Bhoot (2003)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

Director:

Ram Gopal Varma

Writers:

Lalit Marathe (writer)
Sameer Sharma (writer)

Release Date:

30 May 2003 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Plot:

Manjeet Khosla lives with her widowed mom in Bombay, India. She gets married, gives birth to a son, and separates from her spouse...

Plot Keywords:

Building | Apartment | Watchman | Psychiatrist | Police Inspector

Awards:

10 wins & 9 nominations

Cast

Ajay Devgan	...	Vishal
Urmila Matondkar	...	Swati
Nana Patekar	...	Inspector Liyaqat Qureshi
Rekha	...	Sarita
Fardeen Khan	...	Sanjay Thakkar
Victor Banerjee	...	Dr. Rajan
Tanuja	...	Mrs. Khosla
Seema Biswas	...	Kamla Bai
Amar Talwar	...	Thakker
Barkha Madan	...	Manjeet Khosla
Sabir Masani	...	Watchman
Rajendra Sethi	...	Patil
Lalit Marathe	...	Dr. Shyam
Peeya Rai Chowdhary	...	Peeya
Rekha Kamat	...	Vishal's neighbor - Old woman

Also Known As:

Ghost (International: English title) (informal literal title)
Ghost House (Philippines: English title)

Runtime:

India:113 min

Country:

India

Language:

Hindi

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

India:A | Philippines:PG-13 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Filmistan Studios, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Company:

Dream Merchants Enterprise

Trivia:

The film broke several rules of Bollywood formula films and was nonetheless successful. There were no songs, it was only two hours long, it was heroine-centered, and it was a horror story, not a love story.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Urmila must climb 12 flights of stairs she is wearing peep-toe sandals with a heel of about 1 inch. But when she enters the flat she is wearing a three-inch heel with straps around the ankle. Similarly, when Rehka first meets Ajay Devgan she is wearing heels. When we see her entering the apartment building she is wearing flat sandals, but once inside the apartment she is wearing another -- different -- pair of heels.

Movie Connections:

Remade as Shock (2004)

decent Indian horror film

Bhoot is a ghost story and a story of revenge and possession. Vishal and Swati have just moved into a swank Bombay apartment on the 10th floor and Vishal has failed to tell Swati that the previous resident jumped from the balcony to her death, figuring that what she doesn't know can't hurt her. He couldn't be more wrong. Strange things are happening and it seems like the former resident is still around and manipulating things from beyond the grave to expose her killer. This is more traditional Asian horror (think, Japan or Korea) than the Bollywood horror epics of the past (as in, no musical numbers in this), and works fairly well. Puts me in mind of Ju-On or something like that, actually. As Vishal seeks medical attention for Swati it seems that as time goes on he realizes that her condition is not medical and a creepy medium is brought in to help, as well as the mother of the deceased. A fairly creepy little offering and well worth seeing if you don't mind subtitles. 8 out of 10.