Bhoothnath

A family moves into an old mansion in Goa. The house is cheap because it is said to be haunted. In the first nights the family's small son Banku sees the ghost. The ghost tries to frighten him, the boy is not frightened, and the two become friends. Then it emerges who the ghost is and why he stays in the house: the former owner, who fell out with his son and never saw him again before he died. Vivek Sharma directs. Amitabh Bachchan plays the ghost, with Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla in the cast. It is a family film made for children. The horror element is turned to comedy and never constitutes a threat. The real subject is old age and abandonment; what troubles the ghost is not death but that his son never came back. Amitabh Bachchan was working often in children's and family films in this period, and he carries both the comedy and the emotional weight of the part. A sequel was made afterwards with the same character. Its limit is the second half; after the past is explained the emotional pressure rises and the tone of a children's film comes apart. Who it is for: viewers who like Indian family films and anyone looking for something to watch with children. Who it is not for: the narrative is simple, the songs break the pace, and the last section is too emotional.