Phone Bhoot, the recent Katrina Kaif starrer movie is being debated to be a remake of Hollywood’s classic Ghostbusters. Bollywood is infamous for its remakes. From South Indian movies to Hollywood, Bollywood chooses a wide range of source material to adapt from. The most recent examples of scene-by-scene remakes are Amir Khan’s Laal Singh Chaddha and Hrithik Roshan and Saif Ali Khan’s Vikram Vedha. While some remakes like Bang Bang were a blockbuster hit. Bang Bang was a scene-by-scene remake of the Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz starrer Knight and Day. Whereas, others like Laal Singh Chaddha are being highly debated by Twitterati and the media. However, there have been mixed feeling of netizens about Phone Bhoot. This is because, while it may seem to be a blatant adaptation of Ghostbusters, it is in fact, a parody of this horror comedy timeless Hollywood classic.

Phone Bhoot vs Ghostbusters – Similarities

Starting with the uniform to the storyline, there are a lot of similarities between Phone Bhoot and the timeless Hollywood classic Ghostbusters.

  • Uniform

The cream coloured pest control-like uniform of the Ghostbusters has become embedded in pop culture now. Many movies and shorts have mimicked this into parodies. However, the biggest one yet may just be Phone Bhoot. Although this movie does not directly rip off the cream coloured uniform, it uses the same design language. Both Phone Bhoot and Ghostbusters are often mistaken for pest control.

Easter Eggs

The trailer of this movie clearly shows a dialogue of Siddhant Chaturvedi where he says they are going to be ‘Bhootbusters’. This shows that the movie pays homage to the original Ghostbusters franchise. While this is not a direct similarity, the devil is in the details. The English subtitles on the official trailer term ‘Bhootbusters’ blatantly as ‘Ghostbusters’ which is a direct similarity.

The Poster

Another similarity is the post of both the movies. Both Ghostbusters and Phone Bhoot have a similar logo on their poster. The logo of Ghostbusters is an illustration of a white ghost with a red invalid signage on it. While the logo of Phone Bhoot is a similar greenish ghost illustration without any signage on it.

Phone Bhoot vs Ghostbusters – Differences

Besides the similarities, there are some clear differences between these two movies. These differences can lead you to believe that they are indeed not the same. This means that Phone Bhoot may not be a direct remake of Ghostbusters.

  • The Story

The story of Ghostbusters (1984) featured a group of scientists who studied the occult. They were kicked out of their research university due to their eccentric methods. Hence, they chose to set up shop as the Ghostbusters. On the other hand, the story of Phone Bhoot involves two good for nothing youngsters who can see spirits. They are invited by a ghost with a business idea (Katrina Kaif) to become Indian ghostbusters.

The Characters

The original Ghostbusters had all lead characters as human entities. They were all dedicated towards banishing ghosts from the realm of the living. However, in this movie, Katrina Kaif’s character, who is part of this team, is a ghost herself. Moreover, the original Ghostbusters had all male protagonists. But in this iteration, there are two male and one female protagonists.

The Antagonist

Given that Ghostbusters rests on Christian myth and lore of ghosts, it is evident that the antagonists in these movies were all non-human entities. However, the recent instalments of this franchise did feature human antagonists working alongside the non-human ones. In this Bollywood version, the antagonist is Atmaram, who is an occult saint (played by Jackie Shroff).

The Takeaway

Netizens are currently trolling this movie for being a ‘Sasta Copy‘ of the original Ghostbusters of Hollywood. However, fans of horror comedy in India are rooting for it to be spectacular. With movies like Bhool Bhulaiyaa (1 & 2) being one of the first of this genre, the Indian audience has an idea of what to expect. Quirky jokes, cheesy dialogues, and puns galore.