I have been thoroughly disappointed with most of the movies director Priyadarshan has churned out in the recent past (I am not talking about his malayalam movies as I haven’t seen any of them but all his hindi movies are remakes of his malayalam ones). I remember watching movies like "Gardish" and "Viraasat" as a kid and then, comic capers like "Herapheri" and "Hungama" (I consider the former one a cult film which really started the trend of comedies in the hindi film industry).
Those were good. However, I cannot say I was impressed with movies like Hulchul (though Kareena looked gorgeous), "Garam masala" (though Akshay acted very well displaying his fabulous comic-timing), "Kyon ki" (which reminded me of the director’s "Kabhi naa kabhi" and "Doli sajaa ke rakhna", which were equally boring), "Malaamaal weekly" (which was funny only in parts, had Paresh and Ompuri delivering good performances and reminded me of "Malgudi days"), "Chup chup ke" (simply dumb!), "Bhaagambhaag" (which was more of a stupid thriller and Govinda’s comeback lacked everything) and the most recent "Dhol" (terrible... the director’s worst movie). I wasn’t at all eager to watch "Bhool bhulaiyaa" (but I did go for it) and knew it wouldn’t be funny. I was right... it wasn’t funny enough but I’m not complaining. The story was fantastic and the movie is definitely worth a watch.
Newly-married couple Siddharth (Shiney Ahuja) and Avni (Vidya Balan) come to India (from America). Siddharth wants to stay in his royal ancestral mansion but his family is against this decision of his. They believe that the mansion is home to two evil spirits and the family has suffered a lot because of them. Siddharth pays no attention to them and moves into the mansion. Thereafter, strange things begin to happen and Siddharth calls his friend Dr. Aditya Srivastav (Akshay Kumar) to investigate matters. Since it is a thriller (a psychological one!), I shouldn’t reveal the story further.
If you talk about performances, Akshay is the best here. He appears a few minutes before the interval but he leaves an impact. I didn’t like him in his last release "Hey baby" (didn’t like the movie either!) but here, he was too good. His comic-timing is undeniably great and it doesn’t look repetitive here. The next good performance comes from Vidya Balan. She acts really well in the second half. Shiney gets scope in the first half but I was disappoined with his performance. It is nowhere compared to his earlier performances in "Hazaaro khwahishe aisi" and "Woh lamhe". I just hope he comes back with a bang soon. Ameesha Patel does well in a small but important role. She was better in "Ankahee" (though Esha was better than her). Paresh Rawal is okay here. You can’t expect him to do a "Baburaao" always. Rajpal Yadav, Vikram Gokhale and Asrani are wasted. Manoj Joshi acts his character. Music by Pritam is average. "Hare krishna hare rama" stands out. "Zindagi kaa safar" is hummable. Direction is good. So is the cinematography. But the story is the real hero here.
There are a few flaws I’d like to talk about. The first 15-20 minutes could have been trimmed down. The Shiney-Vidya and the wedding songs could have been avoided. I also think the trailers of the movie were indicating it to be a comedy, which it is not. I have been told that the malayalam movie (of which this is a remake) was better. I heard Priyadarshan will be making an out-and-out horror movie. I’m sure he will succeed. "Bhool bhulaiyaa" will do well commercially because it has a good story and nice performances from Akshay and Vidya. The opening collections have been good too.