broadcast business of Zee Entertainment Enterprises, and head of Z5 Global, said in an interview with Mint. 'Language is our big push and we've added four more languages for original content," he added Also Read: Regional content gains ground on OTTs even as Hindi dominates While the focus on Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu remains, ZEE5 has now entered the Kannada, Marathi, Bengali, and Malayalam segments. It has launched language packs that allow users to pay only for specific language content. The Hindi pack (which also includes Punjabi and Bhojpuri content) and the all-access pack remain available with monthly and annual variants. Regaining margin Last February, Zee had said it was charting a three-pronged approach—cutting costs, reducing overlaps between businesses, and enhancing quality to regain margins—after its merger with Sony Pictures Entertainment collapsed. In line with this, ZEE5 now operates under a 'leaner, meaner" model with a profitability-first mindset, Goenka said. In FY25, the company halved its Ebitda loss to ₹548 crore. 'While we provide the consumer with entertainment and the right experience with a technology focus, it is still primarily focused on making sure it is profitable," he said. To boost revenues, ZEE5 is bolstering its AVoD (advertising video-on-demand) strategy, moving some content from behind the paywall to a free tier over time, repurposing old library content into smaller versions for new viewers and curating a user-generated content or UGC slate. Zee Entertainment Enterprises reported a 1,305% year-on-year growth in its consolidated net profit to ₹188 crore in Q4FY25. The total revenue in the March-ended quarter stood at ₹2,220 crore, which was up 1.6% from a year ago. Total revenue of ZEE5 during the quarter stood at ₹274.7 crore. Goenka said regional content will continue to be a growth engine. 'If you look at the broadcasting industry, the real growth has come from expanding into language markets. People still want that connect with their roots, and we should give that to the audience, whether from a content or platform experience perspective," he added. While Goenka did not give specific investment figures for this year, ZEE5's budget for each content typically hovers in the range of ₹5-7 crore. In the case of regional shows, the spending is even lower. Also Read: Independent producers, boutique studios veer towards regional cinema for big gains Tough terrain Despite progress, challenges remain. Entertainment industry experts believe local platforms have a tough road ahead. 'OTT (over-the-top) is a heavy investment game. While on the one hand, you have the likes of foreign giants like Amazon, whose losses are subsidized because of the e-commerce business, there is JioHotstar on the other, which is on the warpath with sports and regional content," said a senior content studio executive on condition of anonymity. However, Goenka is optimistic. 'Our audiences know that when they come to Zee, they're going to get family-friendly content. Being able to produce at the right cost is the second big advantage we have over any of the other players. Plus, at Zee Studios, we produce a large amount of movies every year. So we are not dependent only on the market to acquire movies and have our own slate, which gives us a steady flow of content," he said. He added that foreign players with deep pockets have been around in India for a while, but the real challenge remains catering to the price-sensitive Indian consumer, which even international platforms have had to take cognisance of. According to a report by media consulting firm Ormax, the audience universe for video streaming in India currently stands at 547.3 million people, but active paid subscriptions have stagnated at 99.6 million. The average number of platforms subscribed to per paying audience member fell from 2.8 to 2.5 in 2024, highlighting the waning need among audiences to pay to watch too many streaming services, the report said.
News18
an hour ago
- News18
Prosenjit Chatterjee Wants TV Shows To Go Pan-India: 'Why Should It Be Limited To Films?'
Last Updated: Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad promises to bring a refreshing blend of emotions, drama, and family ties. After becoming the superstar of the Bengali film industry, Prosenjit Chatterjee is now all set to step into the Hindi television world. It was recently announced that he is producing a new show titled Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad, a unique family drama that captures the bittersweet essence of relationships. Recently, Prosenjit Chatterjee opened up about producing a Hindi television show when he shared, 'This is, in many ways, my first Hindi production and it feels truly special. My father has been part of the Hindi film industry since the 1960s, starting from Sabar Uparey, so my connection with Hindi cinema isn't new. Today, when the world is talking about 'pan-India', I wonder — why should it be limited to films or OTT platforms? Television, too, has the power to go pan-India". 'There is incredible talent across the country from Marathi, Bengali, Punjabi, and Gujarati industries. Why shouldn't all that talent be celebrated on television as well? That's the thought that led us here. I'm grateful to Star Plus for supporting this vision. And of course, working with Rakhi Di, one of the finest storytellers, we have brought the perfect concept to life for us to step into Hindi and create meaningful, impactful work," the actor added. Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad promises to bring a refreshing blend of emotions, drama, and family ties, reflecting the perfect balance of sweet and bitter, just like its title suggests. It stars Abrar Qazi in the lead. Previously, Abrar also opened up about the show when he said, 'The focus is really on sweet, genuine interactions—those little moments that can feel real and honest. We've made a conscious effort to stay away from the typical cliches. So, even though it's a romantic love story at the heart, it feels refreshing and authentic. It's joyful, it's full of connection, and hopefully, it leaves people smiling." Kabhi Neem Neem Kabhi Shahad Shahad will premiere on Star Plus on June 11, 2025. First Published:
