Phone Bhoot trailer launch: Horrorlarius

Ever since the audience saw the first poster of Katrina Kaif, Siddhant Chaturvedi, and Ishaan Khattar starrer Phone Bhoot, they were eagerly waiting to get more glimpses of the film. Their wait is over: the trailer of this most awaited comedy of horrors was launched on 10 October at the PVR multiplex, Juhu, Mumbai.

Phone Bhoot is a title most likely chosen as a pun on the word Phone Booth, and has been in the news for some time now, because superstar Katrina Kaif plays a ghost in the film. The trailer is truly one of its kind that the audience will see this year, in which Siddhant Chaturvedi (the street rapper in Gully Boy, who also starred in Gehraiyaan with Deepika Padukone) and the boyish-faced Ishaan Khattar (whose adult film career is five years old, and includes the films Beyond the Clouds, Dhadak and Khaali Peeli) can be seen playing ghost hunters (busters).

In the course of their ghostly adventures, the duo meets the world’s most beautiful ghost, Katrina Kaif, and they embark on a funny and horrific journey, with a business plan—yes, business plan--proposed by Katrina. Jackie Shroff and Sheeba Chaddha are also in the cast. Jackie, who plays a tantric/godman (or is it a devilman?) made it to the trailer launch and attracted applause from his fans. Sheeba Chaddha, playing another ghost, and Katrina had a scene where Katrina talks to her about ‘moksh’ (liberation) and she is unable to pronounce the word, repeating it again and again as ‘mokh’. The scene elicited a lot of laughter. Also in the trailer was a scene where it was suggested that you could dial-a-ghost, with IVR prompts, letting you choose what kind of ghost you want.

On the occasion, a song from the film was also shown, an item number with a Punjabi base. The makers revealed that this was performed by a ghost in the film, a female ghost who loves dancing.

Directed by Gurmmeet Singh (Mirzapur, the hit OTT series) and written by Ravi Shankaran and Jasvinder Singh Bath, Phone Bhoot is produced by Excel Entertainment, headed by Ritesh Sidhwani and Farhan Akhtar, the company they founded in 1999. Four main actors and the personnel listed above were present at the trailer launch. The film is all set to be released on 4th of November, 2022.

Asked by the media what would she do if she encountered a ghost in real life, Katrina said, “I would die. I don’t watch ghost movies. They are too scary.” Asked if any of those present had any ghostly experience in real life, all answered in the negative. Siddhant and Ishan revealed that during the shooting breaks, they taught Katrina badminton. She picked it up real fast and got good at it, but she was a poor loser. She would insist that they kept on playing, even late in the night, till she won.

This is Katrina’s first release after her marriage, to Vicky Kaushal, and was started before she got married.

Known for making two destination films, Dil Chahta Hai and Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, set in Goa and Spain respectively, Excel Entertainment are exploring another dimension in Phone Bhoot, the world of the living dead. Farhan and Gurmmeet kept repeating that this film is not a horror comedy, but a comedy horror. It is fun for the family, and much more funny than scary. The trailer had a UA certificate.

https://youtu.be/5fTVslrPsL0