Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2

About the film

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (transl. Labyrinth 2) is a 2022 Indian Hindi-language comedy horror film directed by Anees Bazmee, written by Aakash Kaushik and Farhad Samji, and produced by T-Series Films and Cine1 Studios. It is a standalone sequel to the 2007 film Bhool Bhulaiyaa. The film stars Kartik Aaryan alongside Kiara Advani and Tabu, and follows travel enthusiast Ruhaan Randhawa, who, after bumping into Reet Thakur, the descendant of a royal family in Bhawanigarh, has to pose as a fraud psychic, Rooh Baba, to deal with the return of Manjulika, a malevolent spirit hell-bent on vengeance against the Thakur family.

Principal photography began in October 2019. The production faced prolonged delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic, before resuming in 2021 and ending in February 2022. It was filmed in Lucknow, Jaipur, Mumbai, and Manali. The film's score was composed by Sandeep Shirodkar, while the songs were composed by Pritam with lyrics written by Amitabh Bhattacharya, Yo Yo Honey Singh, Mandy Gill, and Saaveri Verma, while two songs originally written by lyricist Sameer for the 2007 original were credited to him, including a remix of the title track, recreated by Tanishk Bagchi, who is credited as co-composer.

Plot

Within a mansion in Bhawanigarh, Rajasthan, in 2004, powerful sorcerers and priests perform sacred rituals, and supernatural events begin occurring throughout the palace due to a malevolent spirit named Manjulika, who is determined to attack the family's daughter-in-law, Anjulika. A sorcerer intervenes and forces the spirit into a chamber, sealing it inside with a powerful trishul and sacred amulets placed on the door. Afterwards, the family abandons the mansion for safety.

Eighteen years later, in Himachal Pradesh, travel vlogger and influencer Ruhaan Randhawa meets medical college student Reet Thakur, who is travelling to Bhawanigarh via Chandigarh to reluctantly marry her fiancé, Sagar. They board a bus to Chandigarh but cut short their journey to attend a music carnival Reet agrees to be in at Ruhaan's suggestion, later discovering that the bus on which they were supposed to travel had met with an accident, killing everyone on board. Subsequently, the Thakurs, owners of the mansion abandoned 18 years earlier, presume Reet, the elder daughter of the family, to be dead. Reet attempts to contact her family, but overhears a conversation between her younger sister Trisha and Sagar over the phone, realizing that they are having an affair. Hoping to spare them from a loveless marriage and avoid marrying Sagar herself, Reet goes along with her family's assumption of her death and travels to Bhawanigarh with a hesitant Ruhaan.

Reet drags Ruhaan into the mansion, despite his belief that it is haunted. Together, they hide in the abandoned ancestral mansion, but Chote Pandit, a priest, notices that the mansion doors have been opened and informs the Thakurs. Accompanied by the villagers, they enter the mansion and find an exposed Ruhaan, who covers up the situation while Reet hides herself, by falsely claiming that Reet's spirit led him there and that her final wish is to see her family living in the ancestral mansion, with Trisha getting married. Influenced by Ruhaan, the Thakurs arrange Trisha's wedding to Sagar. Due to his supposed ability to communicate with spirits, Ruhaan becomes popular as Rooh Baba, and he and in-hiding Reet become friends. When Ruhaan is led to the room where the spirit was trapped, Anjulika, Reet's sister-in-law, warns him to stay away from it and reveals that the spirit is actually her twin sister, Manjulika.

Production

A sequel to Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007) was officially announced on 19 August 2019. Bhushan Kumar, chairman of T-Series, had long considered creating a franchise based on the 2007 film. Aakash Kaushik and Farhad Samji had two separate scripts prepared for their independent films. Samji felt that elements of their two scripts could work together for a new film, and they pitched the idea to producer Murad Khetani. Khetani felt the idea had promise and could work as a sequel to Bhool Bhulaiyaa. Eventually, he approached Kumar, who came on board, collaborating with Khetani for the second time since Kabir Singh, which also starred Kiara Advani.

Vidya Balan was approached to reprise her role as Manjulika for the film but declined, expressing concern that a less successful performance could tarnish the legacy and impact of her portrayal in the 2007 film. The character was subsequently recast with Tabu, of whom Balan spoke fondly. Balan eventually returned for the sequel as Manjullika.

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 began filming on 9 October 2019 and wrapped up on 25 February 2022. Aaryan lost his voice while filming the climax sequence of the film. It was filmed in a real mansion. Filming was occurring in Lucknow, before the pandemic disrupted the schedule. It was shot in Mumbai and Manali, Himachal Pradesh.

Release

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 was released on 20 May 2022. The film was originally scheduled to be released in theatres on 31 July 2020, but was delayed due to the

The digital streaming rights of the film were acquired by Netflix. The film was digitally streamed on Netflix from 19 June 2022.

The satellite rights were acquired by Sony Max, where it premiered on 16 October 2022. On 30 October 2022, a simulcast release of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 occurred on all Sony Network Channels like Sony Max, SET India, Sony SAB and Sony Pal.

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