Bhool Bhulaiyaa
October 22, 2007 by madhurisinha
This weekend went by in a flurry and in between finding time to do laundry and grocery and visiting the Durga Pujo Sammelan at Queens, I squeezed in time to watch the latest Mumbai Flicker ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’.
I am one of those people who watch horrors and thrillers during evenings (not gory ones like Groundhog but milder ones like Geherai, Dark water and Poltergeist) and subsequently remain immobile with fright for the rest of the night.
Bhool Bhulaiyaa is a thriller and the plot builds up to a gripping climax and a very well acted last ten minutes.
The story begins with the home coming of an NRI couple to their ancestral Palace in India. The introduction of the movie begins with some strange happenings in the Palace due to a murder which had occurred in the past.
Against the wishes of other family members, the couple decide to stay in the Palace and slowly things start going wrong.
I felt the best part of the movie was that Psychiatric science was used to treat the perpetrator with the help of the village Tantrik.
Unlike other Mumbai horrors, the Tantrik here is a respected and educated person who gives lectures on Paranormal behaviors in reputed Universities. He helps the Psychiatrist to recreate a scene from the past so that the patient can overcome her disorder.
Vidya Balan is good and holds the finale efficiently. Akshay Kumar besides his good looks, acts well. The screenplay drags in the middle of the movie and there are certain oft repeated comedy scenes.
However the film engages the viewer and there is a rationale to every part.
The patient in this film suffers from Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dissociative_identity_disorder ) ; which is triggered due to stress or trauma.
The DID patients switch from one to two or more personalities and suffer from amnesia as a result of which they do not remember their actions.
A good watch.
I had no idea this film was worth watching…! usually I avoid horror flicks anyway. but now that you say it’s worth a watch, I’ll see if I can catch it next weekend. This last weekend was too hectic!
Sounds a lot like Identity - featuring John Cusack. Not horror at all but psychological thriller. Curious thread - every person has a city name for his/ her family name and then they start dying. Do watch it. I shan’t tell you more.
BTW John Cusack 100, Akshaye Kumar about 23. Akshaye Khanna however close to 80.
Hi Nita,
Actually I did not expect too much from it either. But it is not really like other Mumbai horror movies.
There are no women getting possessed and rolling their eyes and all every few minutes.
Hmm hope you get to relax a little next weekend.
Hi Shefaly,
John Cusack is cute. I will watch Identity as soon I can lay my hands on the DVD. Hmm. Akshaye khanna is good looking too and a very good actor. Somehow he never got his dues from the industry.
I guess I will have to see this movie. Quite a few interesting people seem to be reviewing it. You might be interested in this review by a friend of mine. I haven’t read it because of the spoiler warning but he has good tastes and he says it is 3 of 5, so it should be worth watching at least once!
The plot summary that you gave leads me to wonder as to where does this meme of traumatic treatment by recreation of trauma come from? Is it for real? Do we have any science behind this? Or is it a relic of some fiction plots of a time gone by.
Anshul,
In real life, Psychiatrists use methods to delve into the psyche of the patient by letting them open up their past.
I do not think you can cure a victim of abuse by recreating the past for them(on the contrary, it might be harmful).
In the context of this movie however, recreation of the past depicts the past history of the Palace not the personal life of the victim.
Sorry for not making it clear.
Good analysis. One reason why I liked it was, that the reviews were bad. I had little expectations from the film but I liked it.
Prerna,
Yes this happens to me too.
Over hyping something raises my expectations and then I am utterly disappointed
(like I was disappointed on seeing the
Grand Canyon for the first time; on the other hand Sedona being a mere stop over, became one of the best places I have ever been to).
So, I went and saw the movie. It was ok. I guess I must have read too many Agatha Christie’s to have guessed the plot like after 5 minutes of it being laid down. After that I just watched it to confirm my guesses.
Your review is on the mark for the most part.
While it was nice to see them go science rather than mysticism for the plot of a horror bollywood flick, and I do agree it will be a nice trend if it catches on, this one left me unsatisfied. I think what disconcerted me the most was the mixing of exorcism and science. Could have done without that.
What about the Hare Rama song? Why was the most talked about feature of the movie relegaterd to the titles sequence?
@ Anshul,
I think the makers of this movie were trying to make something modern but were at the same time insecure about going all out.
But you know I think it will be nice if the villages and towns, where the general public believes in things like exorcism and tantriks can get a dose of modern science through them (the people they trust) instead of outsiders (just a thought).
Thanks
@ Rambodoc,
Actually the movie doesn’t have any untimely songs. I guess they couldn’t fit it in appropriately into the story. But for a change the plot here doesn’t get diluted with extra song sequences. Some of the songs are quite hummable.
Thanks.
hey cool u did wat i should have some time ago.
i landed up doin a review on OSO and regreted wasting time on it.
this movie is indeed worth a watch and quite well made at that