Sanjay Dutt and Mouni Roy’s horror-comedy The Bhootnii is set to premiere on Zee5 on July 18 after its underwhelming performance at the box office. The digital release will give the production a second chance at winning over audiences after its short-lived theatrical run that began in May.
The Bhootnii follows Delhi's St Vincent College, terrorised by a ghost, Mohabbat, that rises annually from “the virgin tree” every Valentine's Day. A group of petrified hostel boys enlist eccentric ghostbuster-type Baba to get rid of the evil spirit that haunts them before it claims its next victim. Helmed by Sidhaant Sachdev, the film stars Sanjay Dutt, Mouni Roy, Sunny Singh, Palak Tiwari, and Aasif Khan.
The script was penned by Sachdev in collaboration with Vankush Arora. The Bhootnii was bankrolled by Deepak and Hunar Mukut under their Soham Rockstar Entertainment production banner. Dutt and his wife, Manyata, also hopped on board as producers under his production house, Three Dimension Motion Pictures, launched in 2022.
While the film featured a veteran thespian such as Dutt, the element failed to draw audiences to the theatre due to the film’s weak screenplay and uneven tone. The Bhootnii was made on a reported budget of Rs 25-30 crore. The film opened to a weak Rs 65 lakh and managed to rake in only Rs 3 crore in its opening weekend. Its lifetime collection barely touched Rs 14 crore, failing to meet the production value.