Thank heaven for Amitabh Bachchan.

In a film that can't quite seem to make up its mind about whether its viewership should be under 10 or above 70, the 60-something actor saves face with great grace.

Children's Cinema is a genre that has largely gone ignored and untapped in the Indian film market. With the smashing success - critical and commercial - of Taare Zameen Par, it appeared that there was indeed a strong potential for creating cinema that strictly caters to the youngest generations.

In Bhootnath, the story is no surprise. Aditya (a pony-tailed Shah Rukh Khan) arrives in Goa with his wife Anjali (Juhi Chawla) and son, Banku (Aman Siddiqui). Aditya is a chief engineer on a cruise liner and settles his family into an allegedly haunted house - Nath Villa - before he sets sail to his next destination.

As young, mischievous and mildly irritating Banku tries to fit into his new school, he hears about the ghost in his house from his friends. So he asks Mummy what ghosts are. Mummy, a reinvented version of Brand Ma from yesteryears, sweetly tells her little boy that there is no such thing as ghosts. Just angels.

And so when Banku comes face to face with the dishevelled and dirty ghost occupant (Amitabh Bachchan) that lingers in his home, he isn't scared. After all Mummy said he's an angel. Banku names the ghost of Kailash Nath, Bhootnath, and befriends him with endearing love and childlike innocence.

Banku and Bhootnath get along great and their moments are immensely watchable, even though older children might find some of the lessons out of a moral science textbook a bit tedious - Don't Cheat, Forgive and Forget etc.

The film however, takes a turn for the melodramatic worst, when Banku trips down a flight of stairs resulting in a deep cut on his forehead. Bhootnath is unable to save Banku and feels responsible for Banku's injury. The feelings that he has for Banku become stronger during the recovery period and he tells Banku that he feels a connection towards him.

As long as the whole Casper the friendly ghost theme is on, the film works, although the special effects are extremely basic. Given the plot of the film, it's quite surprising that the makers didn't push more boundaries in terms of visual effects. However, a special mention must go towards Salim-Suleiman's background score, which heightens the mood of the haunted theme.

Bhootnath's downfall into slow and painful torture begins when it takes on shades of Baghbaan, also from the B.R. Chopra stables. The story of neglected old parent is quite stale and certainly won't resonate with younger viewers who would have thoroughly enjoyed the first parts of the film.

This time, the Chopra stables decide to preach the lessons of post-death ceremonies and attempt to simplify concepts such as aatma (soul) and mukti (salvation), with a visibly embarrassed Shah Rukh Khan and Juhi Chawla mouthing dialogues from back-dated scripts.

In terms of the power cast, Shah Rukh Khan sails through his role with Bollywood ease and Juhi Chawla gets adequate screen-space with products she endorses, such as Kurkure. Strangely, the actress known for her fabulous comic timing can't seem to get enough of overacting in this film. As for the young boy, Aman Siddiqui, he is definitely leagues better than standard Bollywood child actor fare, but is greatly pulled down by boring dialogues.

Satish Shah as the school principal, Irani, speaks with an undecipherable accent and takes a fancy to eating packed lunches of his students. Other supporting cast members such as Rajpal Yadav play small roles but offer much relief from the rest of the movie.

The music by Vishal-Shekhar is forgettable and the songs, most of which were completely unnecessary, are badly visualised, including one that features a hip-hop wannabe AB.

However, it is AB who really deserves a standing ovation. For bringing credibility to a role that would have fallen flat otherwise and for entertaining in an uninhibited manner.

Cast: Amitabh Bachchan, Aman Siddiqui, Juhi Chawla, Shah Rukh Khan, Satish Shah, Rajpal Yadav
Director: Vivek Sharma
Music: Vishal-Shekar