Phone Bhoot

Gurjit Sandhu's "Phone Bhoot" arrives as a well-intentioned hybrid that struggles to find its footing between comedy-horror and supernatural thriller—territories already expertly mapped by films like "Bhool Bhulaiyaa" and "Stree." The premise itself is charming: two hapless friends monetizing their ghost-busting services feels like a refreshing spin on the tired haunted-house formula. However, the execution falters when the film can't decide whether it's a lighthearted caper or a darker revenge narrative. Ishaan Khatter and Siddhant Chaturvedi share decent chemistry and their comedic timing occasionally lands, but they're saddled with dialogue that relies too heavily on pop-culture references and meta-humor that dates the film instantly. The horror elements feel toothless, lacking the atmospheric dread that made "Stree" resonate or the genre-bending cleverness of "Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2."

Where "Phone Bhoot" truly stumbles is in its narrative bloat and tonal inconsistency. The introduction of Atmaram as a villain feels perfunctory, arriving late and deflating whatever momentum the film had built around Ragini's characterization. Jacqueline Fernandez's ghost character is criminally underutilized—she's neither menacing enough to be genuinely unsettling nor developed enough to carry the emotional weight her backstory demands. The climactic revelations about her past feel obligatory rather than earned, and the moral ambiguity Sandhu tries to introduce in the final act comes across as