I laughed out loud in a few bits, didn’t mind some of it, and blanked out in the rest. Finally it was neither funny nor serious enough: neither fully ghostly nor ghastly, but somewhere in between.

Bhoothnath Returns has a few laughs but it ignores the basics. Despite the hiccups, the film is relatively strong up until midway, when suddenly, without warning, it turns into a poor-people montage, a bewildering collection of moments showing poverty and riots — set to song, no less — and ending in a bunch of stills of people pushing carts and pulling rickshaws and looking perfectly happy with their lives, if a trifle puzzled by the photographers.

Bhoothnath Returns tries to strike a high moral tone in its social messaging, but creatively it doesn’t flinch from being crassly exploitative. It made me cringe so often that I wished this clever concept had been handed over to a director with a light touch.

Bhoothnath Returns starts off with a fascinating premise but drags towards the end. Whatever connect the towering Bachchan makes with his viewer is rudely disrupted to accommodate mediocre songs or misplaced sentimentalism in a prolonged slide show of poignant portraits making Bhoothnath’s return quite a drag in the end.

Boman Irani’s mean politician caricature isn’t menacing enough to give anybody sleepless nights, leave alone a ghost who rocks.

Will Bhoothnath Returns be able to bhooth-capture the box office? It might not lose its deposit, but it does not look like it is in with a chance to romp home with a big margin.

Tiwari’s sequel sets off with a lot of promise, entertainment, laughs and endearing camaraderie between a bhooth and a boy. The first-half has wittily written scenes – strung with satire and emotion, but the story slowly turns into a tedious vocational course on voting. The preaching distracts from some superb performances and inadvertently loses humour, but the story does have its heart in the right place. ‘BN’ makes a comeback at a perfect time – bang on with our Indian elections, and packs a powerful message, albeit with potholes in the plot.

Enjoyable in parts, Bhootnath Returns has the right sentiment, but an over the top climax and cliched writing holds it back from being a charmer.

…is not as witty or humorous as it appears from its trailers. A film that could be entertaining all the way had it not lost its plot.

Don’t expect return of the old Bhoothnath in Bhoothnath Returns. It’s a different film with a different theme. Watch it for performance of Amitabh Bachchan, Boman Irani and child artist Parth Bhalerao.