REVIEW: BHOOL BHULAIYAA 2

Producers- Bhushan Kumar and Murad Khetani

Director- Anees Bazmee

Star Cast- Kartik Aryan, Kiara Advani, Tabu, Amar Milind Gunaji, Rajpal Yadav, Sanjay Mishra, Amar Upadhyay, Ashwini Kalshekar

Genre- Horror Comedy

Platform of Release- Theatrical

Rating- ***1/2

It is terrific to the core!

Jyothi Venkatesh

Though Ruhan Randhawa (Kartik Aaryan) is an innocent baby-faced crook, the well-sheltered scion Reet Thakur (Kiara Advani (of the formidable Thakur clan) falls for his rookie black-magic tricks.

The best thing about the sequel to the hit Bhool Bhulaiya which itself was the remake of the Tamil hit Chandramukhi which in turn was also the remake of the Malayalam hit Manichitra Thazavarathu Anees Bazmee’s ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ (BB2) doesn’t succumb to external pressures. Instead, it holds on its own, as a real standalone film.

Strangers Ruhan Randhawa and Reet Thakur meet at a hill station and there's an instant click followed by a song-and-dance sequence, like how most Bollywood love stories start.

Things unfold in a manner that Ruhan and Reet land up at the abandoned haveli where Manjulika's spirit is believed to be held captive for 18 years. And it is here that the actual tale begins to unfold.

Although it would be criminal to compare Kartik Aaryan to Akshay Kumar—the former must have felt the pressure down to his last bone given Akshay Kumar’s level of success with it, back in 2007—but there’s a constant humming sound that plays like a broken record while you are watching the film.

The sequel this time is not only engaging and visually appealing but also entertains to the core even at the same time incorporating certain eerie spiritual effects though by this time the supernatural elements in Bollywood have been beaten to death a lot.

Besides Anees Bazmee who has cleverly tackled the theme with a dash of not only humour but also horror, Aakash Kaushik's story (he has also written the dialogues) also allows the actors a huge canvas to show different shades and perform at their wittiest best.

To bring about a twist to the plot, Reet pretends to be dead to the family and Ruhan turns into Rooh Baba to convince people that he can talk to ghosts and dead people's spirits.

Given that the director has a strong hold on the comedy genre too, having helmed films such as No Entry, Welcome, Singh is King, there's no dearth of comedy in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2.

Kartik is super in the film and makes you forget Akshay Kumar of the earlier part and keeps on surprising the viewer in every turn whereas Kiara though is effervescent in the first half has been reduced to just furniture on the sets literally after the interval.

Of course there is absolutely no way that you can compare her to Vidya Balan in the earlier version of the film but then we see very little of Tabu in the first half, but surprisingly she takes over the majority of post-interval scenes and to put in just one word, Tabu is simply terrific with those curls, kohl eyes and her magical screen presence.

Among the other actors, while Milind Gunaji has been wasted, Ashwani Kalshekar, Sanjay Mishra and Rajpal Yadav strike a chord or two in your hearts collectively.

To end up, all that I can say is that director Anees Bazmee is in top form as a director and here’s a film that will make the producers laugh all their way to the bank.