Not Kartik Aaryan, we love Akshay Kumar's Bhool Bhulaiyaa more. There, we said it

The trailer of Kartik Aaryan's Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 released today, April 27. Didn't you miss Akshay Kumar's Aditya from the 2007 release?

Aami Je Tomar, Shudhu Je Tomar... the spine-chilling tune is back and so is the sequel of 2007 film, Bhool Bhulaiyaa. Titled Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, this film is led by Kartik Aaryan. The 2007 flick starred Akshay Kumar as the lead. We were waiting for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 trailer with bated breath and so it dropped today, April 26. As the Internet stands divided, some feel Kartik as Rooh Baba is refreshing. Others (read us) feel Akshay Kumar is the OG ghosthunter of all time. Whether you side with us or not is up to you, but we are here to reason our statement.

Hardly had the first look poster of Kartik Aaryan wearing a gerua robe like Akshay Kumar from Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 released when comparisons flooded the Internet. Both looked so similar yet different. 2007's Bhool Bhulaiyaa was directed by Priyadarshan, who is famous for untangling complex logic on the screen like butter. And that too through something so critical as comedy! Will Anees Bazmee do the same for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2? Well, that’s a comparison for later. But Kartik reprising Akshay’s role... umm, we are not much in favour. Again, before you agree or disagree, watch both the trailers here:

Kartik Aaryan, during the Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 trailer launch event, spoke in depth about facing comparisons with Akshay Kumar. Though he spoke highly of Bollywood’s Khiladi, he added that it’s better not to compare the two films. In the trailer, we saw Kartik recreating the famous ‘hurrr’ move to scare a woman, but Akshay doing the same to scare Janki Bua had us rolling on the floor laughing! Also, the first time Akshay sang ‘Aami Je Tomar chin chin chin’ is still a trademark, 15 years after the film's release. All said and done, comedy comes naturally to Akshay. Though Kartik’s claim to fame was comedy too, will he be able to match Akshay Kumar's level of Bhool Bhulaiyaa? We’ll soon know.

Bhool Bhulaiyaa had no real ghosts per se. The tale of Manjolika was merged with science but it still made us sleep with lights on. Sometimes the chill created through traditional means such as ghoongro, bikhre baal, purani haveli, are enough requisite to make a horror-comedy win. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 has a scary VFX ghost as Manjolika but we aren’t too convinced. And it’s not just us who thinks along these lines. A section of the Internet agrees too.

While a section of netizens lauded Kartik Aaryan as Ruhan Randhawa, others missed Akshay Kumar’s Aditya. Tweets such as “.@akshaykumar would have been better for this role in this movie . @BazmeeAnees (sic)”, “#AkshayKumar (sic)”, “Kartik Aaryan k liye bura lag rha he, uss ka job role play, acting, karna h. Kartik definitely accha kaam karega. Galti puri casting director ki h, Vidhya Balan, Akshay Kumar & original side characters cannot be replaced, bas yehi galti kar di. #BhoolBhulaiyaa2 #BhoolBhulaiyaa (sic)”, flooded the Internet.

@akshaykumar would have been better for this role in this movie . @BazmeeAnees