© T-Series
But did you know that Bhool Bhulaiyaa was not the OG movie?
Bhool Bhulaiyaa was the remake of a Malayalam film which was a psychological thriller, unlike its later remakes, which majorly depended on comedy.
© Swargachitra Films
Manichitrathazu’s theme
Manichitrathazu was inspired by a real-life tragedy that occurred at Alummoottil Meda, an old mansion in Alappuzha district, Kerala, where a girl was murdered because she witnessed manslaughter.
© X//Manu S Pillai
Manichitrathazu had some elements of comedy, but it relied heavily on the intense scenes and had a darker tone, highlighting the personality disorders without hero worshipping. The same theme was followed in Priyadarshan’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa. This was probably because Priyadarshan worked as an assistant director on the Malayalam film.
The Hindi adaptation of Manichitrathazu starred Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Shiny Ahuja, and Ameesha Patel in the lead roles and was a perfect mixture of horror and comedy.
© T-Series
The scenes and dialogues in this film were almost similar to the original movie, where the haveli was the main character and the one of the most prominent characters was introduced after one hour, because that’s what the story demanded.
The Tamil version
Rajinikanth played the main character in Manichitrathazu’s Tamil version, which was titled Chandramukhi.
© Sivaji Productions
In this version, Rajinikanth was introduced much earlier and he played the doctor as well as the evil king, who kills Chandramukhi’s lover.
This film also had action pieces and a giant snake roaming in the haveli, which was a symbolic representation of Manjulika’s soul.
When comedy overpowered thrill
Bhushan Kumar roped in Anees Bazmee for making a sequel to Bhool Bhulaiyaa and what we saw in the 2022 was a mediocre horror comedy starring Kartik Aaryan, Tabu, and Kiara Advani in the lead roles.
© T-Series
For the first time a ‘ghost’ and supernatural elements were introduced inthe Bhool Bhulaiyaa franchise, which was nothing new.
We had seen similar elements in films like Stree, Bhootnath, and more.
A franchise that could have delved into multiple stories addressing complex psychological issues was merely reduced to slapstick comedy and a cash-grabbing scheme.
The cult
A story that was inspired by a real-life tragedy, has turned into more of a comedy series which should have been released with a different title, because some cult classics should be left untouched.
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