There are a few twists that leave you giddy, but director Anees Bazmee mostly relies on the reputation and background score of the original, and easily crosses over to the audience.
There are a few twists that leave you giddy, but director Anees Bazmee mostly relies on the reputation and background score of the original, and easily crosses over to the audience.
15 years after Priyadarshan made Manjulika Ka Bhoot, she is back under the Anees Bazmee directorial. Both ensembles are masters at choreographing comic chaos and when a phantom comes into the picture, the chaos threatens to become a spectacle. There is no such fate here, as in its second installment, it maze It’s not exciting enough to have a constant conversation.
There are some twists that leave you giddy and some twists that leave you stunned, but for the rest of the journey, Bazmee relies on the original’s reputation and background score, and crosses the audience with ease.
Ruhaan (Karthik Aryan) is a jovial character who finds a beautiful Reet (Kiara Advani) in the hills and convinces her to take her to his ancestral horror mansion in the desert. Circumstances and the urge to conquer her compel Ruhaan to play the role of a psychic who can converse with spirits. Soon, he becomes a soul Dad, beating the current Pandit (Sanjay Mishra). But, in the process of hiding Rit’s reality from his clan, he inadvertently awakens a latent spirit who met a troubled end.
Writer Akash Kaushik has mapped out a compelling plot, but somehow humor is in short supply and the horror elements linger behind closed doors for a long time. And, if the first half is believed to be about the chemistry between Kartik and Kiara, it is sad.
Other than Manjulika/Anjulika (Tabu), the characters are made of cardboard and serve hardly any purpose beyond being a part of the circus. Kartik is invested in what he has got, but the writer has given him nothing but that loose smile. The good looking Kiara seems happy to be a part of the fame of a big budget.
Things improve in the second half as Mishra and Rajpal Yadav (the only carry-over character from the original) get some funny lines and succulent situations, while Rajesh Sharma isn’t too bad at making good use of the situational humour. Some indirect references to the current socio-political environment find their target, such as when the head of the family (Milind Gunaji) orders every locked room in the mansion to be inspected. It’s not Bazmee’s best, but he keeps the narrative buzzing with his trademark everyday humor that can be watched with family.
After all, it is Tabu who keeps this horror-comedy alive. One of the few actors who excel in both serious and superficial cinema, he has a knack for Guddu Dhanoa’s horror stories Air. Here, in the form of good and evil, her performance renders everyone redundant including Kartik.
If you don’t put a price on your smile, this one’s for you, because (besides Tabu) there’s not much to miss Labyrinth.
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is currently running in theaters