The Malayalam movie Manichitratazhu can be considered as a landmark film in Indian regional cinema. It is possibly one of the few movies that has boldly ventured into explaining the paranormal with science; a difficult topic indeed considering that India has been under the grip of superstition for centuries. No wonder it has been successful in all the languages it has been made (in Malayalam, Kannada and of course Tamil). After the super success of Chandramukhi starring Super Star Rajinikanth, this Malayalam blockbuster metamorphoses into ‘Bhool Bhulaiyya’ starring Akshay Kumar, Shiney Ahuja, Vidya Balan and Paresh Rawal.
The movie starts off with the arrival of Siddharth (Shiney Ahuja) and his wife Avni (Vidya Balan) from USA. Siddharth is the heir to the throne of Varanasi and hence the owner of the dilapidated palace which has been locked for centuries. Rumors are rift that the palace is haunted by the ghost of a courtesan who was captured by one of Siddharth’s ancestors. Without paying heed to the warning of the elders, Siddharth and Avni decide to stay in the house and trouble begins when Avni unlocks a forbidden door and unleashes the ghost within. Anklets jingle, objects break and people get seriously hurt as Siddharth is at his wit’s end. Enter Dr. Aditya Shrivastava (Akshay Kumar) Siddharth’s friend and a psychiatrist with a taste for theatrics. Aditya decides to battle this so-called spirit and uses all his knowledge and skill of psychiatry to solve this mystery.
Director Priyadarshan has faithfully maintained the storyline of the original. However, the screenplay contains elements of both Manichitratazhu and Chandramukhi. And therein lies the fundamental problem. The director is really confused whether to treat it as a thriller or as a comedy. Manichitratazhu was a serious movie whereas Chandramukhi was a much lighter version, but both stuck to their genres, only converging towards the end when the mystery is actually solved. Bhool Bhulaiyya’s first half has elements of Manichitratazhu and the second half resembles Chandramukhi. The viewer is really confused as one expects a comedy from Priyadarshan, but the comedy doesn’t arrive till the interval. The introduction of Akshay Kumar just before the interval is also a bit too late as one expects the main star to get a lot more screen space. Till the entry of Akshay, the movie just meanders around the house with little happening in the actual story and so drags on and on. But, Akshay’s electrifying presence rescues the movie and takes it on to the right path post interval.
The cinematography and the art direction are very good. The huge sets in the palace have been recreated quite splendidly. The director has used lighting and sound excellently to create the spooky effects of the haunting. In short, production wise, Bhool Bhulaiyya definitely scores a point over the original.
The music by Pritam is foot- tapping and fun. The track ‘Hare Ram Hare Krishna’ is a huge chartbuster already, the only grudge being against this song is its placement right at the credits. The director has judiciously used his songs so that they do not appear at inopportune moments and don’t needlessly add to the already long running time.
Among the actors Shiney Ahuja is absolutely terrible who just either hams away to glory or simply stares blankly. His dialogue delivery is pathetic and voice modulation even worse. This is quite surprising considering that he is a fine actor who has performed wonderfully in movies like ‘Gangster’ and ‘Hazaron Khwaishein Aisi’. Vidya Balan is very good in her role, though one must add that she isn’t exactly up to the level of either Jytothika or Shobhana who reprised the same character. Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav are adequate in their roles, though their talent hasn’t been done full justice. Amisha Patel is just about adequate.
Finally, the movie belongs to Akshay Kumar. The actor brings a completely new dimension to the role of the psychiatrist which is different from that played by Mohanlal and Rajinikanth and hence adds freshness to the role. His brilliant comic timing and excellent screen presence more than make up for his late arrival.
Overall, Bhool Bhulaiyya is an average entertainer. A proper screenplay with a well defined genre would have done wonders to this movie and taken it to a completely different level than what it is now. It is definitely worth a one time watch even for those who have seen the original to notice some interesting changes in the storyline.
Bhool Bhulaiyya gets 2 out of 5.