A look back at Amitabh Bachchan’s ghostly turn in Bhootnath, which released in 2008! As a special bonus, in a throwback interview, Amitabh Bachchan shared his thoughts on playing a ghost and more!
In Bhootnath, debutant director Vivek Sharma harks back to an artless innocence to tell the tale of a benign ghost who comes to life. The film’s most delectable aspect is the rapport that grows between the ghost (Amitabh Bachchan) and the fearless little boy (Aman Siddiqui) who comes to live in the dead man’s mansion, takes on the ghost, and even gets the better of him. Both Bachchan and the boy have a ball. So do we, in portions.
The film’s best scenes feature the Big B with the incredibly confident and polished Aman. The pair just takes over the screen and makes you forget the narrative’s all-too-apparent flaws. There are plot-holes large enough to make Bhootnath an uneasy bumpy ride. But Amitabh and Aman make you smile as they frolic, sing, banter, and deliver some really heartwarming homilies on the quality of existence.
The Big B has been repeatedly seen in interactive situations with little kids. After Ayesha Kapoor in Black, Rucha Vaidya in Ek Ajnabee, and Sweeni Khare in Cheeni Kum, he brings a sense of cross-generation harmony with another acutely cute and young co-star. While the kids in the other three films were traumatized to one degree or another, Aman plays a normal, bratty but sensitive kid, yet another addition to the growing brood of brilliant child actors in Bollywood after Darsheel Safary in Taare Zameen Par.
The director lets the child be. He imposes no adult perceptions on him. The narration consequently carries an air of old-world naivete to the end. There are no breaks for romantic songs, item numbers, and other modern-day quirks and compromises. Bhootnath glides forward with the unconscious skill of a little boat in a tranquil lake, which knows where it wants to go without creating any stress within the pace of the grace.
And what would Bhootnath be without the Big B, sportingly sharing lines, visuals, songs and drama with a child who gives him tit for tat, and more? The rapport between the wandering spirit and the spirited kid could have fallen apart were it not for the cool camaraderie between them. While one is unschooled in acting, therefore totally spontaneous, the other is so skilled and schooled that he readily redefines what is cool.
Priyanshu Chatterjee, as the dead man’s ungrateful son, struggles to give substance to an underwritten role. His character brings into play the age-old conflict between old-world values, where a home was considered much more than a financial asset, and the new generation, which thinks property can be easily bought. Known for their movies that convey moral messages, producers B.R. and Ravi Chopra couldn’t let go of the chance to make a social statement.
Interestingly, Shah Rukh Khan, in a guest appearance, clearly tries to improvise on the badly written dialogues, mainly in scenes where he pokes fun at his wife’s cooking. Shah Rukh and Juhi Chawla continue to share a quaint if not crackling chemistry. But the chemistry here is clearly between the ghost of a 65-year-old and a 10-year-old child who knows he’s up against a formidable adversary. Or maybe he doesn’t. Sometimes, the motivations underlying spontaneity can be the very opposite of fear.
Bhootnath tells us ghosts are not scary; they can be fun. At the end of the blithe film, we believe the director, even if we don’t believe in ghosts at all.
Mr Bachchan was quite kicked about playing a ghost. “The role requires me to tap the child within me who, let me tell you, is never very far from the surface in my personality. A lot of my interaction in Bhootnath is with a child. I had a child as my co-star years ago in Do Anjaane and, more recently, in Black and Ek Ajnabee. But these were films for a grown-up audience. Bhootnath and Aladdin are my gifts to my young audiences.”
In Ravi Chopra’s Bhootnath, the Big B defied his 65 years and performed a heart-in-the-mouth stunt that would have scared the hell out of actors half his age. When reminded of it, he brushes off the derring-do as part of a day’s work.“I think far too much is being made out of the stunt. Yes, every action stunt has its potential dangers, and action directors take adequate precautions and follow safety routines. You could slip and fall while walking ordinarily and break a bone, and conversely, not get a scratch by jumping off a building for a film action sequence. The one I did for Bhootnath was relatively safe. But because of my recent surgery and several other complicated medical conditions, there was an obvious anxiety. However, things went off without incident. Thank God.”
While performing a stunt in 1983, the Big B had suffered a near-fatal injury. “I still remember all the prayers and good wishes of the people. I wouldn’t have survived without them. I would not permit Abhishek to do his stunts. I always ask him to use discretion and take immense precaution.”
Mr Bachchan saw Bhootnath as a benevolent ghost. “He is a little wicked in the beginning, but warms up to the circumstances as he develops a friendship with the kid who has come to inhabit his home. Well, his home before he became a ghost. He is ungainly and unkempt and awkward and not in the best of shape. He is a tad paunchy. And it shows. Had to forget dieting during that process of overindulgence. Luckily, the next shoot was Shoebite, where the character is a semi-retired, paunchy human. Armaan was not the same. It was more a psychological presence in the life of the main lead than a ghostly aberration.”
