Bhool Bhulaiyaa

Genre: Thriller/Comedy

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Shiney Ahuja, Paresh Rawal, Asrani, Amisha Patel, Rajpal Yadav

Director: Priyadarshan

Kathmandu:

Lots of confusion leading to mayhem, this has always been the plot line of Priyadarshan’s movies. However, in Bhool Bhulaiyaa it is the mystery and suspense with a dash of his signatory comedy that keeps one hooked to the screen.

The story revolves around a palace that is believed to be haunted by the ghost of a king’s courtyard dancer. Nobody dares to go in the palace after sunset. However, Siddhartha (Shiny Ahuja), whose ancestors owned the palace, comes from America to live in the palace with his wife Avni (Vidya Balan). Despite the warnings of their relatives, Avni gets curious about the ghost story and visits the room that has been locked for ages. This leads to a lot of untoward incidents and Siddhartha somehow suspects that Radha (Amisha Patel) is behind all this. Claiming that she has some mental problem, he calls his psychiatrist friend Aditya (Akshay Kumar) to the palace. Then story unfolds as Aditya starts witnessing mysterious incidents and begins searching for the truth behind those happenings.

Unlike Priyadarshan’s previous movies, Bhool Bhulaiyaa is more of a thriller than than an out-and-out comedy. And he has delivered a quality thriller movie, which does frighten the audience and has some sensible reasoning to the mystery. There are certain loopholes, but the fact that the suspense isn’t irrelevant when it is revealed makes up for the few weak points.

The comedy is brilliant as the director has his successful team of Akshay Kumar, Paresh Rawal and Rajpal Yadav. However Yadav and Rawal have very less role and one is left wanting more of their comedy.

Except for a couple of scenes where Akshay looks like he is trying too hard, he has delivered a good job, as always. Vidya Balan, who was hardly noticed in her previous movie Heyy Babyy, has proven her calibre as an actor with her powerful performance. Shiny Ahuja looks a bit awkward in some scenes. All the other supporting cast has given a commendable performance, which makes the movie quality entertainment.

Thiru’s cinematography and the background score complement the scenes adding the necessary suspense element. As for the comedy sequences, the comic timing of the actors along with witty dialogues work wonders. However, the music is not the strong point of the movie as most of the songs seem forced and out of sequence.

With this movie, Priyadarshan has proved that comedy is not only his forte. Those who expect the typical Priyadarshan comedy will not get it, nevertheless they won’t be disappointed as he has delivered a gripping thriller story.