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'Bhooth Bangla' review: Akshay-Priyadarshan fail to recreate old magic
17 Apr 2026

As a longtime, passionate admirer of Priyadarshan and Akshay Kumar's collaborations, I had been counting days until Bhooth Bangla's release.

Alas, my expectations were shattered by the minute as I sat through 174 minutes of mediocre, ableist jokes, hollow characters, and a flat screenplay.

Kumar and Priyadarshan once turned everything they touched to gold, but it looks like their charm has faded into oblivion.

A haunted mansion and a dangerous demon who abducts brides
Plot

Kumar and Priyadarshan's seventh collaboration, Bhooth Bangla follows Arjun (Kumar), who inherits a sprawling mansion in a small town named Mangalpur.

He decides to host his sister, Meera's (Mithila Palkar) wedding there, despite repeated warnings that the palace is haunted by Vadhusur, a demon who abducts brides.

Jisshu Sengupta plays Meera and Arjun's father, while Paresh Rawal plays a wedding planner.

No supporting character worth remembering
#1

Chhote Pandit from Bhool Bhulaiyaa, Raja/Tulsi Das Khan from Hungama, and Mambo from Garam Masala.

What do they have in common? They are supporting characters in Priyadarshan's comedies, still vividly fresh in our memory.

This factor is painfully amiss here; there's no supporting character worth remembering or even noticing.

Bhooth Bangla is a hollow, vapid film that doesn't know what to do with itself.

Unexciting writing never lets the movie bloom
#2

Late legendary writer Neeraj Vora was one of the strongest pillars of Priyadarshan's Hindi films.

As gag after gag fell painfully flat, I found myself wondering what Bhooth Bangla could have been if he were around.

At many points, it will remind you of the atrocious Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 (Aakash Kaushik co-wrote both movies).

Bhooth Bangla is as abysmal as the trailer warned you.

What's going on with the casting?
#3

Kumar is notorious for romancing female actors half his age, and Bhooth Bangla is no different.

The superstar (58) is paired opposite Wamiqa Gabbi (32), who enters and exits the film at random.

Even more shocking is Sengupta playing Kumar's father.

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat each time Kumar called the 49-year-old Sengupta "Papa."

What was the casting department thinking?

The film is unnecessarily confusing and overlong
#4

A sheer lack of coherence drowns Bhooth Bangla.

There are needlessly convoluted stories within stories, and there's no connective tissue between scenes.

Scene after scene left me exhausted, and I was shocked to see Priyadarshan resorting to crass, lewd jokes to evoke laughter.

The entire first half is just one unfunny gag after another (Kumar, Rawal, Rajpal Yadav dominate), and takes the story nowhere.

Forced, desperate attempt to please old fans
#5

There's endless mumbo-jumbo thrown at us regarding Vadhusur's origins.

Very little makes sense, and Bhooth Bangla's horror element is largely laughable.

While films like Hera Pheri, Garam Masala, and Bhool Bhulaiyaa were created out of genuine passion, Bhooth Bangla seems like a hopeless attempt to cash in on nostalgia.

But everything has an expiry date, and you can't perform the same trick twice.

Kumar and late Asrani try to hold the film together
#6

You might see flashes of Kumar's Garam Masala character: Arjun is constantly exasperated and tries to prevent everything from falling apart.

Kumar's parts with Asrani make the movie somewhat watchable.

The latter receives a meaty role and is unsurprisingly electric in it, capturing your attention whenever he's on-screen.

Yadav and Rawal, too, do whatever they can, but ultimately, the writing fails all the legends.

Re-watch Priyadarshan-Kumar's old films instead of 'Bhooth Bangla'; 2/5 stars
Verdict

Bhooth Bangla feels artificial and distant, and Priyadarshan is sadly off his game here.

There's some momentum and a few twists in the second half, but the film is already beyond rescue by then.

Sometime post-intermission, an exhausted Arjun says, "Meri samajh me nahi aa raha ye kya ho raha hai."

For the most part, I felt the same.

2/5 stars.