The Bhootnii Review: Sanjay Dutt, Mouni Roy’s Film Fails To Scare Or Tickle!
Directed by Sidhaant Sachdev, The Bhootnii stars Sanjay Dutt, Mouni Roy, Sunny Singh, and more, and it's currently running in theatres!
1 / 5
Nowadays, in Bollywood there are two types of films that dominate the screens: alpha-male action flicks packed with intense stunts and horror-comedies that promise a mixture of spooky thrills and goofy laughs. The Bhootnii, starring Sanjay Dutt, Mouni Roy, Sunny Singh, and Palak Tiwari, falls firmly into the horror-comedy club. As a huge fan of this genre, I was excited for fun, silliness, comedy, and jump scares. Did the film deliver? Read on to know!
Plot Of The Bhootnii
At St Vincent College, there’s an old tree that everyone says is haunted. They even named it the Virgin Tree. It’s believed a ghost lives there. However, this ghost has a strange routine. Every Valentine’s Day, the ghost wakes up, looking for someone to love. But instead of spreading love, the ghost messes things up during the Holika Dahan festival. It’s quite a chaotic situation! One of the students in the college is a sweet but unlucky-in-love guy named Shantanu, played by Sunny Singh. He really wishes to find someone special. Little did he know that his wish would actually wake up the ghost, Mohabbat. And that’s when the funny but scary events start happening all over the college.
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Things get so weird and spooky that the college calls in a special person. This is Baba, played by Sanjay Dutt. He’s like a ghost detective, someone who knows how to deal with spirits. Baba comes to St Vincent College to try and stop Mohabbat and bring peace back to the students. It’s going to be a tough job because Mohabbat is no ordinary ghost! But even he won’t back down. So, what do you think will happen? You can find out in theatres.
Performances
The performances are hit-and-miss. Aasif Khan steals the show with his comic timing, especially in the second half. His punchlines got some chuckles from me. But these laughs are rare, which is a big letdown for a comedy-horror. I could count my laughs on one hand. Mouni Roy shines as Mohabbat, the Bhootnii. Her eerie look with glowing eyes and fiery aura is spooky yet fun. Palak Tiwari is a breath of fresh air as Shantanu’s love interest. She brings charm, but her role feels small, and her chemistry with Sunny Singh is weak.
Sunny Singh’s dialogue delivery was flat. He felt miscast as a college kid and looks too old for the part. Sanjay Dutt, as Baba, was alright. He swings swords and struts with swag, but his role is thin and offers nothing memorable. BeYouNick, who made his Bollywood debut with this film, left me disappointed big time. His dialogue delivery was stiff, and his comedy felt forced. The cast tries, but the script doesn’t give them much to work with.
Verdict: It Offers No Thrills Or Giggles
The horror in The Bhootnii is a total bust. There’s no scariness, no jump scares, nothing to make you flinch. The haunted tree and Mouni’s ghost look cool at first, but they get old fast. The film uses dark lighting and creepy visuals, but they didn’t build tension or create an eerie vibe. The comedy was average. For a horror-comedy, the laughs are almost nonexistent. The punchlines felt like they were lifted from cheesy Facebook posts. The humour is childish and tries way too hard to make you laugh. It was like the movie was begging for giggles, but the theatre was silent, except for the sound of popcorn crunching. Aasif Khan’s one-liners save a few moments, but the rest of the jokes flop. The film needed sharp, clever humour, not lazy gags.
The direction and writing are the film’s biggest flaws. The first half drags with boring college scenes. The second half gets a bit better with some action and Aasif’s amazing comic timing and dialogue delivery, but it’s not enough. The screenplay is a mess. Dialogues are forgettable, as it literally sounds like outdated internet memes. Visually, the film has some okay moments. The cinematography uses dark, moody shots well. The VFX for the haunted tree and Mouni’s ghost are decent. The background music is bland and failed to boost the mood. Action scenes, like Sanjay Dutt’s sword fights, are fun but too short to matter. The film has a sci-fi twist that barely shows up, but The Bhootnii doesn’t deliver. The romance between Sunny Singh and Palak Tiwari feels flat, with no emotional pull. Even Dutt’s star power can’t lift the dull script.
In the end, The Bhootnii is a big letdown. The second half improves a bit with Aasif Khan’s comedy and some action, but the film falls flat overall. The acting is mostly poor, with only Mouni and Aasif standing out. The direction and writing are sloppy, with childish humour and no scares. As a horror-comedy fan, I wanted fun and frights, but sadly there were none. If you want to watch a real horror-comedy treat, this one’s not for you. However, you can give it a try. Directed by Sidhaant Sachdev, the film releases on May 1st.
First Published: May 01, 2025 10:05 AM
