Bhool bhulaiya 2 ( भूल भुलैया २)

​"Bhool bhulaiya 2 ( भूल भुलैया २)"

Watched Hindi movie "Bhool bhulaiya 2 ( भूल भुलैया २)".

Directed by Anees Bazmee. Produced by Bhushan Kumar, Krishan Kumar and others. Written by Akash Kaushik, Farhad Samji. Music by Pritam, Tanishq Bagchi. Cinematography by Manu Anand. It stars Kartik Aaryan, Kiara Advani, Tabu, Rajpal Yadav, Angad Bedi, Vyoma Nandi, Amar Upadhyay, Sanjay Mishra, Milind Gunaji, Rajesh Sharma, Ashwini Kalsekar, Kali Prasad Mukherjee, Govind Namdev. I watched this movie on Netflix on 20th Jun 2022. The movie is 2 hour 21 min long and was released in 20122. I watched it with Aditi and Mihika. 

The purani haweli is closed down after confining the ghost of Manjulika to a room and sealing the room with mantra and trident. Anju and her family move to new Haweli. 18 years on, Kiara (Anju’s sister in law) fakes her death to allow her sister and her fiancé to marry as they love each other. Her partner in crime is Kartik. They decide to live in purani haweli. Circumstances conspire to release Manjulika’s ghost. 

This movie is a sequel of original Akshay Kumar starrer. But apart from haweli and Manjulika’s ghost, there is nothing in common. Not even the actors. 

Director does a decent job to keep the audience engaged. There are some failed attempts of comedy, some successful ones, some continuity issues (example - the door is open in one scene and closed in other), some good horror and right amount of emotions. Anees also gives a surprise at the end. This surprise gives a twist to the story and the end becomes appealing. 

Kiara starts well but her character suddenly becomes an ‘extra’ after interval. Kartik does well. Apart from some  failed attempts at comedy, he holds himself well. Amar Upadhyay is wasted. Milind Gunaji speaks in a strange shallow voice rather than his deep baritone. Sanjay and Rajpal are the designated comedians. But the one who steals the show is Tabu. She portrays the characters of Anju and Manjulika (twins) very well and carries the movie on her able shoulders. 

Cinematography is good. The purani haweli doesn’t look spooky most of the time. Music is OK. 

We watched the movie on Mihika’s demand. Being a sequel and with no one from original featuring in it, I was expecting a flop and was ready for it. However, I was pleasantly surprised to watch a decent commercial movie. 

Positives: Overall effect. Twist. 

Negatives: Inconsistencies. Amar. 

Recommend watching.