In Bhool Bhulaiyaan 2, the sequel in spirit and title to the blockbuster Bhool Bhulaiyaan, Kartik Aryan tries to measure up to Akshay Kumar, just like Akshay tried to measure up to Rajnikaanth who, in turn, tried to bring a new dimension to the character played by Mohanlal in 1993’s Manichitrathazhu.

In the original film, a psychiatrist unravels the mystery of a dead woman’s ghost that haunts a closed-off section of a palace, and wreaks havoc on the lives of the family that live there. The psychiatrist is intelligent and delightfully bonkers in his approach; he is a perfect archetype in a novel twist to the psychological horror-genre. In fact, the combination of the character and the plot was so popular that the story has been remade quite a few times since Manichitrathazhu.

The Malayalam language original starred Mohanlal as the quirky psychiatrist Dr Sunny Joseph, and was directed by Fazil (a celebrated name in South Indian cinema) whose assistant at the time was Priyadarshan, the director of Bhool Bhulaiyaan.

Priyadarshan, however, wasn’t the first one to remake Bhool Bhulaiyaan. The trend started when P. Vasu (another celebrated name from the South) remade the original in 2004 in Kannada language with the title Apthamitra. This version was followed by P. Vasu again in the Tamil language remake Chandramukhi in 2005 (it had Rajnikanth in the lead). A Bengali language remake titled Rajmohol came out in the same year (thankfully not directed by P. Vasu), which was followed by Priyadarshan’s take on the story in 2007 with Akshay.

Kartik Aryan’s unrelenting bits of comedy and his unmistakably Akshay-like idiosyncrasies help sustain the feel of the story in Bhool Bhulaiyaan 2

Priyadarshan would visit the character — though not the story, thankfully — in 2013’s Geethaanjali (an official remake of the 2007 Thai film, Alone), which brought back Mohanlal as Dr Sunny Joseph (he was one of the few good things about that film).

Akshay’s version, despite being the same character, was more ‘Akshay’ (his brand of comedy was — and still is — forever glued to Umer Sharif’s style of retorts). Although Kartik Aryan doesn’t play the same character in Bhool Bhulaiyaan 2, Akshay’s mannerisms seem to have seeped into the young actor’s style.

However, in this film’s case, that is a big plus, because Kartik’s unrelenting bits of comedy — and his unmistakably Akshay-like idiosyncrasies — help sustain the feel of the story.

Kartik plays Ruhaan Randhawa, a youngster who has given himself a free pass to roam the world as carefree as a bird. While we do not get to learn much about the character (his self-narrated backstory could be a sham; who knows?), what we do realise is that he is smart in the way conmen are smart.

When he meets Reet (Kiara Advani), a fellow free spirit who is on her way back home from a trip, he deduces her name and address by quickly glancing at her ticket (he must be a fast reader with 20-20 vision to catch all the details in less than a fraction of a second).

Reet, who is set to marry someone she doesn’t particularly like, convinces Kartik to masquerade as a ghost whisperer when her family is misinformed about Reet’s death. Reet’s master plan is to make everyone believe that her ghost wants her would-be husband to marry her cousin; the two, she learned, were secretly in love.

Reet and Kartik, unfortunately, break into the wrong side of the mansion, which has been sealed shut by the family because it is haunted by a spectre that goes by the name ‘Manjulika’.

Manjulika, as we see in the first scenes of the film, is the twin sister of Anjulika. The two sisters (both played by Tabu) were as different as day and night. Anjulika was a better human being who loved to dance; Manjulika, forever in the shadow of her twin, was a better witch.

Manjulika, whose witchcraft was getting out of hand, was shut off into the west wing of the mansion after Anjulika was married to the royal family where their father worked. The spectre, unknowingly let loose by Reet and Ruhaan in the second half of the film, wants what every bad spirit wants: revenge.

Bhool Bhulaiyaan 2 is a horror comedy and not a psychological murder mystery like the original — though visually it tries to stick to the conventions of the 2007 version as best as it can.

The film harks to the stereotypes found in traditional Bollywood fare that has been missing for quite a few years. It is a welcome return to form because, while far from perfect, almost everything works. The leads have romantic chemistry, one-liners fly hard and fast, and supporting characters do their fair share of drama and comedy (Rajpal Yadav, Sanjay Mishra and Ashwini Kalsekar are a hoot). The mystery aspect is a bit of a cliché.

Bhool Bhulaiyaan 2 doesn’t have the usual long-winded, forced franticness of a typical Anees Bazmee-directed film. Perhaps, the director has gained wisdom, or perhaps he is held in check by Aakash Kaushik and Farhad Samji’s screenplay.

Still, despite its shortfalls — most of one’s contention would be the cliché of the story in the second-half — Bhool Bhulaiyaan 2 is entertaining fare. The film’s global financial success should be enough to convince Bollywood to return back to the type of big movies it did best, once upon a time.

Streaming on Netflix, Bhool Bhulaiyaan 2 is rated suitable for 13 years and older (there are two lip locks in the film, but nothing gory or frightening)

Published in Dawn, ICON, July 10th, 2022