Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 review:

An amusing blend of laughs and thrills

Cast: Kiara Advani, Tabu, Kartik Aaryan, Rajpal Yadav, Sanjay Mishra, Ashwini Kalsekar

BY AAKRUTI BAGLA

Duration:- 2hr 25min

Helmed by:- Anees Bazmee

Rating:- 3.5/5

Helmed by Anees Bazmee, Kartik Aaryan, Kiara Advani and Tabu’s horror-comedy is a sequel to Akshay Kumar and Vidya Balan’s 2007 film of the same name.

Story:
Bhool Bhulaiyaa begins on an eerie note introducing us to Manjulika being locked in room. Cut to- Paths of Reet(Kiara Advani) and Ruhaan(Kartik Aaryan) crossing in a snowy region. In pursuit to get her sister married to the love of her life, Reet takes Ruhaan’s help and pretends to be dead in front of her family. The two decide to stay at the haunted haveli
from which the entire family fled since Manjulika was locked in one of the rooms there. Ruhaan, presents himself as a tantric who can talk to dead people. The ball is completely in their court. However, one day, Manjulika’s spirit gets released from the haveli’s room. Who is she seeking vengeance from and why? The answer to this question lies in the rest of the film.

Review:

Anees Bazmee, who has managed to entertain us with his films like No Entry, Welcome, and Singh is King among others, makes sure that the humour quotient is high in this one as well. But, he also concentrates on the horror aspects of the film. Even though, the horror is such that it won’t scare the hell out of viewers. At the same time, it’s not even amateur. A nice balance is maintained and that’s definitely praiseworthy.

Special mention to the writers of the film who made sure Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is an interesting watch. Aakash Kaushik’s screenplay does justice to this storyline. The film has a sprinkle of dull moments at a place or two, but that doesn’t play a major spoilsport. Though predictable, the film manages to be engaging and entertaining. The climax specially, could have been we’ll executed. It seemed a tad bit convenient, haphazard and lacked the punch that one is fed right from the start.

Farhad Samji’s dialogues are hilarious and provide laughter. But shockingly, at a few places, they fall flat.

Manu Anand’s cinematography is good. He relies more on the atmospheric horror rather than jump scares which works in his favour. He whips up some intriguing visuals with his technical finesse.

However, editing by Bunty Nagi could have been tighter.

The first half concentrates more on gags and
humour quotient with little on the horror front.
The horror elements kicks in the second half.

Talking about the music, the songs just added to the runtime. While De taali and Hum Nashe main toh nahi are visually appealing, they fail to make it to the playlist. However, the male version of Ami je Tomar is highly disappointing. The title track during the end credit works well.

The background score has been effectively used to enhance the eerie and thrilling moments in the film.

Speaking of the performances, Tabu steals the show. Without revealing too much about her, all I can say is she truly knocked it out of the park. Kiara Advani as Reet is a delight to watch.

Kartik Aaryan, as usual shines with his great comic timing and pitch-perfect expressions. The actor pulls off comic parts with a certain ease, and here again, he flaunts his flair for comedy.

With Rajpal Yadav and Sanjay Mishra, never a moment on the screen with them goes without a laugh. Ashwini Kalsekar has done a fine job. She do falls flat at certain places.

Overall, the supporting cast, deliver what is expected.
Special mention to the chota packet, Bada dhamaka i.e. Samarth Chauhan as Potlu is bound to win a lot of hearts. 

On an ending note to all horror-comedy
genre movie lovers, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 is an unmissable treat which has a pinch of adequate horror and a whole lot of comedy to keep you crackling throughout.