Bhool Bhulaiyaa (transl. Maze) is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language comedy horror film directed by Priyadarshan. It is an official remake of the 1993 Malayalam film, Manichitrathazhu. The film stars Akshay Kumar, Shiney Ahuja, Vidya Balan, Ameesha Patel, Paresh Rawal, Manoj Joshi, Asrani, Rajpal Yadav and Vikram Gokhale. The film score and soundtrack of the film were composed by Ranjit Barot and Pritam respectively, and the lyrics were written predominantly by Sameer, while Sayeed Quadri wrote one song. The film received universal critical acclaim and was also a huge commercial success. Subsequently the film also attained cult status in Hindi cinema. Vidya Balan’s performance in the film is still considered iconic and regarded as one of her best to date.
Plot
Badrinath Chaturvedi (Manoj Joshi) heads a Brahmin family whose ancestral palace in Rajasthan is believed to be haunted by the ghost of Manjulika, a Bengali classical dancer. Siddharth Chaturvedi (Shiney Ahuja) and His wife Avni (Vidya Balan), the son and daughter-in-law of Badri’s elder brother, return to their native village from the United States and decide to stay in their ancestral palace. This leads to Siddharth’s childhood love interest Radha (Ameesha Patel), who is Badri’s adopted daughter, feeling heartbroken but she immediately recovers. Siddharth is crowned as the king, his right to the throne.
The palace where Siddharth and Avni were staying was once occupied by Raja Vibhuti Narayan, who was Siddharth’s ancestor. He had fallen in love with Manjulika, an exceptional dancer and beauty hailing from Bengal. But Manjulika was in love with Shashidhar, another dancer, who resided in a house just behind the palace and often met her secretly. On the night of Durgashtami, when the king gets to know of the affair and their plan to elope, he calls them to perform a dance one last time in the court. In the end, when Shashidhar bows, the king beheads Shashidhar and imprisons Manjulika in her room. Then on the day of the king’s marriage, Manjulika hangs herself and swore that her spirit would not leave any king who lived in that very palace. Various omens started taking place after that, presuming that the “evil eye” may have befallen on the king. The king too dies under unknown circumstances. Soon, with the aid of powerful sorcerers, both Shashidhar’s and Manjulika’s spirits were locked up in a room in the third floor of the palace using a sacred talisman.
Avni falls in love with the place and learns about Manjulika and her tragic story. Events take a twist when Avni, keenly interested in the story, obtains a copy of the third floor room key and opens the forbidden locked room that contains the ghost of Manjulika. Unnatural events start taking place inside the palace. Badri and Batuk Shankar (Paresh Rawal) try to ward off the evil eye with the help of a priest, Shri Yagyaprakashji Bharti (Vikram Gokhale), but unfortunately the priest has gone to London and is unsure when he might return.
Siddharth starts suspecting Radha for all the strange occurrences. He thinks she has gone crazy since he was supposed to marry her, but married Avni instead. He calls his friend, psychiatrist Dr. Aditya Shrivastav (Akshay Kumar) from New York, to try to figure out what the problem is with Radha. Once Aditya reaches the palace, things become comical, as everyone thinks he is a fool, though he is very intelligent and a successful doctor. Eventually Aditya falls in love with Radha. One night, Aditya hears Manjulika’s ghungroo and her bengali song coming from the third floor. He goes and knocks at the door, but sees no one. Next morning, he asks Avni to take her to the third floor. She shows him the place, even Manjulika’s room and her belongings. Adi studies the matter closely and prepares for the night. That night he encounters Manjulika, pretending to be the cruel Raja, and dares her to strike. The ghost angrily vows to take her revenge on the auspicious day of Durgashtami.
During the engagement of Siddharth’s cousin Nandini, and Sharad Prahlad (Vineeth), Avni spills haldi on Sharad and takes him away to get him cleaned. When Aditya and Siddharth search for her, they see that there is a struggle between Avni and Sharad, and quickly intervene. Siddharth thinks that Sharad was violating Avni, but Aditya tells him that Avni is the real culprit, not Radha as previously suspected. It is revealed that Avni has dissociative identity disorder, a disease that affects the person’s identity, making them think they are someone else. At one point of time, Avni tends to forget her own self and becomes Manjulika. Aditya explains that Avni is the one making all the strange things happen around the palace. He reveals that he visited Avni’s hometown to gather information about her childhood and has factual evidence.
He tells a half – convinced Siddarth to provoke Avni by refusing her from going out. As he does, soon Avni loses her temper and shows him the dark personality of Manjulika. But returns to normal quickly, much to her husband’s shock and dismay. Later Siddarth begs Adi to cure Avni.
During Durgashtami, Aditya and Siddharth along with Sharad see Avni assume Manjulika’s identity, dressed as her and dancing to the tunes Manjulika had been dancing to with her love, Shashidhar, before the king murdered him. The tragic love story of the old king Vibhuti Narayan, who loved Manjulika, who in turn loved Shashidhar, is revealed. Avni imagines herself as Manjulika and Sharad as Shashidhar, dancing in the court of the king. Avni completely assumes the identity of Manjulika and tries to kill her own husband Siddharth; she sees him as the king who had killed Manjulika’s lover.
To cure Avni, Aditya triggers Manjulika’s personality and makes her promise to leave Avni if she gets the opportunity to kill the king and take her revenge. The priest Shri Yagyaprakashji Bharti arrives and with his help, during the ritual of Durgashtami, Aditya lays out an intricate plan to trick Manjulika into thinking she is killing the king when she is actually slaying a dummy. After the “murder”, Manjulika, now content, leaves Avni forever. Avni is healed and everything ends well. The family members now very pleased with Adi, thank him for all his help, saving two lives.
Aditya tells Radha, whom he has taken a liking to, that he will send his parents over if she is interested in marrying him, to which a happy Radha gives her silent consent.
Cast
Cast Role Notes
Akshay Kumar Dr. Aditya Shrivastav
Vidya Balan Avni Chaturvedi / Manjulika
Ameesha Patel Radha Chaturvedi
Shiney Ahuja Siddharth Chaturvedi / Raja Vibhuti Narayan
Paresh Rawal Batukshankar Upadhyay
Manoj Joshi Badrinarayan Chaturvedi
Rajpal Yadav lal Hanuman Natwar a.k.a. Chhote Pandit
Asrani Murari
Vikram Gokhale Acharya Yagyaprakash Bharti
Rasika Joshi Janki Upadhyay Chaturvedi
Tarina Patel Nandini Upadhyay Chaturvedi / Nandini Sharad Prahlad
Vineeth Professor Sharad Prahlad / Shashidhar
Kaveri Jha Girja Upadhyay Chaturvedi
Jimit Trivedi Chandu Chaturvedi
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