If there is one significant factor that actually pose a challenge for movie makers, it is making a project with an equally accentuating aspects of two genre, especially in the dynamics of horror and humor.
As these two-genre merge together, things become quite serious in bringing them delicately to life in a movie.
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 serves as a prime example of how mismanagement of the horror comedy genre can lead to the quality collapse of a film which could have been amazing.
Anees Bazmee’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, in any aspect, is a failed attempt to bring the plot and the characters to live. Unlike its first iconic part which was widely termed as a flawless 2007 masterpiece, this part does not even come close to it.
But what’s missing in this movie? Nearly everything.
The plot is overrated and overly performed, failing to identify the difference between the screens of horror and that of comedy- to the extent when it all seems a perfunctory attempt of reviving what Priyadarshan ‘s first part had narrated.
Ruhaan Randhawa (Kartik Aryan) meets Reet Thakur (Kiara Advani) on a Northern holiday spot. He fells for her and decides to be a part of her very unusual endeavor , that is to pretend dead while living in the family’s haunted mansion in which an actual spirit of Majulika has been kept away in a room.
Ruhaan pretends to be someone able to communicate with the departed ones and claims to be talking to Reet’s ghost. Things get serious when the room containing the demon witch Majulika is unlocked and all falls to agony and adversity.
While watching Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, I kept comparing the movie with its predecessor. Every dialogue, every location, each song- everything I can’t help but compare, and this is what I thought:
The ghost and concept of Manjulika, glorified in the 2007 movie has been made an object of silly humor and insignificance. It was Madhu Muttam ‘s Manjulika who captured the audience with her tormenting past and a strange fascination that struck Avni (played by Vidya Balan), the leading female role in the 2007 movie.
Farhad Samji ‘s Manjulika seems to be carved from a run of the mill concept of creating ghosts and other beings of the macabre. The new Manjulika surprisingly has a twin sister Anjulika who is killed by her in an act of deceit. While the film nears its end, Manjulika spirit turns out to be Anjulika’s.
The idea can’t get more overrated as we have seen similar one in other horror movies. The closest example of this would be the Bollywood movie Alone, a 2015 film featuring Bipasha Basu and Karan Singh Grover.
The first Manjulika is far more concerning and a bigger thing to worry about. The best part about her is that her spirit is not even real and yet her story, not her spirit, possesses someone. The new Manjulika, despite being an actual spirit, is a work of weak storyline and a weaker visual structure chiseled from the deserving profundity.
Let’s Talk about the role of Kiara Advani, the female protagonist. Its arduous to talk about her role, because she has almost none of it- at least not a worthy one. Kiara somehow struggles to make natural expressions in the move and one wonders why.
Despite giving exceptional performance in
projects like Kabir Singh, Kalank and Lust Stories, Kiara does not fit well of her role as Reet. To add further, her character brings nothing much of an influence in the film and is overrated. Unlike Avni and Radha of the previous part, Reet ‘s character massively lacks dept and aura.Kartik Aryan, the boy who made headlines in both India and Pakistan with his duo movies of Pyar ka Punchnama. His 2019 romance comedy Luka Chuppi was a success in mapping his career trajectory inside Bollywood. However, Kartik’s role as Ruhaan fails to impress.
Just like other characters of Bhool Bhulaiya 2, Ruhaan’s character lacks storyline and originality. He is comic to an extent where it seems irritating and pretentious. He possesses zero knowledge, or even a minuscule of common sense when compared to Dr. Adidtya Shrivasta (played by Akshay Kumar in the 2007 version).
Ruhaan Randhawa depicts a spoiled brat who travels to places just to keep up with his free time. This makes him not only artificial but also incompetent as the male leading role.
After seeing Kartik in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, I am convinced that his personality is more suited to romance comedy movies where Kartik gets to perform more freely. He does not seem to be a material for portraying serious roles and narratives.
What else makes the new incarnation of Bhool Bhulaiyaa so peculiar from its previous one? I believe it has majorly to do with direction and storyline and casting.
As far as direction is concerned, I think people should have expected this from Anees Bazmee who himself is known for creating characters overly soaked in comic behavior. His movies Ready, Welcome, Welcome Back, No Problem, No Entry and Sandwich are veritable proof of it. And honestly, I am not a fan of Anees Bazmee’s projects except for Welcome and Sandwich.
While watching the film, it becomes quite apparent that Anees Bazmee projection of the movie is a far cry from Priyadarshan’s vision.
The cast selection of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 has major flaws that includes the selection of the lead roles. Tabu, despite being a talented actress does not perform up to the mark, Kartik and Kiara are irrelevant to the roles they’ve been given. Sanjay Mishra and Rajpal Yadav, the only 2 characters from the first part are handed halfhearted dialogues. And I badly miss Paresh Rawal, Manoj Joshi, Rasika Joshi, and Asrani.
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 to me, is a disappointing project that should have remained a part of Priyadarshan and the famous Priya Darshan’s Universe of characters. The movie needed crucial rectifications and better storyline with some new crew and cast. Kartik and Kiara are no doubt powerful performers, yet they need the right roles and plot to enhance their capabilities and the personality they are known for.
Ruhaan and Reet were not in any way helpful for them.
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is currently streaming on Netflix Pakistan.
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