Bhoot - Part One: The Haunted Ship

<p>Meera’s third birthday is celebrated on the by the ship’s merchant crew. Drawn away from the party by a sound, Meera is attacked by a ghost and screams. Years later, shipping officer Prithvi Maurya ( ), with the help of friend and colleague Riaz, elopes with his pregnant girlfriend Sapna. Prithvi foils a human trafficking operation but Riaz warns him against such dangerous adventures. Prithvi and Sapna give birth to a baby girl, Megha, and are shown raising her. Sometime later, Prithvi is living alone. He and Riaz investigate the , which was mysteriously found abandoned at an unmanned port, and recover its . A couple is shown having a romantic adventure on the ship before being killed by a ghost. The body of a girl is found buried on the beach. Prithvi and Riaz attempt to tow the for disposal, but their salvage ship is damaged. Prithvi is injured saving a drowning man and sees a girl through a hole in the ship. While recovering, Prithvi hallucinates the ship as well as Sapna and Megha. In a flashback, it is revealed that they drowned due to improper safety equipment on a river-rafting vacation he had planned. Disturbed, he consults with Professor Joshi ( ), who is researching the afterlife and has hallucinations of his own dead wife and daughter. Prithvi returns to the ship and finds a video camera in the engine room; the ghost attacks him but he is saved by Riaz. Prithvi comes to believe that the girl he saw is Meera and that she has been by the ghost for 11 years. He brings his findings to Joshi who advises him to identify the ghost; Riaz is wary, knowing this is well beyond their duty. Prithvi learns that the crew of the ship committed suicide, except for Meera and her mother, and grows suspicious of an unidentified man amongst the crew. Prithvi and Riaz meet the mother, Vandana ( ), and play the video of Meera’s birthday party. Vandana reveals that the was involved in drug smuggling and other illegal activities and that the unknown man, Amar, stopped her from committing suicide after the captain had assaulted her. Vandana says that she and Amar fell in love and planned to flee, recording the captain’s illegal activities to expose him, but that Amar was caught and died following torture. In order to free Meera, Vandana agrees to show the shipping officers a secret room on the ship. Along with Joshi, they go to the ship the night before it is to be towed away. They fight the ghost, and during the encounter, it is revealed that Vandana killed Amar to save herself. Vandana and Joshi are killed, and Riaz spills the diesel fuel. Prithvi finds the secret room where Amar’s corpse is hanging. He burns the body, dispelling the ghost. Prithvi rescues Meera and they escape through the hole in the ship. In the epilogue, Prithvi teaches Meera how to eat noodles. In the post-credits scene, a black figure is seen moving around Prithvi’s home. In January 2018, it was reported that Kaushal and Pednekar had signed to perform in a horror film produced by . The filming began in December 2018, with Kaushal, while Pednekar filmed her portions in late January. Kaushal fractured his cheekbone while shooting for an action sequence in . A door fell on him which resulted in him getting 13 stitches. The shooting of the film ended on 3 September 2019 according to a message on Kaushal’s Instagram account. The film was initially set for release on 15 November 2019, but this was delayed and until 21 February 2020. The film has only one song, composed and written by . earned 5.10 crore (51 million rupees) net at the domestic box office on its opening day. On the second day, the film collected ₹5.52 crore. On the third day, the film collected ₹5.74 crores taking the total opening weekend collection to ₹16.36 crores (163.6 million rupees). The film grossed 38.06 crore in India and 2.88 crore overseas, for a worldwide gross collection of 40.94 crore (409.4 million rupees). On the website , of 11 critics’ reviews are positive, with an average rating of 4.3/10. Namrata Joshi of wrote that the film “floats along swimmingly and perches promisingly well at the interval till the curse of the second half gets to afflict it severely.” Ronak Kotecha of gave the film 2.5 stars out of 5 stating that the film “isn’t convincing enough to make your wait worth it. For a horror film, ‘Bhoot Part One the Haunted Ship’ falls short of sending chills down your spine. At best, it can give you a few spooks.” Udita Jhunjhunwala of also gave it 2.5 stars adding : “The parallels between Prithvi’s trauma and the tragedy onboard the Sea Bird are far from subtle and that is Bhoot’s greatest loss – it floats but does not find its emotional anchor in the deep and haunting impact of personal loss and regret.” Shalini Langer of gave it 1.5 stars out of 5 and stated that “Vicky Kaushal is the saving grace of this horror film.” Writing in , Monika Rawal Kukreja described the film as “The best you can say about Bhoot is that it is not outrageously funny as some of ’s big-screen outings, but does unintentionally crack you up at many places.” Vibha Maru of gave it 1 star out of 5 and called it “mind-numbingly boring.” Karan Johar’s acquired the rights of ‘s film franchise (including (2003) and (2012)). (2020) was intended to be the first part of a trilogy franchise.</p>