Bhool Bhulaiyaa

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Bhool Bhulaiya
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Priyadarshan
Written by	Screenplay: Neeraj Vora Dialogues: Manisha Korde
Story by	Madhu Muttam
Based on	Manichitrathazhu by Fazil
Produced by	Bhushan Kumar Krishan Kumar
Starring	Akshay Kumar Ameesha Patel Vidya Balan Shiney Ahuja Paresh Rawal Manoj Joshi Asrani Rajpal Yadav Vikram Gokhale Vineeth
Cinematography	Tirru
Edited by	N. Gopalakrishnan Arun Kumar Aravind
Music by	Pritam
Production company	T-Series
Distributed by	Eros International Balaji Motion Pictures
Release date	12 October 2007 (2007-10-12)
Running time	154 minutes
Country	India
Language	Hindi

Bhool Bhulaiyaa (transl. Maze) is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language psychological horror comedy film directed by Priyadarshan and produced by Bhushan Kumar and Krishan Kumar under the T-Series Films banner. A remake of the 1993 Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu,^[1] the film stars Akshay Kumar, Shiney Ahuja, Vidya Balan, Ameesha Patel, Paresh Rawal, Manoj Joshi, Asrani, Rajpal Yadav and Vikram Gokhale. The film score and soundtrack of the film were composed by Ranjit Barot and Pritam respectively, and the lyrics were written predominantly by Sameer, while Sayeed Quadri wrote one song. The film received universal critical acclaim and was also a huge commercial success. Subsequently the film also attained cult status in Hindi cinema. ^[2]

Plot[]

Badrinarayan "Badri" Chaturvedi (Manoj Joshi) heads a Brahmin family whose ancestral palace in Rajasthan is believed to be haunted by the ghost of Manjulika, a classical dancer from Bengal. Siddharth Narayan Chaturvedi (Shiney Ahuja) and his archeologist wife Avni Chaturvedi (Vidya Balan), the son and daughter-in-law of Badri's elder brother return to their native village from the United States and decide to stay in their ancestral palace. This leads to Siddharth's childhood love interest Radha (Ameesha Patel), who is Badri's adopted daughter, feeling heartbroken but she immediately recovers. Siddharth is crowned as the king, his right to the throne.

The palace where Siddharth and Avni were staying was once occupied by Raja Vibhuti Narayan, Siddharth's ancestor. He had developed an infatuation for Manjulika, an exceptional dancer and beauty hailing from Bengal, who in turn was in love with Shashidhar, another dancer, who resided in a house just behind the palace and often met her secretly. On the night of Durgashtami, when the king got to know of the affair and their plan to elope, he called them to perform a dance one last time in the court. When Shashidhar bowed in the end, the king beheaded him and imprisoned Manjulika in her room. On the day of the king's marriage, Manjulika hanged herself and swore that her spirit would not leave any king who lived in that very palace. Various omens started taking place after that, presuming that the evil eye may have befallen the kingdom. Vibhuti Narayan too died under unknown circumstances. Soon, with the aid of powerful sorcerers, both Shashidhar's and Manjulika's spirits were locked up in a room on the third floor of the palace using a sacred talisman.

Avni falls in love with the place and learns about Manjulika and her tragic story. Events take a twist when Avni, keenly interested in the story, obtains a copy of the third-floor room key and opens the forbidden locked room that contains the ghost of Manjulika. Unnatural events once again start taking place inside the palace. Badri (Asrani) and Batuk Shankar (Paresh Rawal) try to ward off the evil eye with the help of a priest, Shri Yagyaprakashji Bharti (Vikram Gokhale), but unfortunately the priest has gone to London and is unsure when he might return.

Siddharth starts suspecting Radha for all the strange occurrences. He thinks she has gone crazy since he was supposed to marry her but married Avni instead. He calls his friend, psychiatrist Dr. Aditya Shrivastava (Akshay Kumar) from New York, to try to figure out what the problem is with Radha. Once Aditya reaches the palace, things become comical, as everyone thinks he is a fool, though he is very intelligent and a successful doctor. Eventually, Aditya falls in love with Radha. One night, Aditya hears Manjulika's ghungroo and the sounds of her Bengali song coming from the third floor. He goes and knocks at the door, but sees no one. Next morning, he asks Avni to take her to the third floor. She shows him the place, even Manjulika's room, and her belongings. Adi studies the matter closely and prepares for the night. That night he encounters Manjulika, pretending to be the cruel Raja, and dares her to strike. The ghost angrily vows to take her revenge on the auspicious day of Durgashtami.

During the engagement of Siddharth's cousin Nandini to one Sharad Prahlad (Vineeth), Avni accidentally spills Haldi on Sharad and takes him away to get him cleaned. When Aditya and Siddharth search for her, they see that there is a struggle between Avni and Sharad, and quickly intervene. Siddharth thinks that Sharad was violating Avni, but Aditya tells him that Avni is the real culprit, not Radha as previously suspected. It is revealed that Avni has dissociative identity disorder, a mental disorder that affects the person's identity, making them think they are someone else. At one point of time, Avni tends to forget her own self and becomes Manjulika. Aditya explains that Avni is the one making all the strange things happen around the palace. He reveals that he visited Avni's hometown to gather information about her childhood and has factual evidence.

He tells a half-convinced Siddharth to provoke Avni by refusing her from going out. As he does, soon Avni loses her temper and shows him the dark personality of Manjulika. But she returns to normal quickly, much to her husband's shock and dismay. Later, Siddharth begs Aditya to cure Avni.

During Durgashtami, Aditya and Siddharth along with Sharad see Avni assume Manjulika's identity, dressed as her and dancing to the tunes Manjulika had been dancing to with Shashidhar before the king murdered him. The tragic love triangle of the old king Vibhuti Narayan who wanted Manjulika for himself, and Manjulika and Shashidhar's love story is revealed. Avni imagines herself as Manjulika and Sharad as Shashidhar, dancing in the court of the king. Avni completely assumes the identity of Manjulika and tries to kill her own husband Siddharth; she sees him as the king who had killed Manjulika's lover.

Seeking to cure Avni, Aditya triggers Manjulika's personality and makes her promise to leave Avni if she gets the opportunity to kill the king and take her revenge. The priest Shri Yagyaprakashji Bharti arrives and with his help, during the ritual of Durgashtami, Aditya lays out an intricate plan to trick Manjulika into thinking she is killing the king (Siddharth) when she is actually slaying a dummy. After the orchestrated murder, Manjulika, now content, leaves Avni forever. Avni is rid of dissociative identity disorder and everything ends well. The family members, now very pleased with Aditya, thank him for all his help, saving two lives.

Aditya tells Radha, whom he has taken a liking to, that he will send his parents over if she is interested in marrying him, to which a happy Radha gives her silent consent.

Cast[]

Production[]

Casting[]

Originally Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Katrina Kaif were the first female choices for Bhool Bhulaiyaa. They turned down the offer due to scheduling conflicts, and were replaced by Vidya Balan and Ameesha Amit Patel.^[3] Vidya Balan had to take Kathak lessons for this film.

Music[]

Score[]

The film score was composed and produced by Ranjit Barot.

Songs[]

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Bollywood Hungama	link
Rediff	link

The songs featured in the film composed by Pritam, were released in September 2007. The title song, commonly known as "Hare Ram Hare Krishna Hare Ram", sung by Neeraj Shridhar, was one of the biggest hits of the year starring Akshay Kumar. ^[4] According to the Indian trade website Box Office India, with around 12,00,000 units sold, this film's soundtrack album was the year's eighth highest-selling.^[5]

The title song "Bhool Bhulaiya" is lifted from Korean band JtL's song 'My Lecon'.^[6] Songs "Allah Hafiz", "Laboh Ko" and "Ami je tomar/Mere Dholna" become other chartbusters of the year.

All lyrics are written by Sameer and Sayeed Quadri.

Box office[]

Bhool Bhulaiyaa was a commercial success, netting ₹497 million (US$7.0 million) in India. It was the 6th-highest-grossing-Bollywood movie of 2007. ^[7]

The total overseas gross was $3,910,000. The lifetime overseas breakup was $1,380,000 in UK, $1,130,000 in North America, $820,000 in UAE, $151,000 in Australia and $429,000 in other markets.^[8]

The film collected ₹1.55 billion (US$22 million) worldwide.^[9]

Awards[]

Sequel[]

A sequel starring Kartik Aaryan and Kiara Advani named Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is in works and would be directed by Anees Bazmee which is scheduled to be released on 19 November 2021.^[10] The makers have decided to remake Bhool Bhulaiyaa title song and Ami Je Tomar song.

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Bhool Bhulaiyaa at IMDb