Phone Bhoot - 2022

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Introduction

Phone Bhoot is a supernatural Hindi comedy film directed by Gurmmeet Singh and produced by Farhan Akhtar and Ritesh Sidhwani. It was produced under Excel Entertainment and released on 4 November 2022.  Phone Bhoot received a mixed response from a wide range of critics.

The film is centered around a ghost that tries to connect with two ghostbusters for a business idea. But their lives take a different turn as a bewitching ghost pitches her eerie yet thrilling business idea.

Table Of Contents

• Details

• Story

• Release Date

• Reviews

• Cast

• Crew

• Character Analysis

• Songs

• Behind The Scenes

• Controversy

• Box Office Collection

• Interesting Facts

• Conclusion

Details

Story

PlayTwo childhood best friends, Major (Siddhant Chaturvedi) and Gullu (Ishaan Khatter), have been obsessed with the idea of horror themes since childhood. Because of their growing interest, they wanted to make a career out of it and make their fathers proud, but every business idea failed. They relentlessly used to pray to 'Raka', their statue friend who they had reduced from a dump yard behind a film studio back home. 

Given their do-or-die situation, they plan to host a Halloween event. While arranging and managing the event, they notice that the eye bulbs inside Raka's eyes have stopped working. In an attempt to fix the same, both get electrocuted and become unconscious. 

Post waking up from their unconscious state, they both attain the gift of being able to see and communicate with spirits. At the party, oblivious of this newly acquired power, they meet Ragini (Katrina Kaif), a beautiful ghost who seems to have left an impression on them. Ragini follows them to their house and reveals to them that she is, in fact, a ghost and makes them aware of their recently attained superpower. After successfully convincing them of her identity as a ghost, she then pitches a business idea to help them break free from their vicious circle of poverty. The two individuals initially declined the offer.

But soon, things take a turn for the worse when their fathers come for a fleeting visit to inform them that they not only will stop paying for the expenses but also want their invested amount of five crores back.

Seeing no other way out of this problem, Major and Gullu open up a ghost buster service named 'Phone Bhoot'. Their unique venture becomes a nationwide joke. After getting numerous prank calls, they finally receive a legitimate call for their first assignment. When they reach the location for their first case, they eventually find out the call was all Ragini's doing and also become aware that they won't be able to make their venture successful without her help. 

Ragini agrees to become a part of her pitched business idea only if they agree to fulfill their promise of doing her a favor when the time comes, with the only clause being that they cannot say no. Mesmerized by her charm and skills, Gullu and Major agree with the condition. The two humans and one ghost trio officially embark on their journey of making this venture a success. While the whole nation sings the praise of Phone Bhoot, Aatmaram's (Jackie Shroff), a renowned tantrik, resentment grows, and he eventually plans to destroy the creators of Phone Bhoot. 

But all his efforts to harm Major and Gullu go in vain, all thanks to Ragini's help. Atmaram soon becomes aware of Ragini, the ghost's true identity. And soon after, Gullu and Major learn that the favour Ragini had promised them to do was for her own selfish motive of freeing her lover, Dushyant (Armaan Ralhan), from Atmaram's lair. Dejected by her betrayal, they part ways with her but soon discover that she's captured by the evil tantrik during her fight to help attain salvation for all spirits captured by Atmaram. Deciding to end this fight between good and evil once and for all, they face the battle with Atmaram and come out of it victorious. 

Release Date 

Phone Bhoot was released on 4 November 2022 and 21 December 2022 in theatres and on the OTT platform Amazon Prime respectively. The trailer for the film gained a total of 35 million views on YouTube. 

Reviews

IMDb Rating: 5.5/10

Rotten Tomatoes: 3.5/5 

As crazy as it seems, Gurmeet Singh's Phone Bhoot intended to ace the horror-comedy genre, but in an attempt to keep the comedy intact, Singh deviated from reality. The ghostbuster duo's energy is unparalleled, but even they could not save the writer's shabby job in writing the script that neither turned out to be funny nor fun. Even a million pop culture references from Haqeeqat, Gadar, to Fukrey fail to refer to where Phone Bhoot is going after the interval. Jackie Shroff as the villain Atmaram, that collects atmas, could not charge the phone enough for the bhoot to land the jokes.

Phone Bhoot's absurdism fails to justify the bhootni's intent on seeking vengeance, the hero's drive, villain's intent.  Phone Bhoot has a glamorous cast but somehow fails to pack a punch and entertain the audience under its garb of silly, senseless jokes.

Casting 

Crew 

Producer -  Farhan Akhtar & Ritesh Sidhwani

Line Producers - Diya Bachchani & Sumit Gyanchandaney   

Co-Producer - Kassim Jagmagia 

Executive Producer - Abbas Raza Khan 

Associate Producer - Vishal Ramchandani 

Post-Production Supervisor  - Oajaswi Sharma 

Line Producer: Rajasthan - Sanjay Soni & Siddharth Soni 

Music -  Tanishk Bagchi, Mikey McCleary, Rochak Kohli

Singers - Baba Sehgal, Rochak Kohli, Lisa Mishra, Zahrah S Khan, Tanishk Bagchi, Romy, Sakshi Holkar

Cinematography - K U Mohanan

Character Analysis

• Ishaan Khatter as Gullu and Siddhant Chaturvedi as Sherdil Shergil: The plot is centered around the young and handsome Gullu and Sherdil Shergil. They nailed their characters as charming Punjabi and Tamil ghostbusters to help spirits attain salvation. Their roles are comical. With their spot-on comic timing, they did justice to the horror comedy. The characters played by the actors have contrary personalities, which allows them to showcase the best of both worlds. 

• Katrina Kaif as Ragini Maheshwari: Raghini's characteristics as a ghost are contrary to the conventional features of a ghost. She is a charming and determined spirit who wants to fight for love and justice even on the other side of the mortal realm.  However, Ragini's backstory failed to create a lasting impact on the viewers and needed a better narrative. 

• Jackie Shroff as Atmaram Dhyani: Atmaram Dhyani is the evil tantrik and surrenders to the role of the villain. He creates an absurdist mood for the audience. Given Jackie Shroff's role and personality, everyone expected heavy and humourous lines from him but was highly disappointed. 

Songs

Behind The Scenes

• On 20 October 2022, actor Katrina Kaif shared a behind-the-scenes video on her Instagram. The videos show Katrina, Ishaan and Siddhant having fun while practising the dance steps with the crew. She called it 'madness, just a little shoot madness'. 

• Another video gives us a sneak peek into the BTS of Phone Bhoot. The videos show Katrina managing her bangs and having fun on the film sets. The video ends with Katrina receiving a hand massage from Ishaan and Sidhhant and a shoulder massage from another crew. She says, 'life is tough'. 

Controversy

With Phone Bhoot's release, there was a lot of criticism towards it. Critics have tried to mention the difference between laughing at a movie and laughing at it. An article in The Indian Express states that the characters have failed to create a story here. The nature of Gullu's character undermined the efforts to create a believable story. Phone Bhoot appears goofy, with its characters looking at the audience with desperation as if they are aware that all of this is really 'stupid'. 

Box Office Collection

The result was quite disappointing on day 1 of the Phone Bhoot box office collection. The film minted only ₹ 2.05 crore. It was released on over 1400 screens and managed to impress only about 10-12% of the audience. Phone Bhoots' theatrical run was expected to end at ₹20 crores. But the lifetime collection ended at ₹14 crores.

• Opening Day: ₹2.05 crore

• End of Opening Weekend: ₹7.70 crore

• End of Week 1: ₹12.76 crore

• End of Week 2: ₹13.91 crore

• End of Week 3: ₹14.01 crore

Interesting Facts

Here are some interesting facts that you should know about Phone Bhoot and its stars. 

• It is Katrina Kaif's third project with Excel Entertainment. Previously, she had worked with the crew for Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara and Baar Baar Dekho. This movie was the first time the three actors, Katrina, Ishaan and Siddhant, were acting together. 

• The house walls of Sidhhant and Ishaan are covered with the film posters of Ram Say Brother and Raj Kumar Kohli's Jaani Dushman. 

• The intro music of the Phone Booth was inspired by Metallica's 'Enter the Sandman'. Farhan Akhtar is a huge fan of metal music and wanted to take the best bits for his song. 

• The writers have incorporated subtle ad placements (Vasmol, Vicks) that act exactly like a creative sponsor message while watching a YouTube video. 

Conclusion

Phone Bhoot revolved around the lives of two horror film addicts, Major and Gullu. You'll find a battle between good and evil and funny encounters with ghosts. Phone Bhoot has a bizarre and outlandish way of introducing comedy to the audience. 

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