Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
If it weren’t for Vidya Balan, some of us would simply not stick around until the end of the horror-comedy Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 to find out what the final climactic twist is – if there is one. Surprisingly, this very unfunny film, which is never scary (courtesy of a ghost introduced in the first few seconds wearing a hideous, outdated mask), does have a pretty good twist at the end! But it rests on the shoulders of the wrong actor.
Created by Anees Bazmee (director) and Aakash Kaushik (writer), Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 sees Kartik Aaryan back as Ruhaan Randhawa AKA Rooh Baba, the fake baba who dabbles in driving ghosts away, just like in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2. In this new spinoff, Ruhaan takes on a case brought to him by Princess Meera (Triptii Dimri) from the royal family of Rakhtghat, who seeks his help to exorcise the spirit of Manjulika, a deceased princess haunting the palace after being burned alive for conspiring to claim the throne.
When two mysterious women arrive at Rakhtghat—Mallika (Vidya Balan), a restorer keen on sprucing up the historical palace, and Mandira (Madhuri Dixit), a royal interested in buying the property, the family begins to suspect that one of them could be the legendary ghost Manjulika. So there’s quite some suspense until the end over who the real Manjulika is, but the story in between is completely insipid.
Kartik Aryan is simply annoying as Ruhaan, and the rest of the cast also gets on your nerves, largely because the script is simply awful, with flat jokes. Vidya Balan is the only one in this ensemble cast who manages to make her part seem authentic, unlike the rest, who seem stuck in a stage play from the 90s.
Vikram Bhatt set a new benchmark for awful VFX in movies with his 2024 horror movie ‘Bloody Ishq’, so in comparison, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 looks pretty good in terms of special effects. However, the ghost is often show with a comedic mask, which completely scuttles any element of surprise or spookiness. This flick is neither scary, nor funny. If you’re looking for some Bollywood horror comedies and haven’t seen Stree 2 yet, watch that instead.
Rating: 1 star on 5. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 in on Netflix.
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