Karthik Aryan’s sequel to 2022’s hit Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is a formulaic horror-comedy. However, its evolution in terms of writing characters from Part-2 is appreciable. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 instils the trust in horror-comedy that is slowly adapting to the sensibilities of 2024.
The horror comedy genre is getting bigger and better. Whenever a specific genre is receiving humongous box office numbers, the whole industry tries to bank on it. Something similar is happening right now. With the blockbuster success of Stree, Stree 2, Munjya and decent success of Bhediya, the industry is gearing to create Stree-verse, Akshay Kumar’s Bhoot Bangla is also under production directed by Priyadarshan- who started the Bhool Bhulaiyaa franchise by remaking the classic Malayalam hit Manichitrathazhu (Chandramukhi in Telugu, remade by Rajinikanth). The most anticipated movie of 2025, The Raja Saab is also going to be a horror comedy. In the frenzy of the horror-comedy era, Anees Bazmee’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 strengthens the trust in the genre of horror comedy.
Bhool Bhulaiyaa is a standalone sequel to 2008’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa. It had no continuum of neither the plot nor characters, except the name Manjulika- which can be foraying into Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 as well. However, BB3 had its continuum in the form of Karthik Aryan’s character Ruhaan Randhawa, a con-man who exploits the common man’s ‘unreasonable’ fear of ghosts and spirits. Meera (played by Tripti Dimri) plays the game of Ruhaan and traps him in de-spiriting their ancestral haveli (palace) for the exchange of Rs. 1 Crore and the eventual love that blossoms in a Bollywood fashion.
The plot is set and the comical characters played by Vijay Raaz, Rajpal Yadav, Sanjay Mishra, Ashwini Kalsekar are slowly introduced. A few funny scenes are forced, a few are slap-stick comedy, a few are cliched jokes on fat-shaming and a few are genuine chuckle-busters. Overall, the fun element in Bhool Bhulaiyaa is neither makes your belly burst with laughter nor it makes you sit with a flat-face. It is a decent fun movie where horror takes precedence over comedy.
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 follows the similar track of sibling-sister’s sinister minds. In Part-2, we saw Tabu in a twin-sister role, keeping the guess-game of who is the evil one. In Part-3, a similar guess-game continues. Madhuri Dixit and Vidya Balan are the siblings to the single male child Debendra Nath, the son of Raj Kumar Debendranath. The story happens 200 years ago. The reason for the sinister turn has a feminist angle and also the power-hunger. BB3 brilliantly makes you believe the evil one is either one of the sibling-sisters. But, the twist at the end doesn’t sit out of place. The twist sits organically considering the politics of 200 years and sensibilities of 2024. The climax has definitely helped a lot to elevate the formulaic horror-comedy into something better.
Although the thematic exploration must be appreciated, the way to treat a horror cinema needs a little more care. The VFX feels heavy, the gore is being naturalised (BB3 has nothing sort of extreme gore), the background score is as generic as it can be. The songs fell flat unanimously, except the classic theme music of Bhool Bhulaiyaa and Mere Dholna song. The writer, Aakash Kaushik, must also know how to balance horror and comedy. For example, in the climax, when a serious confrontation is happening, Rajpal Yadav is made to make an entry as SRK just to win some whistles. Stree 2’s success lies in its clever usage of the right amount of humour at the right time.
Although Bhool Bhulaiyaa has nothing ground-breaking, it uses the horror-comedy fairly by going just a step ahead of stereotypical caricaturing that we saw in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2. It is a decent, enjoyable and fun movie for this Diwali weekend.
TeluguFunda Rating: 3/5
Bhool Bhulaiyaa is now playing in theatres.
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