Underutilized premise yet offers good scares - Bhoot part one: The haunted ship film review

The scare tactics start from the word go, to the point that even Dharma productions is etched on a ship with claws of ghost. 

Talking of Dharma Productions, they make films with familial emotions, fractured relationships and patch-ups; horror films are no exception.

Just when you want to applaud Bhanu Pratap Singh for conjuring up a ghost story from a real incident of a shored up ship at Mumbai, you also think this could have been better.

Bhoot part one: The haunted ship is inspired from the real story of 2011 in Mumbai where a ship by the name MV Wisdom crashes at the shore with none inside. Which could be referenced in Prithvi's (Vicky Kaushal) apartment name 'Wisdom apartments'.

Prithvi has his own ghosts to tame, his guilt of being the reason for his wife (Bhumi Pednekar) and daughter's death. Now comes this ship that vitiates his condition.

There are brief clever moments that confuse you whether Prithvi is having hallucinations (an effect of the trauma caused by his family's death) or paranormal activity.

Bhumi Pednekar's appearance was condensed, it looks fresh to see her in a horror movie.

The film till intermission looks fast-paced towards a promising and engaging second half, but wait, that's where things go haywire. Like a relay runner is unnecessary for a solo race, crime investigation comes as an uninvited runner snatching the baton from horror.

Coming to the horror routine, every scare scene has its intent achieved but the thing is incidents that lead up to those scare scenes are a bit too contrived. Lovers going to that ship under the nose of media and customs attention, Prithvi going there back and forth without prior notice and making a dive one time too many are examples. 

What keeps the audience seated is the runtime within 2 hours and the explanatory scenes not getting too explanatory aiding boredom subsume fright, makes Bhoot a tolerable watch.

Background score is a springboard elevating horror scenes. Visuals aren't novel but lights up at the right time.

The deserted ship premise provided a lot of opportunities to up the ante in the screenplay, but most of those opportunities went underutilised.

Bhoot part one: The haunted ship was en route to be one of the best movies of 2020 but baulked by a trite fetish for Bollywood must-haves; yet regains its panache hurriedly to end up an okayish horror movie.