We saw Bhootnath this weekend - not a sort of movie we would actually go out to see on a friday evening; especially with no kids in tow.. It just happened to be the only show we could catch that night.
From the looks of it - the posters I mean, it’s seemed like a kid-friendly movie. We didn’t have very high expectations from it and surprisingly it was quite a delight but just the first half. Amitabh is fanta-bulous as usual and this movie showcases another little wonder in the child actor ’Banku’. Juhi is at her bubbly best (isn’t that the only thing she does best also :) The movie is very enjoyable (again to be precise the first half) the anecdotes between the bhoot and the kid. The very well choreographed fun hip-hop styled song which shows the clash between the two boys, it was a first for us so we liked it but I am sure folks with televisions have already seen it a zillion times.

It’s best not to talk about the second half, trust me - you would not miss a thing if you walked off during the intermission. The second half is too preachy it being Baghban part-2. I wouldn’t have dreamt a movie which has such a light hearted and fun first half would have such a drastic twist in the story. From being a jolly children-centric movie it becomes a sermonizing, sentimental, don’t-leave-ur-parents story for the parents abandoning NRIs. The post-interval is made just about bearable by the child actors presence and his innocent/ witty remarks and offcourse for SRK fans there’s a bit of him in the second half. The movie also had too many unwanted songs, except for two songs the rest were in there just to meet the 3 hour movie duration.

It’s a good watch with the kids but I am not too sure they would enjoy the second half and definitely not worth going to the multiplex for it. Might as well just wait till the DVD is out where you can completely skip the boring part without the guilt of spending too much for it   :)