Kartik Aaryan announces Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3; Vidya Balan to return as Manjulika

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 will see the return of Vidya Balan.

Manjulika from Bhool Bhulaiyaa and Rooh Baba from Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 are all set to meet – in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3! Kartik Aaryan who played the character of Rooh Baba in 2022’s blockbuster Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 took to his Instagram to announce the third film in the franchise while also informing that he will be sharing screen space with Vidya Balan who will reprise her role from the original film. He posted a mash-up video of the two of them dancing to the popular Aami Je Tomaar number from their respective films and captioned it ‘And its happening. Og Manjulika is coming back to the world of BhoolBhulaiyaa. Super thrilled to welcome @balanvidya This Diwali is going to be crackling.’

Readers will recall that Balan starred in the first Bhool Bhulaiyaa film in 2007 alongside Akshay Kumar, Shiney Ahuja and Amisha Patel and directed by Priyadarshan. The psychological horror-comedy was an official remake of the Shobhana-starrer Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu (1993). The Hindi adaptation received positive feedback from critics and audience and went on to become the eighth highest grossing film of the year. Its sequel saw Tabu step into Balan’s shoes and play twin sisters Anjulika and Manjulika. Aaryan played the fraud psychic Rooh Baba who tries to rid the haveli of the evil spirit Manjulika. Anees Bazmee directed the sequel, which also starred Kiara Advani. The movie went on to become one of the highest grossing films of that year, making it to the list of some of Aaryan’s biggest hits.

Now that the third film in the franchise has been announced for a Diwali release, fans of the movies are thrilled that they will get to see Balan return as Manjulika, a character which seems to have become synonymous with her even though Tabu garnered a lot of appreciation for her performance in the sequel as well. It will be interesting to see who will win the battle between OG Manjulika and the clever Rooh Baba in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3.