Traditionally Bollywood ghosts are associated with an eerie-looking woman wearing a white sari holding a candle and walking in a deserted place with a creaky gate and a gust of strong wind.
By the '70s and '80s, these ghosts started to acquire grotesque half-burnt or half-boiled faces with an ugly popping eye, thanks to the Ramsay brothers who mercilessly revolutionised the Bollywood horror scene with their B-grade flicks.
With the advent of the '90s, ghosts took on a new dimension, becoming friendly and looking like normal human beings who could sing and dance, thus making us smile rather than close our eyes in fright at their appearance.
This weekend Amitabh Bachchan will be seen playing a friendly ghost alongside child star Aman Siddiqui in Bhootnath. In this film, Bachchan's dead soul is possessive of his bungalow and doesn't like anyone living in his mansion until he meets his match in a brat with whom he develops a strong emotional bond.
In the wake of this release, tabloid! checks out Bollywood's 10 friendliest ghost characters of the '90s and 2000s and the impact they had on audiences.
Amitabh Bachchan in Armaan
Amitabh Bachchan as a silver-haired man who dies of a heart attack and returns in the film's second half as a comforting ghost giving philosophical advice to Anil Kapoor. Definitely not a bad ghost to have beside you but the audience found it very boring.
Shahid Kapur in Vaah! Life Ho To Aisi
Shahid Kapur is killed in an accident and in the afterlife returns to Earth with the help of Yamraj, Lord of Death, played endearingly by Sanjay Dutt. Kapur has to complete the unfinished business of providing financial security to his nieces and nephews. Arshad Warsi played the medium between humans and Kapoor's ghost in this fun film strictly for kids.
Jackie Shroff in Bhoot Unkle
Jackie Shroff's character was a stupid cross between Casper and Johnny Depp's Jack Sparrow from the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy. Shroff plays a dead pirate's soul who befriends an orphan and his friends, bringing a lot of joy into their lives. The audience wasn't too impressed with Shroff's friendly ghost act as they disappeared quickly from the cinemas.
Shah Rukh Khan in Paheli
This is a critically-acclaimed love story of a ghost — Shah Rukh — who falls in love with a married woman played by Rani Mukherjee. This ghost takes the cake, as he not only sings, dances and romances but also manages to get her pregnant! This one was indeed a highly romantic and passionate ghost.
Rahul Roy in Pyaar Ka Saaya
This film was a scene-for-scene copy of Hollywood blockbuster Ghost, where Rahul Roy, Sheeba and Amrita Singh stepped into the roles of Patrick Swayze, Demi Moore and Whoopi Goldberg respectively. This Bollywood tale of a dead husband's soul reaching out to his wife through a medium failed to connect with the audience, who found it difficult to digest Roy as an expressionless ghost.
Naseeruddin Shah in Chamatkar
An entertaining and popular film, where Naseeruddin Shah's ghost, attired in a hat and overcoat, can be seen and heard by only Shah Rukh Khan. Shah and Khan team up to save a college from being destroyed and at the same time avenge those who killed Shah in the film.
Ajay Devgan in Tarzan-The Wonder Car
Ajay Devgan is bumped off by the goons in the film and his spirit enters a car that takes revenge by knocking off each villain one by one. In the end, you see Devgan's spirit leaving the car's body on his way to heaven as the poor car, along with the audience, sighed.
Jayaprada in Maa
Another altered version of Ghost, where Jayaprada is killed in an accident but returns as a loving ghost to take care of her child and husband, Jeetendra, and the only one who can see and listen to her is a dog! Need we say more?
Salman Khan in Hello Brother
Salman Khan is killed by goons. Arbaaz Khan has a heart transplant and gets Salman's heart. The film was inspired by Denzel Washington starrer — Heart Condition. Salman's whacky spirit is outrageously hilarious but some of the gross jokes really put the audience off.
Aishwarya Rai in Mohabbatein
Aishwarya Rai is the ghost in white who supports Shah Rukh Khan in spreading a message of love. Rai also gets some time to sing songs along with Khan in scenic European locations that was largely appreciated by the audience.
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