Movie Review: Bhooth Bangla - Ghosts of Past Glory

The spectacle of fallen superstars trying to dig themselves out of a hole by redoing what made them popular in the first place is a tragic sight. When it is showcased in a film with a whiff of a beloved hit from their past, it is particularly poignant. Having exhausted the arena of chest-thumping biopics and PSA movies, Akshay Kumar has decided to reunite with Priyardarshan, the master director who first discovered Kumar’s funny bone in Hera Pheri in 2000. Twenty six years have passed since then, and 19 years since Bhool Bhulaiya, the spiritual prequel to Bhooth Bangla. Like many things in India, there has only been regression.

There is a palace, there is a ghost behind a locked door, there are appearances of comedians including the late Asrani, and there are three Akshay Kumars for the price of one. But all the tomfoolery and physical comedy that Kumar excels at falls as flat as a badly made soufflé. Not even Paresh Rawal, also a Hera Pheri alumnus, who stars in this film, can save it. No one can save this chaotic mess where the funniest gag is in the casting of 49-year-old Jisshu Sengupta as the dad of 58-year-old Kumar. Ho hum.