12 September,2021 07:12 AM IST | Mumbai | Mayank Shekhar
Bhoot Police
Saif Ali Khan, I suspect, will go down in Hindi movie history as the '90s carat star, who made the most interesting choices in his later career. And sometimes, out of boredom, or sheer momentary excitement of a script-narration, showed up on a set to simply shoot the breeze!
Since, publicly, he comes across as self-aware, you can't help but feel he's actually mocking himself on screen, doing what he does - or indeed the movie he's in! Bhoot Police is one such.
It's about a pair of exorcists ("vashikaran specialists") - two nomadic, dude babas, from nowhere, travelling in an American style RV - expelling evil spirits from people/places. Saif's character doesn't believe in this bhoot-pret line (of clothing/work). His brother (Arjun Kapoor) does. Their father was a famous baba, which calls for a nudge-wink inside-joke on nepotism!
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They've been hired to clear a tea-estate of a particular ghost variety called Kichkandi. This is where two brothers meet two sister-owners - Yami Gautam, and Jacqueline Fernandes, with the camera lens subtly seduced by her posterior. She's interested in selling off family property to serve Long Island ice teas at a London bar instead.
Saif's character addresses tea-estate gaon wallon with, "Mitron", posing as man with answer to all their prayers. The two men meet a monk who says, "Bhaag jao (run away)" - which is apt instruction for audience, right before interval, given the limited jokes dry up after half-time. They refuse, because they have to "get to the bottom of the story".
Saying interval, since that's how I watched this supposed horror comedy, at a press preview, in a dark hall - as against randomly surfing online. Which is how it's dropped on an OTT, and that could be a less intrusive experience.
All I could see was an old-world Bollywood "project", post Stree, with four stars (male, female), shot during pandemic, with restricted locations, by horror movies' director of Ragini MMS, and Phobia, that I've heard good things about. With nothing here to write home about.
I know you're not supposed to take this film seriously - even when the film does. But how do you take this film, after a point, is the more serious question!
