First of all let me make it clear, Bhool Bhulaiya is NOT an out-n-out comedy movie as its trailers suggest. It’s a thriller narrated with that Priyadarshan pinch to it i.e. in an entertaining and comedy way.

Bhool Bhulaiya is the remake of a 14 year old Malayalam movie, Manichitrathazhu. The movie was also remade in Kannada and Tamil. It a script that has always worked! So is Bhool Bhulaiya in the same league?

Even by the extravagant standards of Bollywood movies, Bhool Bhulaiya, a lavish comic epic about psychiatry, mythology and spiritualism, has a lot of plot. Its star, Akshay Kumar, doesn’t appear until about one third of the way into the film. The moment he does, Bhool Bhulaiya transforms from a luxurious romantic ghost story into a witty farce as Mr. Kumar’s character, Aditya, a psychiatrist summoned to a haunted palace to examine one character’s suspicious behavior, mugs and clowns and acts crazier than anyone else. From there the movie becomes a plush quasi horror film about demonic possession, aatma and ejection/killing of characters.

Badrinarayan Chaturvedi (Manoj Joshi) is the head of the Brahmin family living in a small town where people are very traditional and superstitious. The trouble begins when Siddharth (Shiney Ahuja), a scientist trained in the United States, returns to India with his beautiful, American-reared Indian wife, Avni (Vidya Balan). Thoroughly Westernized, Siddharth disrespects his relatives’ belief that the family’s ancestral palace is too dangerous to inhabit because it haunted and angry spirits still dwell there, and he...

forces the whole family to move in.

Despite opposition the newly wed couple shifts to their ancestral mansion. Avni, an adventurous girl breaks the ground rules to explore the room considered to be the devil’s home. What follows is a series of life threatening incidents. Siddharth instinctively invites his vibrant Doctor friend Aditya (Akshay Kumar) to solve the mystery behind the mansion and the mysterious events.

Who is behind all the baffling activities? Is it really ghastly or just a human trick? Watch Bhool Bhulaiya to uncover the mystery. Trust me, its interesting and refreshing.

Priyadarshan has handled the complicated script extremely well. Bhool Bhulaiya has just the right ingredients of a successful movie - adequate amount of comedy, suspense and thrill to keep you at the edge of your seats throughout. Music is never really great in Priyadarshan movies but Bhool Bhulaiya is an exception. ‘Hare Krishna Hare Ram’ standout. The performances are top-notch. The second half belongs to Vidya Balan. She has done complete justice to a role that demanded great onscreen histrionics. Akshay Kumar is good as always, surprisingly decent in emotional scenes also. Shiney Ahuja is ok. Amisha Patel should stop acting, the sooner the better. Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav, Asrani are great in providing comic relief.