Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 review: Kartik Aaryan, epic climax elevate threequel; Vidya Balan fails to recreate Manjulika magic

Director: Anees Bazmee

Cast: Kartik Aaryan, Vidya Balan, Triptii Dimri, Madhuri Dixit, Vijay Raaz, Rajpal Yadav, Ashwini Kalsekar, Sanjay Mishra

Where To Watch: Theaters

Rating: 3.5 stars

After entertaining the audiences with Welcome, No Entry, and Singh Is Kinng, Anees Bazmee lost his comedic touch with Welcome Back and Pagalpanti. In 2022, the filmmaker made his grand comeback with Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2. Not only did he revive the franchise, he was also able to bring in the audiences back to the theatres after the Covid-19 pandemic. For me, the standalone sequel worked big time. And now, Bazmee is back with Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 with Kartik Aaryan reprising his role as Rooh Baba, a fraud psychic who earns his bread and butter by taking advantage of others' superstitions.

In the threequel, Triptii Dimri's Princess Meera offers Rooh Baba Rs 1 crore in exchange for warding off the vengeful spirit of Manjulika in a haunted mansion in her kingdom of Raktaghat, West Bengal. As Kartik reaches his destination, horror and humour follow. Soon, it is revealed that there isn't one, but two spirits - Vidya Balan and Madhuri Dixit - claiming themselves to be the real Manjulika. Kartik's Rooh Baba must find out the truth and save the whole village now.

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 has a lot of overdose from its previous part. A couple of scenes even seem like they have been reused with new dialogues, as per the new script. The humour also is a bit repetitive and the threequel has no real spine-chilling moments, unlike the last horror comedy Stree 2 which was a perfect amalgamation of the two genres. But, what works for Anees Bazmee this time are his leading protagonist and a compelling climax.

In my opinion, Kartik Aaryan was successfully able to replace Akshay Kumar in the franchise in the last part and he continues his amazing act as Ruhaan Randhawa aka Rooh Baba. He overacts a bit, but suits well into the character. As a leading lady, Triptii Dimri has a lot more to do here unlike Kiara Advani. Madhuri Dixit's performance is credited as the special appearance, and she is still unable to do justice to her small role. However, Vidya Balan fails to recreate the magic of the OG Manjulika from the 2007 film Bhool Bhulaiyaa. Since this film has no connection with the first part, I feel the makers could have avoided playing on the nostalgia factor and shouldn't have cast her. The Pandit trio Sanjay Mishra, Rajpal Yadav, and Ashwini Kalsekar bring the house down yet again with their antics.

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 comes out as a strong movie due to its outstanding climax. Without giving too much away, the final fifteen minutes of the movie are surely going to shock the audiences. I was pleasantly surprised with how the events unfolded at the last, even after making several guesses while watching the film. The smart writing and screenplay come together in a neatly packaged ending with ample amounts of twists and turns, and a powerful message too.

The makers would obviously now want to bring back Akshay Kumar in the Bhool Bhulaiyaa series. The audiences would hope that too. But, it would only work if Akshay reprises his role as Dr. Aditya Srivastava from the Priyadarshan classic, unlike what they did with Vidya Balan in this film. The OG film still stands the test of time even after 17 years, and Anees Bazmee's Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 is a worthy addition to the franchise.

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