Movie Review: Bhooth Bangla (2026): From Dhurandhar’s Peak Detailing to Bhooth Bangla’s Weak Detailing; Bollywood Comes Around in Just a Month

A few weeks ago, 'Dhurandhar: The Revenge' had hit the cinema halls, and everyone said one thing, that it had “peak detailing”. Last week, another Bollywood film released, with Akshay Kumar, the hero of the masses in its lead. After watching it, I could not stop myself from noticing its “weak detailing”. Here is how. 

1. Similarity with Bhool Bhulaiyaa franchise: You will keep missing Kartik Aaryan 

Although, the original ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’ (2007) film was directed by Priyadarshan, the same director of this film, and Akshay Kumar was its hero, but the real mass success of the franchise had occurred only when Kartik Aaryan had joined it for Part 2 and 3. About 20 years passed since the first film, and by now, Kartik Aaryan is synonymous with Bhool Bhulaiyaa franchise. And this film does not have Kartik! To make it feel weirder, this film still has almost whole cast of Bhool Bhulaiyaa franchise: Tabu, Rajpal Yadav, Manoj Joshi, Asrani, Paresh Rawal, etc. It keeps feeling as if the film makers chose Akshay instead of Kartik "by mistake". 

2. Akshay Kumar as boyfriend material 

Akshay Kumar is about 59 years old. And it shows in this film and we can’t ignore it. After a few scenes at the beginning, we can see his “chest hair” which is grey and weird. After a while, we need to see how his whole body skin is wrinkled, like a 75 year old man. We also need to notice every once in a while that he has “polished” his face to appear younger, and it has resulted in his face not matching with rest of his body and it keeps feeling “what the yukk”. His father-in-law Superstar Rajesh Khanna at least had the decency to take up "father roles: after he aged. Akshay Kumar is still chasing girls in the bushes. In one scene, when Akshay Kumar meets the fiancée of his sister, he calls him "beta" in a natural tone. That scene "nailed" the weak detailing of this film like a hard fact.   

3. Vulgarity in Comedy 

At the beginning of the film, in a comic scene, Rajpal Yadav pulls down Akshay Kumar’s trouser by mistake, and we are forced to see his bum, totally naked. At first, I could not believe “what just happened”, but I knew it was weak detailing camouflaged as peak detailing. After a while, the movie focuses entirely on the “housemaid” to create vulgar comedy. Rajpal Yadav, the famous “mandir ka ghanta” whom anyone can ring when one feels like, is made the villain while it is not even his fault – although this part has become totally hilarious. And by the end of the film, there is a song where group of women are dancing, and the same housemaid is seen dressed and dancing like other rich noble women. Weak detailing. 

4. Wamiqa Gabbi as a fresh face in the female lead 

Perhaps the only sane and logical character in this film is of Wamiqa Gabbi who plays female lead opposite Akshay Kumar. She is shown as extremely beautiful, although at times she starts resembling Aishwarya Rai and at times even Alaya Furniturewalla (female lead of Kartik Aryan’s film Freddy (2022). She brings a fresh face among all other old stale, wrinkled stars. But then, our happiness is not made to last long. A few scenes into the film and I could not stop noticing that her upper tooth was “bent”. Out of the two front upper teeth, one is longer than the usual and is also bent as if dentist has tried grinding it to make it even. I know that it is not her fault, that best of the Hollywood stars also had some teeth problem, and it feels like “body shaming”, but I have just put my observations since I could not “un-notice” it. Almost feeling guilty now, but I wonder if this should be considered normal in the age of “peak detailing”. 

5. Other weak detailing

The movie’s plot is so weak and full of holes. First, no one can understand the necessity to conduct the wedding in that haunted palace even after it becomes clear that the bride would die if she gets married in that venue. The ghost fears light, but in the end scene the ghost is shown as making offering of twelve brides to demon in a cave full of “fire torches” which obviously emit “light”. In the climax scene in the cave, the bride’s wedding saree keeps changing colour from red to pink and pink to red. There is unnecessary “doubling” of characters and even Akshay Kumar plays a double-role and it becomes too confusing. The palaces in the film clearly look like Rajasthani palaces, but are claimed to be situated somewhere in UP. The scenes of world famous ghats of Varanasi and pictures of the city having multi-storey buildings are shown as some old city from centuries ago. And after completing this whole film about ghosts, Akshay Kumar does “virtue signalling” by slapping the astrologer of his sister’s in-laws after taking him aside in secret, and then tells him “do not tell anyone or else they will laugh at you”. It made no sense why the big jyotishi would tolerate getting slapped like that. And this “do not tell anyone” is repeated so many times in the film, and so many characters tell the same “do not tell anyone about this” to so many other characters so frequently, that this weak detailing becomes a joke.  

6. The bhoot and the horror are well-made and feel original 

Although slightly similar to the Bhool Bhulaiyaa franchise, the ghost/demon (bhoot) in this film resembling a bat, is really innovative and appears real. And the bhoot is finally a 'male', not a female ‘chudail’ like earlier films. The horror scenes are able to make you feel horrified and the use of old temple and gospel stories from the Hindu epic tales feel very real. But at the same time, I did not like the way Akshay Kumar is able to physically hurt the bhoot in the climax scene and the very long fight scene where he appears almost equal in physical strength to the Rakshasa. What is even the point of a big fight scene in the climax when everyone knows that the “hero will get beaten up at first but will be able to kill the villain eventually”. It is like a “fixed match” no one will bet even a paisa on. But then, this should not be surprising, since we are dealing with Bollywood’s ordinary films with weak detailing. 

Final verdict: Recommended 

All said and done, the film is entertaining, with too many comic and laughter scenes and at the same time some very good horror in the later part, with usual performances by the cast. The setup of royal palaces of Rajasthan and the dense jungle scenes are also nice to watch. I think this film should definitely qualify for an entertaining casual watch and hence I recommend it, despite my freak detailing in this blog review. 

- Rahul

 

Travelogue: E-Square Multiplex, Xion Mall, Hinjawadi, Pune

 

(C) Rahul 

Travelogue: Cognizant (CTS), Hinjawadi Ph1, Pune

 

(C) Rahul 

Poem: Nashik

Indians went to space and landed on moon

and we are also getting bullet train soon

but when something is done in TCS Nashik by a goon

the guardians of the trade are found to be cartoon

 

the govt promises action but waits for next distraction

so that people's memory can face obstruction

we are expected to move from one tragedy to the next

until we fell victim one day and end up in a text

then the cycle is expected to repeat

I wonder what they sent the man on moon to complete

Perhaps they know there is no TCS on the moon

And the demons on the earth won't reach there by noon

 

- Rahul Tiwary

Travelogue: INOX Megaplex, Phoenix Mall of the Millennium, Wakad, Pune

 

Travelogue: Phoenix Mall of the Millennium, Wakad, Pune

Travelogue: Shaheed Tukaram Ombale Udyan (Garden), Wakad, Pune

 

Hindu Temple: Shri Hanuman Babosa Mandir, Wakad, Pune

 

Travelogue: Walnut School, Wakad, Pune

 

Travelogue: Sabji Mandi, Wakad, Pune

 

Travelogue: I Love Wakad Selfie Point, Pune

 

Travelogue: Shaniwar Wada, Pune

Shaniwar Wada is a historic fortification in Pune, built in 1732 by Peshwa Bajirao I, serving as the seat of the Peshwas rulers of the great Maratha Empire. 

- Rahul 

Travelogue: Parwati Hills, Pune

Parvati Hill is located in the southern part of Pune and stands at an altitude of approximately 2,100 feet. It is one of the oldest heritage sites in the city, featuring a temple complex that includes the Devdeveshwar Temple, dedicated to Shiva Parvati family, along with other temples for deities like Vishnu and Kartikeya. The hill is accessible via stone steps and offers panoramic views of Pune and its surroundings. The area is rich in history, associated with the Peshwa rulers of the Maratha Empire, and is a popular spot for both locals and tourists.

Peshwa Museum :- 

View of Pune from the Parvati Hill top :- 

Shri Dev-Deveshwar Mandir, a historic temple established by Nanasaheb Peshwa:- 

Samadhi of Shrimant Balaji Bajirao and Nanasaheb Peshwa:- 

= Rahul 

Movie Review: Dhurandhar 2: A Dehumanising Film Which Tries Hard to Erase the Line Between Good and Evil

 

I had not been watching movies these days and I had given the Dhurandhar hype a total ignore when it happened. After a few months of witnessing patriotic meltdown by almost whole country, and criticism by mainly the supporters of opposition parties, I happened to watch Dhurandhar 2: The Revenge. I will try to briefly tell you the reason I regret watching it. 

Violence: Whole film is filled with worst kind of violence 

From the start of the film till the end, the entire film is filled with sickening violence. And they do not just stop at shooting or hacking someone; they would shoot at one’s private body parts, for example, to make it more vomit-worthy. It seemed the movie makers were competing with some of the worst Hollywood’s unfiltered violent films while making this one. And you will notice that you do not feel sadness or sympathy while seeing these acts of violence, because these have been picturized in such a manner not to appeal to your sympathy-glands. These scenes are designed to “dehumanise” you and if it is a sign of genius, we must regret it. People are shown being massacred and the background music plays as if a birthday party of a kid is being celebrated. Dhurandhar 2 is a celebration of normalization of worst kind of violence. 

Language: Whole film is filled with abuses and cuss words 

One can even justify the use of violence to show the environment (Pakistani gang-war) in which the story was evolving. But nothing can justify the use of so much abuses and cuss words. As a noble gesture, the film makers “silenced” many cuss words at the beginning of the film, but as the movie rolls, we are made to hear all those words as some kind of necessary special effects. And the movie makers seem to have done research to mention each and every cuss word used in North India at least once in the film. It is really sad at the pettiness of the movie-makers to make our great Bollywood stars like Arjun Rampal and Ranveer Singh who we have grown up adoring and looking up to, abusing each other like worst kind of scums. 

Moral: The film totally destroys the difference between good and evil 

From what I have read, if you want to summarize all that is there as wisdom from the scriptures of Hinduism, it can be said that it is the ability to discriminate between good and evil. That is why we burn Ravana’s effigy every year at Vijaya Dashmi to remind us of this responsibility. But in this film, the film makers show that the criminals doing violence on the streets of Pakistan are actually noble patriots from India. Yamraaj will be really confused whether to send the Pakistani thugs and common criminals to Swarg or to Nark. 

Patriotism: Killings of Pakistani terrorists is the trophy the audience wins 

Somewhere in the second half, as soon as the audience starts regretting to have arrived to watch this dirty, violent film, suddenly the plot starts showing the killings of Pakistani terrorists by unknown people. No one knows who really killed those terrorists in real life and most of those deaths could be the result of local gang-wars inside Pakistan, or as one rumour said, Pakistani Army was getting these terrorists killed to reduce their “liability”. But if you show Pakistani terrorists being shot dead like dogs, as an Indian, you are bound to start loving the film. This was the “clickbait” the film makers used, to justify their sick violent film. 

Performance: The movie has nothing in the name of acting skills 

I remember reading a lot of appreciation about Akshay Khanna’s performance in the first part of Dhurandhar film. But I did not see even a glimpse of it in the second part. Sanjay Dutt and Arjun Rampal, who were perhaps supposed to recreate Akshay Khanna’s magic, are good but nothing special. The female lead (heroine) I read much buzz about, was again, having a small role and did fine but nothing great. The only spark I saw was in R. Madhavan but that also only in a couple of scenes, while he is pretty regular in others. And for Ranveer Singh, I kept getting glimpses from some of his own past films like Gully Boy or Padmavat, or from Ranbir Kapoor’s Animal, or from the torture scene from Chhava, in this film. 

Memorability: The only moving scene is at the end and it has no guns 

The only memorable scene which is stuff of genius comes in the end, when Ranveer Singh’s character returns in disguise to his home and when he notices that his mother and sister have not noticed him and they seem to have carried on with their life pretty well without him, he stops, almost turns, as if to go back. The movie makers have left the scene ‘open’ – you are free to assume that he returned and spent rest of the life in disguise to protect himself and his family, or that he went ahead and met his family, before perhaps going back to secrecy. Ranveer Singh shines like a golden bird in this scene, the music goes straight to your heart, the slow motion picturization of his home and the farms surrounding it creates a magical aura around you, and then, you get moist eyed. That is how the genius movie makers planned to kill you with the brilliance of cinema, and ironically, they did not need any guns to do that. 

A wakeup call for Censor Board 

All said and done, I wish our government acts wisely and censors the depiction of so much violence and bad language in such films. I can’t imagine how government and censor board did nothing to stop this sick film from bringing worst language and violence right in front of millions of viewers. Merely giving “A” certificate to such a film does not suffice; we all know that in the age of OTTs and piracy, youngsters of all ages happen to watch these films sooner of later. If patriotism means kids on our streets imitating a foul-mouthed criminal from such a film, it will be a great tragedy. 

- Rahul