A gleefully hammy Madhuri and Vidya's volley of death stares and evil laughs engage in a ruthless glamorous tug of war in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, notes Sukanya Verma.
Just like the earlier two Bhool Bhulaiyaa movies, kickstarted by Priyadarshan in 2007, the third of the horror comedy series by Director Anees Bazmee revolves around a phony psychic caught in the family drama of a haunted haveli.
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 opens like one of those The Mummy preludes unfolding a dark history from 200 years ago only to cut to the present, signalling at the wicked all the wrongdoing has unleashed, which Ruhaan aka Rooh Baba's (Kartik Aaryan) goofball ghostbuster must put an end to by hook or crook.
Here's what happens: A penniless royal family in Kolkata strong-arms the star scammer into rescuing them from Manjulika's wrath by fulfilling a priest's claims of good ol' purvajon ki bhavishyavani that insists Ruhaan's resemblance to their ancestral 'shehzada' is a case of reincarnation.
Him wincing at the mention of the disastrous Shehzada is an early glimpse of the movie's spoofy humour, of which Rajpal Yadav's Jawan parody and Sanjay Mishra's Netflix tudum run-in and Vijay Raaz's kauwa biryani hat-tip are the most chucklesome.
Bhool Bhulaiyaa, which starts out a bit doddery, saves the better bits for last.
Until then a tedious amount of trashy comic cliches and soapy drama aesthetics are tossed our way anytime anything bald, overweight, short or Bengali is targeted for tacky jokes as Rooh Baba employs his so-called otherworldly gifts to protect a clientele of party animals and philanderers.
Bazmee leaves no stone unturned to fuel our nostalgia, be it tne Zee Horror Show's iconic creepy tune or OG Manjulika's furniture lifting muscle. But the deadly mask-adorning apparition in blood red it conjures on its own is the least scary presence so far.
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 fares better around those flesh and blood.
Save for Triptii Dimri and her veiled role in the lore that's cast off to focus on her eye-appeal, the likes of Sanjay Mishra, Vijay Raaz and Rajpal Yadav are reliably hilarious regardless of the quality of the joke.
Over the period, Kartik Aaryan has grown more comfortable in the horseplay genre, but more than his attempts to channel Aamir Khan's smartass Amar (Andaz Apna Apna) vibe, it's his fleeting depiction of hurt and vulnerability over familial betrayal that shows spark.
If he's the pillar to all the twists Bazmee has in mind, its entire drama is shouldered by Madhuri Dixit and Vidya Balan.
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, once again penned by Aakash Kaushik, truly kicks off when this spookily-connected sisterhood arrives at the ghostly palace and sets the stage for a series of jump scare nightmares and spirited dance offs.
If only Manu Anand's bland camerawork wasn't so unimaginative in capturing the spectacle and scares.
Seasoned actors letting their hair down is the franchise's entire point.
Where a rock solid Tabu's terror twin act bolstered Kartik Aaryan's rising stardom in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, a gleefully hammy Madhuri and Vidya's volley of death stares and evil laughs engage in a ruthless albeit glamorous tug of war.
Object of fear or fashion, Bazmee lets you decide.
Between the quest to find out who the real Manjulika is and Rooh's shenanigans around a crowd of bumbling nuts to chase off the bhoots and score a share in the palatial booty, Bazmee digs deeper into the farce filled with red hues and herrings to offer something unexpectedly consequential.
For a franchise that's build itself around a catchy ear worm and a ghost who likes to introduce themselves in ways that's more Bong than Bond, Bhool Bhulaiyaa preserves its 'silly scary movie that knows it is a silly scary movie' tone for a good measure only to pleasantly surprise with its sympathetic take on transgender identity.
It's a fine thought, if a few drafts underwritten, and deserved a little more complexity than Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3's chaotic momentum allows. Even so, I still can't get over how genuine this show of sensitivity feels in a movie that starts out dishing taklu-bhenga brand of laughs.
Let's not make the same mistake again, a character reminds another. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 is first to find redemption in that.
