It's a little ironical that actress Manisha Koirala makes her comeback in Bollywood with 'Bhoot Returns'. Ram Gopal Varma's sequel to his 2003 hit horror flick 'Bhoot', that gave us goosebumps, only makes us laugh this time around. Within minutes of you putting on your 3D glasses, you know there isn't much to expect from this stale story that's not even packaged differently.

What's it about?
Like all other horror flicks from this side of the world, 'Bhoot Returns' comes ready with the usual ingredients of a family shifting into a new house that is haunted. A small child through whom unforeseen incidents happen in the house and a servant on whom the entire blame can be put up until the climax reveals something else is just too cliche.

Namrata Awasthi (Manisha Koirala) and her husband Tarun (JD Chakravarthy) along with their two kids, Taman and Nimi, move into a new house after the earlier tenants left in a jiffy. Things change as soon as their six-year-old daughter Nimi starts talking about an imaginary friend, Shabbo. When Tarun's sister, Pooja, a photographer comes home for a vacation, she starts suspecting Shabbo to be something more than just an imaginary friend. 

What follows are funny shots of them pacing up and down the stairs in the middle of the night looking for something eerie. A scene that shows Pooja, Tarun and Namrata hiding from each other suspecting something spooky, will have everyone around you in splits. To put this film under the genre of horror is insulting. The film also borrows from the popular 'Paranormal activities' series but it's too late by then.

The cinematographer seems obsessed with the idea of depth of field as it is used in every second shot. Otherwise, extreme close-ups fill up the frame. The framing of the shots sometimes is so random that for long moments you are forced to look at just Manisha's fat fingers while holding a mug. There is hardly a need for 3D and the heavy frames on your nose just leave you irked. The cacophony background score that is intended to induce an element of startle and fright fails as well. We still prefer the scary doorbell from 'Bhoot' than all the music in this one put together. 

Manisha Koirala does not leave us with a performance to talk about and we blame it on her decision of choosing ‘Bhoot 2’ her comeback vehicle more than anything else. She disappoints in some scenes especially towards the end where the entire family is trying to protect each other from the attacks. Alayana Sharma as the little Nimi is a cute kid and hardly give you the creeps. She is usually missing from the screenplay and enters only periodically to make a remark or two. The climax scene with Nimi holding a huge knife looks out of place. The amateur make-up (dark circles under her eyes) in the last scene along with the comical turn of events (with Manisha pushed to the wall by an unseen force) remind you of laughter shows on television.

What to do?
Dust your old horror movies collection instead and give 'Bhoot Returns' a miss!

In.com rating:1/5

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