'BHOOT' - murder by mortal or ghost?. Review on Bhoot

Yet another masterpiece from Ramgopal Verma,'BHOOT' is an intriguing movie in every sense from the plot ,to the acting ,direction and special effects.

THE CAST

Ajay Devgan:As Vishal

Urmila Matondkar:As Swati

Fardeen Khan:As Sanjay

Rekha:An individual associated with black magic.

Seema Biswas:As a servant in the haunted house(Bai).

Tanuja:As the dead girl's mother.

Nana Patekar:Inspector L. Kuresh

What the movie's all about?

Vishal and Swati,a couple move into a new flat,previously occupied by a girl by the name of Manjit.The manager warns Vishal about the circumstances of her death.Seemingly,she had committed suicide from her balcony.Vishal thinks it irrelevant to tell Swati about all this,however it turns out to be very significant when she finds about it by accident.That is when the problems start.Within days of her arrival Swati finds herself having strange hallucinations,sleepwalking etc.She is convinced that the ghost of Manjit still resides in that house.Troubled by her everyday gibberish,Vishal takes her to a doctor who says that she's just suffering from the trauma of learning about the circumstances of Manjit's death,that it wasn't serious. However things only get more serious,as she changes and changes,no longer the same Swati,very distant,often in a lost state of mind.One night Vishal is disturbed to find Swati missing from her bed and is both horrified and astounded to find the nightguard dead on his chair,with his neck having been twisted by a complete 180 degrees.No longer in his senses,he stumbles back into his room only to find Swati walking in too.She has however a face devoid of any expression,completely unaware of his presence.Vishal is scared,but keeps quiet out of love for her.Things get rougher with Swati attacking Vishal and he has no other option other than to tie her up to keep her quiet.

POSSESSED OR M.P.D.?

The psychiatrist says she has a severe case of multiple personality disorder,where one personality which must have been born out of the realisation of the trauma Manjit had undergone while dying. However Bai,Vishal's servant makes Vishal believe that Swati has been posessed by none other than Manjit's spirit and that they needed to see a tantrik.That is played by none other than Rekha,who is able to fathom some strange visions instantly on entering Vishal's house.She tells Vishal to leave her alone with Swati for some time.After the passage of some time,on her request Manjit's mother and Sanjay the flat manager's son are requested to come too.Once everyone arrives Rekha confronts Sanjay with a story which she had apparently has learnt from Swati.

THE STORY OF MANJIT

Sanjay once having been obsessed with Manjit ,frustrated at not being able to make her his own had pushed her from her balcony and to wipe off witnesses had done the same with her son.He had bribed the guard to keep quiet.But... Manjit was back for revenge.The guard was dead.There could surely be no doubt about who the next would be.....A dramatic sequence of events occur involving Swati who won't let Sanjay off alive,who is finally forced to confess.Even Ins.Kuresh and Dr.Rajan who maintain throughout that there is no ghost are taken aback by the proceedings.This is followed by Swati,becoming her old self,...for the time being.

MY AVENUES OF COMPREHENSION SO FAR

There are 2 possibilities.

1.Manjit's mom had arranged for Swati to give in to the illusions she had created for her to see and experience everyday while Vishal was away at work and at night.Finally, when she had developed a M.P.D. under the applied pressure,she had used Rekha's black magic to hypnotise the second personality within her to say what she says to take revenge on Sanjay.Induced M.P.D.,maybe?

2.The second possibility of course,is that Swati is possessed by Manjit's spirit craving for justice.

So WHICH ONE HOLDS?

That was made very clear by what happened next. Well,what movie would it be if there is no ghost in a movie whose title implies so.The movie ends with Fardeen Khan(Sanjay) in jail,pondering over his deeds only to find that Manjit's ghost has followed him there too,to haunt him for the rest of his life.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE MOVIE

1.Well,if there ever was any doubt about Urmila's acting,give her any role and she always seems to come up with an awesome performance.This was no less,i assure you.

2.Seema Biswas for me,played a perfect creepy servant,an eerie character in a haunted house,fitting.

3.It is one of those movies ,where the situation is built up nice and slow,leading to a final release of excitment and tension not one for heart patients,you want thrills you'll get plenty of it here.

4.The direction and special effects have an excellent combination here,the sense of anticipation almost tending to urgency at times affected with great precision.

5.Nana Patekar,with his usual funny comments is a welcome break between the tense-cum-absorbing incidents,helps us to relax a bit.

Only Con:The last quarter of the movie has been hurried a bit. So,don't think twice,just go ahead and watch it.A must see from any possible angle.

(A NITIN MANMOHAN PRODUCTION)