close
close

How a psychological thriller became a horror comedy

How a psychological thriller became a horror comedy

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 will be released on November 1 and will be the third installment in the T-Series comedy-horror series Bhool Bhulaiyaa, which was founded by Priyadarshan in 2007.

© T-series

But do you know what Bhool Bhulaiyaa wasn’t that the OG movie?

Bhool Bhulaiyaa was a remake of a Malayalam film Manichitrathaj which was a psychological thriller, unlike his later remakes which mostly depended on comedy.

© Swargachitra Films

The subject of Manichitrathaz

Manichitrathaza was inspired by a real-life tragedy that took place at Alummoottil Meda, an old mansion in Alappuzha, Kerala, where a girl was killed after witnessing a manslaughter.

© X//Manu S Pillai

Manichitrathaza had some comedic elements, but it relied heavily on intense scenes and had a darker tone, emphasizing personality disorders without hero worship. The same theme was followed in Priyadarshan Bhool Bhulaiyaa. This was probably because Priyadarshan was working as an assistant director on a Malayalam film.

Hindi adaptation Manichitrathaza It starred Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Shiney Ahuja and Amisha Patel and was a perfect mix of horror and comedy.

© T-series

The scenes and dialogues in this movie were almost similar to the original movie where Haveli was the main character and one of the biggest characters was introduced an hour later because the story demanded it.

Tamil version

Rajinikanth played the lead character Manichitrathaza The Tamil version which had the title Chandramukhi.

© Sivaji Productions

In this version, Rajinikanth was introduced much earlier and played a doctor as well as an evil king who kills Chandramukhi’s lover.

This movie also had action scenes and a giant snake roaming around haveli, which was a symbolic representation of Manjulika’s soul.

When comedy won thrills

Bhushan Kumar roped in Anees Bazmee for the sequel Bhool Bhulaiyaa and what we saw in 2022 was a mediocre horror comedy starring Karthik Aaryan, Tabu and Kiara Advani.

© T-series

A “ghost” and supernatural elements were introduced for the first time Bhool Bhulaiyaa a franchise that wasn’t new.

We have seen similar elements in movies like Stri, Bhutnath, and more

A franchise that could have delved into multiple stories dealing with complex psychological issues was simply reduced to a comedy farce and a money-grubbing scheme.

Cult

The story, inspired by a real-life tragedy, turned into a comedy series that should have been released under a different name because some cult classics should be left intact.