Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 writer Aakash Kaushik is celebrating the impressive opening of his horror-comedy, starring Kartik Aaryan and Triptii Dimri. In an exclusive interview with Hindustan Times, Aakash discusses the Bhool Bhulaiyaa universe, the supernatural genre, his collaboration with Anees Bazmee, and more. Here are highlights from the interview.
Aakash, who also worked on the screenplay for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, discussed maintaining originality in the sequel's storytelling. He said, “The entire magic lies in the one-liner that you crack, which is the film's basic plot. When I was asked to write the third instalment, I spent the maximum time cracking the plot and one-liner because that is the basic seed from which the entire story grows. If you get that right, everything falls in place because you have a direction to go. So, the main effort was to get that one-liner, which I brainstormed, and then I finally cracked something.”
He further added, “I had worked on a couple of ideas, and this is one idea I believed in. I shared it with Anees Bazmee Sir and Bhushan (Kumar) Sir and eventually the cast, who all loved it. If your base is strong, then the building will also turn out to be strong. Since it is a franchise, you have to keep the essence of Bhool Bhulaiyaa in it. I was vary of that. That is how I went about writing the third part.”
The Bhool Bhulaiyaa franchise has always featured Manjulika as the antagonist, but this time, there are two. When asked about the challenges of creating an engaging story in a supernatural universe that feels fresh while maintaining its progression, Aakash explained, “After part 2, it was obvious that part 3 had to be bigger regarding the story, scale, and cast. So, since day 1, we have been keeping that in mind. After that, there is a very thin line between keeping the essence of Bhool Bhulaiyaa and coming up with something new. So we kept Manjulika, but this time there are two of them. So, you have to balance what people enjoy and what you will do differently. Ami Je Tomar has been in all the parts, but we introduced a dance-off this time. How to recreate the same thing with much grandeur by making it a part of the story was the main thing in my mind. We constantly kept this in mind throughout the writing process and even while making the film.”
Hindi cinema took a fresh approach to the supernatural genre in 2024 with films like Munjya and Stree 2. When asked about the importance of storytellers adapting to changing trends in any genre, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 writer Aakash said, “This genre has indeed been the flavour of the year. You will not find the amount of folklore and stories you see in India anywhere else. So, somewhere, we Indians have always been quite intrigued and interested in such stories. It was high time until it started with Bhool Bhulaiyaa, then Stree 2 and the entire Maddock Horror Universe, that people are finally telling such stories on the big screen. The Indian audiences were interested in such stories from the very beginning. But we have not done much about it for a very long time. We still have many more stories to tell now that it's happening. There are many interesting creatures in Indian mythology and folklore and I am very happy that now it is happening.”
When asked if he feels any pressure as a creative person due to changing trends, Aakash responded, As far as the pressure is concerned, if you are confident about your product, then the fear takes a backseat. We only take it in a positive sense to make it bigger. Taking the pressure on the negative side would only hamper the product. So, I was quite conscious of the fact that the pressure should not bow me down.”
from Featured Movie News | Featured Bollywood News - Bollywood Hungama
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