Bhool Bhulaiyaa
| Bhool Bhulaiyaa | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Priyadarshan |
| Screenplay by | Neeraj Vora |
| Story by | Madhu Muttam |
| Produced by | Bhushan Kumar Kishan Kumar |
| Starring | Akshay Kumar Ameesha Patel Vidya Balan Shiney Ahuja Saksham Sharma Vineeth |
| Cinematography | Tirru |
| Edited by | N. Gopalakrishnan Arun Kumar |
| Music by | Pritam |
| Distributed by | T-Series Eros International |
Release date |
|
Running time | 154 minutes |
| Country | India |
| Language | Hindi |
| Box office | ₹840 million (US$10 million)[1] |
Bhool Bhulaiyaa (English: The Maze) is a 2007 Indian psychological comedy horror film directed by Priyadarshan. It constitutes the official remake of the 1993 Malayalam film, Manichitrathazhu, starring Mohanlal. which was already remade into several Indian films.[2]
Bhool Bhulaiyaa features Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Ameesha Patel and Shiney Ahuja in pivotal roles with Paresh Rawal and Rajpal Yadav in supporting roles. The music of the film was composed by Pritam and the lyrics were written by Sameer. It received mostly positive reviews and a huge box-office success. The film is also noted for its usage of colloquial language and the ambience that of royalty very aptly portrayed.
This is a psychological thriller. The disorder suffered by the protagonist, "dissociative identity disorder" is an actual mental health problem. When Akshay's character is explaining the symptoms of the illness the camera even captures one of its most famous case, that of an American female called Shirley Ardell Mason.
Plot
Badri (Manoj Joshi) heads a Brahmin family whose ancestral palace is believed to be haunted by the ghost of Manjulika, a Bengali classical dancer. Siddharth (Shiney Ahuja) and Avni (Vidya Balan), the son and daughter-in-law of Badri's elder brother, return to their native village from America and decide to stay in their ancestral palace. Here, Siddharth is crowned as the king, his right to the throne.
Events take a twist when Avni opens a forbidden locked room that contains the ghost of Manjulika. Unnatural events start taking place inside the palace. Avni falls in love with the place and learns about Manjulika and her tragic story. Badri and Batuk Shankar (Paresh Rawal) try to ward off the evil eye with the help of a priest, Shri Yagyaprakashji Bharti (Vikram Gokhale), but unfortunately the priest has gone to London and is unsure when he might return.
Siddharth starts suspecting Radha (Amisha Patel) for all the strange occurrences. He thinks she has gone crazy since he was supposed to marry her, but married Avni instead. He calls his friend, psychiatrist Dr. Aditya Shrivastav (Akshay Kumar), to try to figure out what the problem is with Radha. Once Aditya reaches the palace, things become comical, as everyone thinks he is a fool, though he is very intelligent. Aditya eventually realizes that Radha is not at fault, and that someone else behind it all. One night, he encounters Manjulika and dares her to strike. The ghost angrily vows to take her revenge on the auspicious day of Durgashtami.
During the engagement of Nandini, Siddharth's cousin, and Sharad Pradhan (Vineeth), Avni spills food on Sharad and takes him away to get him cleaned. When Aditya and Siddharth search for her, they see that there is a struggle between Avni and Sharad, and quickly intervene. Siddharth thinks that Sharad was violating Avni, but Aditya tells him that Avni is the real culprit. It is revealed that Avni has dissociative identity disorder, a disease that affects the person's identity, making them think they're someone else. Aditya explains that Avni is the one making all the strange things happen around the palace. He reveals that he visited Avni's hometown to gather information about her childhood and has factual evidence. He then tells the half-convinced Siddtharth to provoke Avni in order to make him realize that something is wrong. When Siddharth provokes her, Avni shows the dark personality of Manjulika before returning to her usual self, much to the horror and concern of Siddharth, who asks Aditya to save Avni.
During Durgashtami, Aditya and Siddharth see Avni consumed in Manjulika's identity, dressed as her and dancing to the tunes Manjulika had been dancing to with her love, Shashidhar, before the king murdered him. The tragic love story of the old king Vibhuti Narayan, who loved Manjulika, who in turn loved Shashidhar, is revealed. Avni imagines herself as Manjulika and Sharad as Shashidhar, dancing in the court of the king. Avni completely assumes the identity of Manjulika and tries to kill her own husband Siddharth; she sees him as the king who had killed Manjulika's lover.
To cure Avni, Aditya triggers Manjulika's personality and makes her promise to leave Avni if she gets the opportunity to kill the king and take her revenge. The priest Shri Yagyaprakashji Bharti arrives and with his help, during the ritual of Durgashtami, Aditya lays out an intricate plan to trick Manjulika into thinking she is killing the king when she is actually slaying a dummy. After the "murder", Manjulika, now content, leaves Avni forever. Avni is healed and everything ends well. Aditya tells Radha, whom he has taken a liking to, that he will send his parents over if she is interested in marrying him, to which a happy Radha gives her silent consent.
Cast
- Akshay Kumar as Dr. Aditya Shrivastav
- Ameesha Patel as Radha Shrivastav
- Vidya Balan as Avni Chaturvedi
- Shiney Ahuja as Siddharth Chaturvedi
- Paresh Rawal as Batukshankar Upadhyay
- Rajpal Yadav as Chhote Pandit / Lal Hanuman
- Asrani as Murari
- Vikram Gokhale as Acharya Yagyaprakash Bharti
- Manoj Joshi as Badrinarayan 'Badri' Chaturvedi
- Rasika Joshi as Janki Upadhyay
- Tarina Patel as Nandini Upadhyay
- Vineeth as Professor Sharad Prahlad / Shashidhar
- Kaveri Jha as Girja Upadhyay
Production
Casting
Originally Aishwarya Rai and Katrina Kaif were the first female choices for Bhool Bhulaiyaa. They turned down the offer and were replaced by Vidya Balan and Ameesha Patel.[3] Vidya Balan had to take Kathak lessons for this film. Incidentally, Vineeth played the same role in the Rajinikanth-starrer Chandramukhi (2005), which was the Tamil remake of Manichithrathazhu.
Soundtrack
| Untitled | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Bollywood Hungama |    link |
| Rediff | link |
The soundtrack of the film was composed by Pritam with lyrics provided by Sameer and Sayeed Quadri. The title track "Bhool Bhulaiyaa" became a chartbuster.
All music is composed by Pritam
| No. | Title | Lyrics | Singers | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Bhool Bhulaiyaa" | Sameer | Neeraj Shridhar | 05:12 |
| 2. | "Labon Ko Labon Pe" | Sayeed Quadri | KK | 05:44 |
| 3. | "Pyaar Ka Sajda" | Sameer | KK | 05:12 |
| 4. | "Bhool Bhulaiyaa – Remix" | Sameer | Neeraj Shridhar | 05:07 |
| 5. | "Let's Rock Soniye" | Sameer | Shaan, Tulsi Kumar | 04:27 |
| 6. | "Sakiya Re Sakiya" | Sameer | Tulsi Kumar | 04:57 |
| 7. | "Mere Dholna Sun" | Sameer | Shreya Ghoshal, M. G. Sreekumar | 06:47 |
| 8. | "Allah Hafiz Keh Raha" | Sameer | KK | 04:34 |
| 9. | "Let's Rock Soniye – Remix" | Sameer | Shaan, Tulsi Kumar | 04:28 |
| 10. | "Pyaar Ka Sajda – Remix" | Sameer | KK | 05:22 |
| 11. | "Labon Ko Labon Pe – Remix" | Sayeed Quadri | KK | 05:17 |
Character map of Manichithrathazhu and its remakes
Template:Manichitrathazhu character map
Box office
Bhool Bhulaiyaa had an excellent opening and was declared a hit, netting ₹497 million (US$6.0 million) in India. It was the 6th highest domestic grosser of 2007.[4]
The total overseas gross was $3,910,000 and it was declared a hit there too. The lifetime overseas breakup was $1,380,000 in UK, $1,130,000 in North America, $820,000 in UAE, $151,000 in Australia and $429,000 in other markets.[5]
The film collected ₹840 million (US$10 million) worldwide gross.[1]
References
- ^ a b "Top Lifetime Grossers Worldwide (IND Rs)". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 21 October 2013.
- ^ "indiafm.com". Shooting in Australia. Archived from the original on 19 February 2007. Retrieved 17 February 2007.
{{cite web}}: Unknown parameter|deadurl=ignored (|url-status=suggested) (help) - ^ "indiafm.com". Vidya replace Aishwarya. 13 October 2007. Retrieved 13 October 2007.
- ^ "Box Office 2007". Box Office India. 4 February 2012. Archived from the original on 14 October 2013. Retrieved 11 February 2012.
- ^ "Top Lifetime Grossers OVERSEAS (US $)". Box Office India. Archived from the original on 4 December 2013.