Bhool Bhulaiyaa [2007]

I'm not at all a Priyadarshan fan (very rarely do I like his movies) so my expectations from 'Bhool Bhulaiyaa' weren't exactly high. However I ended buying the original DVD a week back… why? Because I wanted to buy the Filmfare mag and didn't have cash on me and the salesperson said I'd have to spend more to pay by card haha so I was like "whatever give me any DVD I don't have yet" and ended up buying this one!

I watched it last night and was pleasantly surprised. The film is a psychological thriller with elements of comedy and the unusual genre itself makes it worth watching.

The first hour of the film is typically Priyadarshan and very tedious to watch. To be frank, the first hour was simply boring! It was only after Akshay Kumar's entry that the film picked up and became interesting (the previous portions in the first hour could easily have been summarised into 20 minutes rather then the drag it was).

Do I regret owning the DVD? Nah! It was a good film and I'm really happy with what I saw.

The music is great and the album is definitely among the better ones of 2007.

I believe Priyadarshan's best films are definitely Hulchul (2004) and Kyon Ki (2005). Besides them, I also enjoyed Garam Masala (2005). Bhagam Bhag (2006) and Chup Chup Ke (2006) both had some hilariously entertaining and enjoyable moments too. From what I recall of his filmography, I have not enjoyed any of his other films at all! So where does 'Bhool Bhulaiyaa' fit in? I'd say it's definitely one of his better works and I would probably rank it alongside Garam Masala. Had the first hour been summarised into a 20-minute segment instead, I would have most likely ranked the film amongst what I consider his absolute best (Hulchul and Kyon Ki).

Akshay Kumar comes into the film late but still holds the film on his shoulders. This is definitely his show all the way. His expressions, dialogue delivery and body language are, as always, spot on! He brings his character to life and delivers yet another very natural and believable performance.

Vidya Balan comes in next. For most the time she didn't have any histrionics to display as such but the short while (towards the climax) that she did get some scope proved that Vidya is a bundle of talent. This was the return of the lovely Vidya 'Parineeta' Balan – this time I saw no glimpses of Madhuri, Rani or Aishwarya, I only saw Vidya Balan. A natural performance but the actress needs to work on her makeup.

Shiney Ahuja delivers a decent performance (probably the second best in his career after Woh Lamhe). The actor will perhaps never learn to deliver his dialogues naturally and that is his biggest downfall. Also, he shakes his head a bit too much for no reason. Nonetheless it was a decent performance.

Amisha Patel looked absolutely gorgeous but heaven knows why the living hell she did this role. She was good in whatever she had to do but frankly she had absolutely near to nothing to do.

Everyone else in the cast did a fine job too.

Overall 'Bhool Bhulaiyaa' is definitely worth a watch, I'm impressed!