Review: 'Phone Bhoot' impresses with innovation presenting umpteen references but lacks a good core story

Phone Bhoot

To be having a film as original and innovative as it can get is now a benchmark in Bollywood owing to the splurge of remakes and adaptations taking over. And Phone Bhoot is just the kind of original concept you want to give a chance to. With umpteen movie references, meta humor, slapstick and self-aware comedy, Phone Bhoot excels in all departments except the biggest one - its core story.

Having had the chance to see the film, here is what I thought of it-

Innovation & References Galore

This film might impress you or might not but to a cinephile who is a sucker for movie references and meta humor, this was like entering a buffet spoilt for choices. Right from the obvious and constant referencing to 70s and 80s Ramsay Brothers' horror films to even taking real life situations and even endorsements of Katrina Kaif and inserting it as meta humor in the film, it is an absolute delight. Almost every other sequence is filled with silly, slapstick humor where some of them land and some of them don't but it still becomes a treat to be watching self-aware comedy in its full glory. This obviously leads to innovation in the screenplay and dialogues which further become an added plus to the entirety.

Katrina Kaif

Casting Kaif as the ghost was a smart call where the director was able to play with the limitations of Kaif as an actor with full creative freedom. One sequence which is already there in the trailer where she is consoling another character for having had Hindi is an example but the use of one real life endorsement that Kaif is a part of was a moment I was laughing out loudly. Kaif is terrific and pretty much the leader in this pack as she controls these two silly and lunatic misfits who can see ghosts.

Underwhelming Core Story

What was supposed to be the most important factor in this insanity was having a impactful core story, however it is anything but. The entire saga through which all this lunacy takes place is rather underwhelming which further makes the film longer as well. The back story given to Kaif is extremely formulaic and doesn't leave any impact.

Siddhant Chaturvedi and Ishaan Khatter's bromance

Got to give kudos to Chaturvedi and Ishaan to make sense of the nonsense and deliver food performances. They are the odd couple like Amar and Prem from Andaaz Apna Apna who are just batshit crazy but innocent and adorable. It is their chemistry and bromance that make even silly one-liners land amidst all the other forms of slapstick humor.

The Verdict

Phone Bhoot is as original and innovative as a film can be and that itself is a big reason to watch it. For thr nerds and cinephiles, it is Paradise to see something so unique but unfortunately the story doesn't match the same levels of fun and madness

Rating - *** (3/5)