Kartik Aaryan’s Bravest  Performance To  Date  In  Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3

For those  enamoured  of  the  first two films in  the   funny-fearsome  franchise,  Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 is  deliberately goofy and silly in some parts. The  jaunty  anything-goes mood is  part  of  the  Franchise’ DNA  and the sooner we accept it , the better.

The Bhool Bhulaiyaa  franchise  is here to  stay . It is silly,  it is  fun, it is  a joyride  though  not for those   who think  cinema is a tool of social reform. What makes the third  Bhool Bhulaiyaa film more relevant  than the  first two is the last half  an  hour where  to everyone’s surprise, the  writer Akash Kaushik has gone into the  subject of  crossdressing and alternate  sexuality.

And it isn’t just  a token  concession to the spirit of inclusiveness. Nor does the  gender  bender serve  as formulistic  impetus  in  the plot.

 Director Anees Bazmee  tells  me  the climactic mood swing was  a well thought-out plan  to  amplify  the  scope of entertainment.

“For  too long I’ve been  seen  as an entertainer, and no harm in that. I am proud of my reputation as a  laughter provider.  For  me to just hear  audiences squealing in delight in theatres  is reason enough to  believe  that I am  on the right path.  But  this time  we felt we  needed to move  further, not to be fashionably relevant  but because  our script this time  demanded  a deeper thrust,” says  Anees Bazmee.

To get  Kartik to   play a  crossdresser  (albeit in a double role playing a   character  from  a  previous avatar) is  no  small matter. Full marks to the  young actor for  doing what  very few A-listers  of Filmistan  would dare do.

Kartik has  reached  a stage in his career  where he  is thirsting for new opportunities.

The same  goes  for Vidya Balan who has herself a  ball  in the  role of  a woman who  could be  ghost  and she  isn’t doing anything to let the mystery  around her  character  go to waste. Sadly, Madhuri Dixit as  Vidya’s sister is completely out of sorts. Her face  has lost the power to  register subtle  emotions. Or perhaps this  was not  the occasion  for it.

Vidya’s  best sequence  in this crazily  zigzaggy spooky comedy is when she cackles gleefully  at a sudden tragedy and then sobers down pretending she  was only imitating Madhuri.

Everyone is in this to have  rollicking  fun at the  cost  of  all logic. And then there is the climax where Kartik  Aaryan  proves himself one of the most  adventurous  actors before and after Ranveer Singh.