Movie Review: The Bhootnii – A Horror Comedy That Misses More Than It Hits
Rating: ★☆☆☆☆½ (1.5/5)
The Bhootnii, directed by Sidhaant Sachdev, sets out to merge romance, horror, and comedy into one ambitious package. With a cast featuring Sanjay Dutt, Palak Tiwari, Mouni Roy, Nick, and Aasif Khan, the film attempts to tap into Bollywood’s increasingly popular horror-comedy trend. But ambition without execution is a dangerous thing—and The Bhootnii is a shining (or rather, flickering) example of that.
The story centers around Shantanu (played by Sunny Singh), a heartbroken college student desperate for sacchhi mohabbat. On Valentine’s Day, in a moment of dramatic despair, he tries to end his life under a supposedly magical “Virgin Tree” that grants true love to its devotees. Instead of love, he unleashes an eerie chain of events connected to a mysterious ghostly presence that haunts the college campus.
When another student attempts suicide under similar circumstances, the college management panics and brings in a paranormal expert—none other than the leather-jacketed Baba (Sanjay Dutt), who once walked the same campus halls as a student. What follows is a bizarre mix of ghost-hunting, awkward jokes, and misplaced drama.
What Works: Meta References and a Dash of Genre Familiarity
To give credit where it’s due, The Bhootnii doesn’t lack ideas. The horror-comedy genre has been successful in Bollywood in recent years, and the film tries to play within that sandbox. It adds clever meta-references here and there—nuggets that remind the viewer that the makers know they’re working with clichés.
These moments are the rare times the film comes alive. A handful of witty dialogues poke fun at tropes and Bollywood stereotypes, momentarily waking the audience from the slumber induced by the film’s otherwise aimless storytelling. Unfortunately, these rare highs are drowned out by the film’s overall incoherence.
What Fails: Everything Else, Sadly
Let’s start with the story—or the lack thereof. The plot is so thin, it could pass through a sieve. The screenplay feels like a patchwork of half-baked scenes thrown together without rhythm or reason. Every time the film seems to pick up, it immediately nose-dives into confusion. There’s no narrative grip, and the characters wander through scenes without clear motivations or arcs.
The horror? Unscary. The comedy? Flat. The romance? Forced. In trying to juggle so many genres, The Bhootnii forgets to do justice to even one. Director Sidhaant Sachdev and co-writer Vankush Arora seem more invested in creating punchlines and throwaway jokes than telling a coherent story.
The first half is especially painful, with nothing entertaining enough to hold attention. The second half improves marginally but still fails to redeem the film. Sanjay Dutt as Baba is reduced to a gimmick, his character lacking both depth and energy.
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Sound Design & Music: A Laughable Miss
The film’s background score feels like it was borrowed from TikTok or Instagram Reels—disjointed, loud, and tonally inconsistent. Instead of building tension or enhancing comic moments, the BGM distracts and irritates.
The music is just as forgettable. None of the tracks stick with you, and some even detract from whatever atmosphere the film tries to build. It’s as if the music team gave up midway, just like the screenplay writers.
Performances: A Mixed Bag with No Standouts
Palak Tiwari and Mouni Roy are given very little to work with. Their characters are poorly sketched and exist more for plot convenience than actual development. Sunny Singh tries his best to bring earnestness to Shantanu, but even his sincerity can’t save the paper-thin material.
Sanjay Dutt is the only actor who could’ve brought some gravitas to the film, but he’s underutilized and seems disinterested. His Baba is supposed to be a quirky paranormal expert with a history, but what we get is a bland caricature with forced punchlines.
Final Verdict: Horror-Comedy Doesn’t Mean You Can Skip the Basics
The Bhootnii is a classic case of mistaking formula for magic. Horror-comedy is not just about inserting a ghost and cracking jokes—it requires a tight script, engaging characters, and tonal balance. This film delivers none of that.
Despite a few clever lines and genre references, The Bhootnii is a disjointed, uninspired film that doesn’t know what it wants to be. It tries to ride the success of earlier films in the horror-comedy space but ends up as an unmemorable misfire.
