Bhooth Bangla’s first half is crazy and transports you back to Priyadarshan’s beloved 2000s gems like Hera Pheri, Chup Chup Ke, Hungama, Hulchul and Bhool Bhulaiyaa. Hence, expect a lot of physical comedy, characters screaming at each other, misunderstandings leading to maddening humour, etc. The horror angle also works well, and the intermission point is a shocker. However, the film drops in the second half. Here, humour takes a backseat and horror takes center stage. The flashback is hardly enticing. Also, it’s shocking that certain characters simply disappear in the second half. Performance-wise, Akshay Kumar is terrific. There’s no one like him when it comes to comedy and he proves it yet again. Rajpal Yadav comes next and he delivers an entertaining performance. Paresh Rawal gets a bit overpowered but leaves a mark. The late Asrani is a surprise and some of his scenes will leave audiences in splits. Among the actresses, Mithila Palkar has the best role, followed by Bhavna Pani (Ragini). Wamiqa Gabbi does fine, but her role is unnecessary. Tabu is shockingly underutilized. Jisshu Sengupta, Rajesh Sharma, Manoj Joshi and Zakir Hussain are fair. All in all, Bhooth Bangla is worth watching once, especially for its hilarious first half.
My rating – *** out of 5!