After the box office successes of the first two Bhool Bhulaiya movies, first one in 2007, and last one in 2022, comes the third in the series, that capitalises on the current popular craze of horror-coms (aka Stree2), perfectly timed to capitalise on the long Diwali weekend.
The story revolves once again (like BB2) around the fraud ghostbuster Rooh Baba aka Ruhaan (Kartik Aaryan), who again finds himself in a haunted palace, with the responsibility of rescuing the place as well as its residents, from the evil spirit of Manjulika, trapped behind a door for 200 years. What ensues, is a series of hilarious adventures and mis-adventures with multiple characters entering the story, adding to the intrigue and twists (and jokes) in the story, keeping us guessing ‘who and where is Manjulika’ till the final climax with an unexpected twist in the tale and a happy ending.
When compared to its previous movies, BB3 has the opposite effect of Stree 2. Unlike Stree 2, which, by itself, was a well made, entertaining and engaging movie, yet felt disappointing compared to Stree 1, Bhool Bhulaiya 3, comes out winning compared to the highly annoying and a cropper BB2 (even though it did well on the box office). BB3 is a fun and funny family entertainer as a good weekend outing of a 2 hour plus laugh-a-thon, just what we would expect from one of the better Anees Bazmee movies. The jokes are slapstick, ridiculous, sometimes totally arbitrary, but all the while, genuinely funny. And if you’re willing to leave your minds behind for sometime, it is a full paisa-vasool break from the rest of our lives that we all take so seriously.
The whole premise of the BB series is to not exert our minds too much. It’s a proven success formula that seems to work every time. All the familiar ingredients are there, that gives us the predictable assurance of what we’re in for. A haunted palace, a trapped evil ghost Manjulika, lots of jokes and laughs, the long and arduous path of trying to rid the world of the evil spirit, and an eventual twist in the tale ending. No suprises there, and that, in many ways, comes as a welcome relief. We know what we’re signing up for. And the film delivers to it. The additional sparkle of new characters, like Mandira (the still-gorgeous and can’t-get-enough-of Madhuri Dixit), Mallika (Vidya Balan, as an ode to BB1), Meera (Tripti Dimri), and old characters like the pandits add to the overall entertainment value of the film.
But, for those of us, who have seen Bhool Bhulaiya 1 (directed by Priyadarshan), we can’t help lament how removed from the original vision these last two BB movies have been. The shift from Priyadarshan to Anees Bazmee is of course what it is. While Priyadarshan (who gave us the genius Hera Pheri, among other acclaimed Hindi and Malayalam cinema) saw Bhool Bhulaiya as a metaphor for the maze of the mind, intertwining with the physical and the meta-physical reality of our world, Anees sees Bhool Bhulaiya as a physical space where a spooky-but-fun story is being told. Two different directors, two different visions. A bit like DC and Marvel, both about superheroes but two completely different worlds. In fact, BB1 to BB2 and BB3 is a bit like moving from Zack Snyder to Joss Whedon on Justice League, that made many of us fans protest at the Marvelisation of the DC universe.
Ofcourse, the other big criticism of BB3 (as it was for BB2) is the main actor, Kartik Aryan. One of the big reasons why BB2 didn’t work was because of him. Thankfully, BB3 works despite him. There is so much of the story and so many more characters to anchor the plot on, that Kartik’s non-performance can almost be ignored. But that also makes one wonder how much better the movie impact could have been if there was a better actor. Especially when the twist in the tale at the end has so much to do with his character and his acting, which of course, he messes up completely. Imagine if it was Akshay Kumar (from BB1), one of the best comic-timing actors we have, or even Ranveer or Rajkumar Rao from the new actors. Alas! May be there is hope for BB4.
Still overall, the film delivers a packed punch, with an out and out Bollywood fare that is not disappointing at all. A weekend filled with no-holds-barred laughter with the family, without reason or logic. What more could we ask for from a long weekend.