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Tag: Renu Ravi Chopra

  • Bhootnath Returns…….Ghost Samaritan

    Bhootnath Returns…….Ghost Samaritan

    MUMBAI: It has become a trend for a film to end with a threat of a sequel. Good or bad or outright disastrous, most films leave open the possibility. That is like hoping to build a high rise on a weak foundation since most of these films promising sequels are flops. In that event, what led to the sequel to Bhootnath which was rejected in cinemas though it did better on TV and DVD circuits? Whatever the inspiration, here goes:

    Bhootnath, Amitabh Bachchan, has been referred back to ghost land like a bounced cheque since he has failed to scare people on his first outing with earthlings. Ghosts laugh at him because of his failure to scare humans. Amitabh has eons before he can return to earth as a human and he feels belittled at this treatment by fellow ghosts. He asks the boss of ghost land to give him one more chance to go back and successfully scare people. After all, scaring living beings is what ghosts are supposed to do!I know as much about ghosts as ghosts know about me but this is what the film professes.

    Back on earth, Amitabh uses his ghostly powers to scare some kids playing cricket in a deserted place. The kids are not the kind to believe in ghosts, let alone be scared of one. He comes across a kid, Parth Bhalerao, who can see him and is not scared of him since he does not believe Amitabh to be a ghost; the kid is street smart.  A street smart kid led to Amitabh’s failure on his last trip on earth but, this time, the kid and the ghost both decide to use each others’ strengths.

    Producers: Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Chopra, Renu Ravi Chopra.

    Direction: Nitesh Tiwari.

    Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Parth Bhalerao, Boman Irani, Usha Jadhav, Sanjay Mishra, Brijendra Kala, Usha Nadkarni.

    It seems the area where Partho lives, Dharavi, is the most neglected and deprived in Mumbai. Bhootnath decides to make his return to the earth at Dharavi, his bad luck! Soon Parth teaches the ghost the game of using each other. While Parth uses Amitabh to first help scare the convent school gang of cricket players and get into their league, Amitabh, in return, earns secrecy about his being and the fact that he is not all that scary a ghost. With a little help from Parth, Amitabh becomes a good neighbourly ghost helping people get their due justice. It is all fun so far but it is also time to introduce the villain.

    Boman Irani is an ex-local goon turned politician and has been ruling the area assembly seat for the last three terms. His is a reign of terror, corruption and exploitation. His voters abhor him but also vote for him. Nobody would contest an election against him and, finally, it is left to Amitabh to do it. The law is silent on weather a dead man can contest an election and his lawyer, Sanjay Mishra, asserts as such. So, it is an electoral fight between Amitabh and Boman. This is where the film loses its purpose and direction and, mainly, its target audience: the kids it is aimed at.

    The film entertains with its witty one liners delivered by Parth but, once the election issue is introduced, it becomes another film altogether. The light moments vanish and moralising lectures take their place, which is boring. On that count, the script loses its purpose. Direction is fair with quite a few liberties taken. There is no scope for songs except for sermonising kinds. Cinematography is good. Dialogue is well penned. The film has sourced a few of its actors from Marathi films. Parth is impressive. Usha Jadhav as his mother is very good. Amitabh Bachchan is his usual self, one who does not have to act to convey his part. Boman Irani goes a bit overboard at times. Sanjay Mishra and Brijendra Kala are good as always. Shah Rukh Khan and Ranbir Kapoor make brief cameos to no effect.

    On the whole, the problem with Bhootnath Returns is that it turns out to be a children’s film with an adult theme coming as it does in the multiplex era where waiting for a DVD works out more economical than sending kids to cinema halls (as has been proved by the performance of Bhootnath on this count).

  • I am scared of not living up to the audiences’ expectations: Amitabh Bachchan

    I am scared of not living up to the audiences’ expectations: Amitabh Bachchan

    NEW DELHI: Megastar Amitabh Bachchan has one fear: “I am still scared of not living up to the expectations of the people,” he says.

     

    Now in his early seventies, the star says box office figures do not affect him so much as what people say about a film in which he has enacted a role since the expectations from him have grown over the years.

     

    Bachchan also denied that he overawes other stars on a film set and he has confidence in his fellow stars. However, he admitted that he does help them feel comfortable, even as he denied ever giving tips to directors or interfering with their vision of a film. He said he liked working with children as he found them very ‘uninhibited’. “It is a wrong premise that I direct other directors or stars,” he reiterated.

     

    The star was speaking at a press meet about his latest film, ‘Bhootnath Returns’ directed by Nitesh Tiwari and produced by Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar of T-Series and Abhay Chopra, Kapil Chopra, and Renu Ravi Chopra of BR Films.

     

    Being released on 11 April, the film has been presented in the name of the late B R Chopra and the late Gulshan Kumar. Others in the film are Boman Irani, child actor Parth Bhalerao, and Usha Jadhav, though there are guest appearances by Ranbir Kapoor and Shah Rukh Khan.

     

    Although the story to a large extent deals with elections, Bachchan denied that it was in any way made to capitalize on the poll season, adding that the story had been related to him more than eighteen months earlier. He also said the same actors could not be taken as it was a completely new story.

     

    Tiwari said he had taken up the film as a sequel to the first film as ‘Bhootnath’ had captivated the audiences even as it left a strong message-oriented impact. “I cannot give any assurance about a sequel of ‘Bhoothnath Returns.’ There was a lot of pressure working with Amitabh Bachchan, and two big production banners but they really made me feel comfortable with them.”

     

    Bachchan particularly praised Yo Yo Honey Singh who had sung a song in the film. “You do not need to put a lot of efforts working with him,” Bachchan added.

     

    Bachchan said the film takes off from where the first film ended, when Bhootnath lands in heaven but is a butt of humour as he could not frighten even a child (Banku in the earlier film) so he is sent to earth again in the slum colony Dharavi where he meets Akhrot who is the only human who can see him. The film then goes on to comment on elections and Khan and Kapoor make appearances to encourage people to exercise their franchise.

     

    While reiterating that he had retreated from politics as that was not his arena, Bachchan said “every vote makes a difference, and it is in any case the democratic right of citizens.”

     

    Bachchan said in answer to a question that AB Corp was still in the business of making films, but did so in collaboration with other filmmakers. Insisting that he was doing films that could be seen by the family, he was also doing a series with Sony which is being overlooked by Anurag Kashyap, apart from coming for another season of ‘Kaun Banega Crorepati’.  

     

    Bhushan Kumar said he had been very excited when he heard the story and had immediately agreed to come on board as producer as it had been his dream to do a film with Bachchan.

     

    Parth, who is a child star from Marathi cinema, said he had been frightened at first when told he would have to act with Amitabh Bachchan. But later he enjoyed working as he had a lot of fun with him.