Akshay Kumar and Bhool Bhulaiya

I think it is all the stars that make the decision for you; you do not make it. No matter how good looking you are or how well you look on camera, if it is not in luck then you are out. This is showbiz. This once simple bus conductor wanted to get into films because he would be able to make little more money. Now, he is a super star. Same thing can be said to Akshay. It was all in his stars that this boy, who was working as a chef in Bangkok, would rise to stardom. Akshay is now one of the most bankable actors in Bollywood. This year, on 9^th September Akshay became forty. He was in USA shooting for his next movie. He celebrated his birthday in the USA with his family.

Today, Akshay Kumar is considered by many the actor who would give Shahrukh Khan, a run for his money. Both the actors share a common feature that they hail from Delhi and come to Mumbai to turn their luck. However, Akshay do not think that he has any competition with Shah Rukh Khan. He respects him as an actor.

This year two movies of Akshay have been released and both have done very good at the box office. The latest film Heyy Babyy was a hit. Bhool Bhulaiya is his third film of the year. In an interview with Xpress4me, Akshay talks about his upcoming movie Bhool Bhulaiya.

Do you find it strange that you haven’t been linked with Vidya yet?

I consider myself lucky to be spared this time by the media. But I guess after reading this interview they’ll get on my case.

Is there any truth in reports linking you with Riya Sen?

Some people have been trying to slander my image by spreading tales. So I have decided to go the legal way and let my lawyers take care of them. I had to take this step because time and again I’m being linked with various women. I hope the next time people re-check their sources before spreading stories.

What can the audience expect in Bhool Bhulaiya?

It is an out and out fun film which will appeal to all sections of the audience. The story explores the power of the human brain. It challenges pre-conceived supernatural beliefs and superstitions.

Sports-based films are catching on in Bollywood. After Chakde! India, it’s John Abraham’s Goal. Will you follow suit?

I would love to do a sports film, but I haven’t yet come across a good script. I play a lot of cricket and volleyball.

Bhool Bhulaiya is a movie that deals with super natural and ghost. It is going to be released tomorrow in the theatres.

Bhool Bhulaiya vs Laaga Chunari Mein Daag

In the coming Eid Week, two of the Bollywood movies will battle it out for the top box office position. One is Bhool Bhulaiya and the other one is Rani Mukherjee’s latest movie, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag.

In Bollywood comedy has become a major genre and thanks to directors like Priyadarshan. His comedy movies Hungama, Hulchul, Hera Pheri, Malamaal Weekly have made the movie goers laugh. On the other hand, Rani Mukherjee is one of the top Bollywood actresses. In Laaga Chunari Mein Daag, Rani plays the role of a prostitute who leaves her small town home and goes to big city and turns to prostitution to support her poverty stricken family.

The two movies are the opposite extreme in terms of subject matter. From the trailers and promo videos it is clear to the viewers that Laaga Chunari Mein Daag deals with a serious social issue. On the contrary, Bhool Bhulaiya is a light hearted movie. However, producer Bhushan Kumar and lead actor, Akshay Kumar are saying that the movie is actually a psycho thriller which has many laughing moments.

Both Bhool Bhulaiya and Laaga Chunari Mein Daag faced legal problems. An NGO filed a case about the title song of Bhool Bhulaiya where Lord Buddha was shown in the background while girl in short dresses were dancing wearing shirts inscribed “Hare Ram Hare Krishna.” On the other hand, a small time producer filed a case regarding the name of Laaga Chunari Mein Daag.

The lead actress of Bhool Bhulaiyan, Vidya Balan was supposed to play the character of Rani Mukherjee in Laaga Chunari Mein Daag but she could not give date for the movie. Eventually, the role was played by actress Konkona Sharma.

An interesting commonality between two movies is that both movies derived from regional movies of India. Bhool Bhulaiya is inspired by famous Malayalam movie, Manichithrathazhu. On the other hand, Laaga Chunari Mein Daag is inspired by two movies: Marathi movie, Doghi, and Rajesh Khanna’s movie, Aaina.

Till now, trailers and songs of both the movies have been broadcast in various cable channels. In terms of songs, Bhool Bhulaiya is one step a head of Laaga Chunari Mein Daag. The title song of the movie “Bhool Bhulaiya” sung by Neeraj Shridhar has already become a chart buster.

Useful Links:

http://www.naachgaana.com/2007/10/09/rani-vidya-balan-to-clash-at-the-box-office/

http://movies.indiatimes.com/Features__Events/Features/Rani_Vidya_Balan_to_clash_at_the_box_office/articleshow/msid-2441980,curpg-1.cms

The two Kumars say that Bhool Bhulaiya is not a Comedy Movie!

Looking at the trailer and promo videos of Bhool Bhulaiya you would get the impression that it is a comedy movie and why not? Director Priyadarshan and Akshay Kumar have given some of the top Bollywood comedies like Hera Pheri, and Garam Masala. Still, both Akshay Kumar and producer, Bhushan Kumar say that Bhool Bhulaiya is not a comedy movie. Rather, it is a psycho-thriller which has many laughing moments. The story of the movie has been taken from hit Malayalam movie, Manichithrathazhu (1993). The background of the story is set in 100 years earlier India; in a small Indian village where people are very conservative. There is this Brahmin family whose ancestral mansion is believed to be haunted by ghost. Akshay Kumar plays the role of a psychiatrist, Dr. Aditya Shrivastav, who uses scientific method to solve the problem. According to Bhushan Kumar Bhool Bhulaiya is a comedy with a twist.

On the other hand, the lead actor of the movie, Akshay Kumar also says that the movie is a psycho-thriller dealing with super natural issues. Screen India reports:

"I mean when we switch on any channel of TV we get to listen lots of stories related to ghosts, witches and supernatural powers. We have grown up listening such stories. My film is an attempt to spread an awareness that there is no existence of ghosts and what most of us believe is our superstition. The film is being released on October 13, he says.

"It is not a comedy as some people are guessing it to be after watching the promos on television channels," he says.

"The film is actually a tug of war between the superstition and science and an attempt to educate people about superstition," he says.

Bhool Bhulaiya is releasing on the Eid Week. Had everything gone ok, Ashutosh Gowariker’s Jodhaa Akbar would have released that week. Now, it will release in January 2008. Good for Bhushan Kumar and Akshay Kumar because their film would have faced a tough competition.

Related articles:

Screen India

India FM

Bhool Bhulaiya in Indiafm

India FM, one of the most popular Bollywood web-portals has published a mini-site on Priyadarshan’s upcoming movie, Bhool Bhulaiya. It has following sections:

Movie preview: This section contains a short description of the major characters of the movie and synopsis of the movie.

Music review: Contains a review article about the music of the movie.

Gallery: The gallery section has four links:

a) Movie stills: There are 51 still pictures of Bhool Bhulaiya.

b) Wallpapers: There are 36 wallpapers in this section.

c) First look: This section contains a poster of the movie.

d) Press conference: This is a picture gallery containing eight images of the press conference of the movie in the ‘House of Horrors’.

Broadband: This section contains links to seventeen video clips of Bhool Bhulaiya.

They include promo videos, interviews and so on.

News and Features: These two sections contains various news and articles related

to the movie.

Screen saver: You can download the screen saver of Bhool Bhulaiya from this link.

For more information about the movie in India FM, you can visit this page.

Music review of Bhool Bhulaiya

The music album of Bhool Bhulaiya has eleven songs.

Bhool Bhulaiya:

Singer: Neeraj Shridhar

Lyrics: Sameer

Duration: 5.28

This is the title song and by this time all of you have heard this song in the promotional video of Bhool Bhulaiya. The song has a catchy rhythm and the rap in between adds up to the overall effect. From the beginning, the music invokes a feeling of excitement and fear.

Bhool Bhulaiyaa (remix):

Singer: Neeraj Shridhar

Lyrics: Sameer

Duration: 5.07

Neeraj Shridhar rose to prominence singing remixed songs and he knows what the listeners look for in the remix version. The remix version of the song lives up to listeners’ expectation.

Labon KO:

Singer: K K

Lyrics: Sameer

Duration: 5.44

KK’s voice and singing style make this romantic song more romantic.

Labon KO (remix):

Singer: K K

Lyrics: Sameer

Duration: 5.17

Though the remixed version is fast paced it is good to listen.

Lets Rock Soniye:

Singer: Tulsi Kumar, Shaan.

Lyrics: Sameer

Duration: 4.27

You would hear these types of songs in Hindi wedding sequences.

Lets Rock Soniye (remix):

Singer: Tulsi Kumar, Shaan

Lyrics: Sameer

Duration: 4.28

Sajda:

Singer: K K

Lyrics: Sameer

Duration: 5.12

This is my most favorite song in the album. Very enjoyable!!!

Sajda (remix):

Singer: K K

Lyrics: Sameer

Duration: 5.22

Mere Dholna:

Singer: Shreya Ghosal, M.G. Sreekumar

Lyrics: Sameer

Duration: 6.47

This is the most uncommon song in the album. Indian classical music has

been used.

Sakhiya:

Singer: Tulsi Kumar

Lyrics: Sameer

Duration: 4.57

The song reminds me of songs which is sung by a girl eagerly waiting for her

lover.

Bhool Bhulaiya Trivia (2)

The producers spent Rs. 10 million to shoot the music video of Bhool Bhulaiya.

This is the fifth time Rajpal Yadav and Priyadarshan are working together.

Two weeks before the shooting started Vidya Balan seriously started learning Kathak. She even practiced 8-10 hours some times.

There was a time when it was very easy for make-up mans to apply make-up to but now it has become a very hectic job. Whenever, the make-up man is going to apply lipstick, Vidya starts laughing thinking about some funny incident.

The shooting of Bhool Bhulaiya finished in 43 days.

In 1993, Priyadarshan directed Gardish which impressed Gulshan Kumar very much.

Gulshan was very much impressed by Priyadarshan’s work and offered him to direct

another movie. Unfortunately, Gulshan Kumar died in 1997. Since then, a long time

has passed but Gulshan did not forget his promise. After so many years, he is now

directing Bhool Bhulaiyan.

As I have mentioned in my previous post that Bhool Bhulaiya is inspired from a Malayalam movie, Manichithrathazhu. Interesting thing about this movie is that Priyadarshan worked as an assistant director in this movie.

Bhool Bhulaiya: Latest News

You all have seen the title song of Bhool Bhulaiya, “Hare Ram Hare Krishna.” The girls look really cool aren’t they? Well, that is the biggest curse for the film. The girl were wearing T-shirts inscribed “Hare Rama Hare Krishna” and panties. Also there was a statue of Lord Buddha at the background. This has heart the religious sentiments of the Hindus and the Buddhas in India. An NGO has filed a case has in Mumbai court. They demand the song be removed from the movie. Rediff.com reports:

According to Mumbai-based advocate S Kunjuraman, the title song Hare Rama Hare Krishna hurts the sentiments of Hindus and Buddhists because half-clad girls are shown dancing in the song.

"It is objectionable and therefore, the song must be deleted from the film," he tells rediff.com

This is not the first time a case of obscenity has been filed against any film. Last year, it was the Hrithik Aishwarya kissing scene in Dhoom2. However, Dhoom 2 controversy was not related to religion but this one is. Religion is a very sensitive issue in the Indian subcontinent. Priyadarshan should have given a thought about what he was doing at the time he was shooting the song.

Bhool Bhulaiya: Interview of Shiney Ahuja

Shiney Ahuja has not done too many movies but he made quite a reputation among Bollywood filmmakers. As a debutante, he came under the attention of film critics for his performance in Hazaaron Khwaishein Aisi. Based on the lives of three people, the movie won him Film Fare Award of Best Debut in 2005. In 2006, he again charmed the audience with his performance in Gangster. Till now, Shiney appeared in serious movies but not in comedy movies. Bhool Bhulaiya is his first comedy. In an interview with Santa Banta correspondent, Rajnee Gupta, Shiney talks about his experience about working with Bollywood Comedy King, Priyadarshan. Here is an excerpt of the interview:

Q.: You are playing a prince in this film. Tell us about your character.

A.: You are absolutely right. I'm playing a prince named Siddharth who loves his wife, played by Vidya, very much. He doesn't believe in spirits or ghosts. But when supernatural things start happening, he starts suspecting others in the house and starts linking them to the mishaps. He then tries to solve the mystery.

Q.: The story is based on supernatural powers. Do you believe in such things in real life?

A.: I believe there's only one superpower in the universe and that's God. I believe only in him and as I haven't had any chance to meet other supernatural elements that people talk about, I don't believe in them.

Q.: There are rumours that the bungalow where the film was shot was haunted. Were you afraid during the shoot?

A.: Vidya was scared but there was nothing that could intimidate me (laughing). I think ghosts don't like me much.

Q.: "Bhool Bhulaiya" is your first film with Priyadarshan. How was the experience?

A.: He is one of those directors who know exactly what they want from their actors. Working with him proved quite comfortable for me. He used to call me on the sets only when he needed my shots.

Shiney is playing the character of a prince in this movie. His character’s name is Siddharth, who lives in USA and recently has been married to Avni Chaturvedi (Vidya Balan). Shiney does not prefer to be type cast. He wants to do different type of roles. It gives him a new challenge.

Related article:

Santa Banta

The Big Debate and Bhool Bhulaiya

Bhool Bhulaiya is the remake of the 2005 hit movie, Chandramukhi by Rajnikanth. Based on the same story line three movies were made in three different South Indian languages: Kannada, Malayalam, and Tamil. As I was reading this news about Bhool Bhulaiya, I found out that a lot of people debated about the three South Indian movies. The debate is which one is the best? Here are they:

Manichitrathazhu:

This Malayalam movie was made in 1993, starring Kerala superstar, Mohanlal and Shobhana. The movie is a psycho-thriller. The story takes place in a village of Kerala where a couple, Ganga (Shobhana) and Nakulan (Suresh Gopi), visit their rural home. Out of her curiosity, Ganga opens up a room that has been locked for many years in a haunted mansion. For her role in this movie, Shobhana received National award. The movie was also a commercial success. One of the all time hit Malayalam movies, Manichitrathazhu, ran for more than 600 days.

Aptha Mithra:

Aaptha Mithra is a Kannada movie made in 2004. Famous Karnataka actor, Vishnuvardhan and Soundarya acted in this movie. In Kannada language, Aaptha Mithra means close friends. The movie was also very successful. It was also actress Soundarya’s last movie. The director of the movie, P. Vasu, later made Chandramukhi with Rajnikanth.

Chandramukhi:

Released in 2005 Chandramukhi stars: Jyothika Saravanan, Prabhu Ganesan, Nayanthara, Vineeth, Malavika and Rajnikanth. The film had the largest opening in Tamil movie theatres. It collected about Rs.600 million making it one of the most successful Tamil movies ever made. In Shanti Theatres, the movie ran for 800 days. Chandramukhi was dubbed in Telugu and German language.

As you can see the three movies have been released in three different times and they deal the same subject and same type of story and the recent addition is Bhool Bhulaiya, the Hindi movie, starring Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan and Shiney Ahuja.

Trivia of Bhool Bhulaiya

Actress Amisha Patel had a tough time while shooting for the movie Bhool Bhulaiya. Amisha had to dance bare feet on the stone floors of Jaipur. Since it was a desert area, the heat of the sun during the day turned the stone floors of the Jaipur fort very hot. Amisha almost burnt her feet while doing the dance sequence. The worst thing was that she had to dance on an elevated place, 30-40 feet high from the ground and she almost tripped. Unfortunately, one of the songs where Amisha danced was deleted from the movie. A petition has been made to bring back the song.

The poster of Bhool Bhulaiya upset Amisha Patel. Though she had a major character in the movie, in the poster she was standing between Paresh Rawal and Rajpal Yadav. On the other hand, Vidya Balan had a secondary character but she was sitting with Akshay Kumar and Shiney Ahuja in the front seat. For this reason, Amisha was absent in the promotional ceremonies of the movie.

Madhu Muttam, who wrote the script for Manichitrathazhu, the hit Malayalam movie, said that the story of Bhool Bhulaiya was actually written by him and filed a case of copyright violation in a court of Kerala.

While shooting for the movie at Jaipur in Rajasthan, actress Vidya Balan went to visit the famous shrine of Mainuddin Chishti at Ajmer and then she went to the Brahma Temple in Pushkar.

For her role in the movie, Vidya Balan had to study Kathak dance.

This is Vidya Balan’s second movie with Akshay Kumar. Earlier this year, she appeared in Heyy Babyy with Akshay.

Amisha Patel had to lose weight for her role in Bhool Bhulaiya.

Aishwarya Rai and Katrina Kaif were the first choices of Priyadarshan for this movie.

In one of the scenes of Bhool Bhulaiya, Shiney Ahuja spontaneously lifted Vidya Balan in his arms. The shot looked romantic but Shiney got a strained back. Still, he enjoyed doing the scene.

If you have ever been to Rajasthan, then looking at the trailer of Bhool Bhulaiya, you will instantly have a feeling that the film was shot in Rajasthan and yes it was. A large portion of Bhool Bhulaiya was shot in the Chomu palace in Rajasthan.

According to the local folk tale, the king of the palace was killed in war and his beheaded corpse was carried by his horse. Some of the crew members of Bhool Bhulaiya said that they had an apparition. Priyadarshan does not believe in ghosts but Bhool Bhulaiya was about ghosts. Overall, the members of the movie were pretty much spooked as they had to spend more than three weeks in the palace for shooting the movie.

Bhool Bhulaiya: At a Glance

Priyadarshan is one of the versatile directors in the present day Bollywood. He started his career and rose to prominence by directing Malayalam movies. In the Hindi movie industry, Priyadarshan is more famous for his comedies. Films like Hera Pheri, Hungama, Hulchul, Garam Masala, Malamaal Weekly have turned him into “King of Comedies.” This time he is back with his new movie Bhool Bhulaiya. The movie is a comedy cum super-natural thriller.

Title: Bhool Bhulaiya

Director: Priyadarshan

Producer: Bhushan Kumar

Music: Pritam

Cast: Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Amisha Patel, Shiny Ahuja, Vineeth

Synopsis: The background of the story is set in 100 years ago in India at Benaras. There is this small village where the people are very conservative. Badri Prasad is the head of a Brahmin family. A palace which belonged to the forefathers of Badri Prasad is believed to be haunted by ghosts. Then one day, Badriprasad’s nephew, Siddharth and his wife, Avni come from USA to visit their village home. The story takes a twist when Avni opens up a forbidden room of the palace. Siddharth then calls his friend, Dr. Aditya Shrivastav to solve the mystery and the rest of the movie shows how Aditya solves it.

Characters:

Dr. Aditya Shivastav: Played by Akshay Kumar, Dr. Aditya is not like conventional doctors. He follows very unconventional methods.

Siddharth: Played by Shiney Ahuja, Siddharth lives in the USA. Decent of a royal family, recently, he married Avni Chaturvedi, a beautiful woman. A well educated young man, Siddharth does not believe in ghost or supernatural.

Avni Chaturvedi: Played by Vidya Balan, Avni Chaturvedi is a great combination of brain and beauty. A very good looking woman, whom every man expects as his life partner.

Radha: Played by Amisha Patel, Radha is the adopted daughter of Badri Prasad. Since her childhood, she is madly in love with Siddharth.

Batukshankar Upadhyay: Played by Paresh Rawal, Batukshankar is a comedy character. He is a very timid and apprehensive person Batukshankar’s activity provokes laughter.

Chhote Pandit: Played by Rajpal Yadav, it is another comedy character. Chhote Pundit is a local priest who can be found every where.

Badrinarayan Chaturvedi: Played by Manoj Joshi, Badrinarayan the head of the family. An experienced fellow, who never ignores the most trifling matters of day to day affairs.

Useful Links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bhool_Bhulaiya

http://www.apunkachoice.com/scoop/bollywood/20071006-3.html