‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’ movie review: Madhuri Dixit and Vidya Balan are underutilised this drab horror comedy

Kartik Aaryan is alive to the situational humour but director Anees Bazmee falters between sticking to stereotypes and taking a progressive step in ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’

In the festive season, director Anees Bazmee tells cinegoers to bring in the popcorn and he would deliver the comic twists. This Deepavali, the director lights up a green cracker that leaves a purple patch in the air but in a bid to be progressive, he fails to keep his traditional comedic pot on the boil and underutilises powerhouse performers like Madhuri Dixit and Vidya Balan to light up the screen. 

The third installment of the popular franchise that sparked interest in big-budget horror comedy in Bollywood seems to have been put together in a rush to cash in on the success of the second part. The second installment released just after the pandemic when the entertainment terrain was parched. But the third has come out just after the taut Stree 2 where jokes don’t dry up till the end credits. 

At 158 minutes, here the maze of mirth has been stretched beyond its potential, and subversive elements, the hallmark of a horror comedy, don’t gel organically with the storyline. A film that shamelessly stereotypes Bengalis and their culture for easy laughs suddenly attempts to be inclusive in the climax, turning the whole exercise into a hypocritical charade. 

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There are some promising moments like how Bazmee tells us garibi is more deadly than ghosts. The film pays tribute to the spirit of Ramsay Brothers by casting their screen ghosts and using the signature tune of Zee Horror Show but a few well-executed skits don’t make a wholesome screenplay. Several potential plot points could have raised the bar but writer Aakash Kaushik seems to be more interested in addressing the juveniles in all age groups before appending a message towards the end.

Kartik Aaryan is again the lifeline of the franchise. Invoking the spirit of Akshay Kumar, he brings his natural flair for family comedy as the charming charlatan Ruhaan. Once again tasked with controlling the spirit of the avenging Manjulika for a price, the ghostbuster gets into a palatial intrigue where we encounter a past filled with patriarchy, false pride, and unfulfilled desires. Manjulika had a brother who looked like Ruhaan and a sister Anjulika caught in a fight for the throne. As Ruhaan sets out to clear the cobwebs of the past, he gets entangled in a meandering mix of funny and scary situations that demand some serious editing. It is left to the supporting cast led by Vijay Raaz and Sanjay Mishra to fill in the gaps in the gags that have the shelf life of soggy firecrackers. 

The second installment was lit up by a highly spirited performance by Tabu as the ghost. Here Bazmee brings Madhuri and Vidya to step into the backward-facing shoes of the witch. Both bring their rhetorical best to the spooky portions but the storyline with Kartik at the centre of the narrative doesn’t have enough heft to do justice to their towering presence. It is rare to see Madhuri in grey shades and she shows in a scene that she could portray the hysterical side of a deeply flawed and conceited person but the film doesn’t test her enough. Vidya who was part of the crackling original directed by Priyadarshan returns to reprise her role. The character may have lost some flab but the franchise has run out of gas.