The nicest thing anyone can say about Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 It’s because it’s unpredictable. There’s little in there to prepare you for a climactic twist that is, in equal measure, daring and ridiculous. Although well-intentioned, it is so clumsily staged that it fails to elicit the required empathy. But I will say: I didn’t see it coming.

Otherwise, we are back in familiar territory. THE Bhool Bhulaiyaa the franchise started with the classic 1993 Malayalam film Manichitrathazhuwhich was remade in Hindi in 2007. Both versions delivered a clever cocktail of laughter and fright without any real paranormal activity. In each of them, the real culprit that caused the leading lady to transform into Manjulika, the unbalanced mind of a royal dancer, was eventually identified as dissociative identity disorder.

But when director Anees Bazmee took the reins again with the 2022 reboot, the horror became real. Dark magic, spirits, scares, eerie backgrounds and, of course, Shreya Ghoshal’s magical rendition of the song “Ami Je Tomar” were all part of the mix, along with some light-hearted, lowbrow humor. My favorite track was Rajpal Yadav’s Chhote Pandit and Sanjay Mishra’s Bade Pandit mistaking Manjulika for the latter’s wife Panditayeen and asking her to make daal (lentils), only to get slapped hard by the ghost.

In the third installment, Bazmee retains the tropes of the first two Hindi films: a vast, opulent mansion in which a room has been locked for years because a specter is believed to reside there; a royal family hiding secrets; the mysterious dancing Manjulika. The popular title song returns, with “Ami Je Tomar”. And of course there are the atmospheres: long empty corridors, dark skies, frightening sounds and enough CG crows to populate a sequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s film. The birds.

Once again, Kartik Aaryan plays Ruhaan (aka Rooh Baba), a fraudulent ghost hunter who makes money by exploiting people’s fear of the supernatural. He is summoned to a castle somewhere in West Bengal where, curiously, the locals seem to recognize him. And there begins a tale which includes punar janam (reincarnation); a poor raja desperate to sell his palace; several characters speaking with terrible Bengali accents; sibling rivalry; and the oversized shadow of Manjulika, who no longer pines for her murdered lover.

Highlights of the film include the return of Vidya Balan, whose terrific performance as Avni, an archaeologist who thinks she is Manjulika, was key to the success of the 2007 film. Her dancing, along with her tousled hair , her frantic eyes and her vermilion red forehead, was truly frightening. This time, she plays Mallika, a restaurant expert who may or may not be Manjulika, and her performance fits the overall mood of the film.

In fact, Bazmee has not one but two advantages here. Madhuri Dixit also enters the franchise as Mandira, a potential buyer of the mansion who is clearly hiding something. At one point, Balan and Dixit have a face-off in which they are ready to strangle each other. Another time they have a dance party in the palace. The clash between two of the finest actors of Hindi cinema is expected to be gripping.

But the screenplay, written by Aakash Kaushik, is so disjointed that it’s difficult for the characters to make an impact. Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 follows no internal logic, playing like a sloppy assortment of jokes, scares, exposition, songs, and set pieces strung together in the hopes that it will add up to form a cohesive, compelling narrative. Mandira and Mallika either trade barbs or laugh maniacally together, seemingly at random, or it all turns out to be a dream. Dixit is billed as a special appearance, which perhaps explains why the role is so underwritten that I started focusing on her extensive sari collection and the size of her jewelry – Mandira loves dressing up.

I also wondered what the late Saroj Khan could have done with an opportunity like the dance duel. Although Dixit and Balan look superb in the sequence choreographed by Chinni Prakash, there are few things as memorable as the dance between Dixit and Aishwarya Rai Bachchan in Devdas.

Above all, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 swerves. Two romantic songs are added, perhaps to give Triptii Dimri something to do; otherwise, her main job is to be beautiful. Vijay Raaz and Rajesh Sharma, both actors with strong comic talents, are relegated to the background – although I smiled when Raaz, as poor raja, says he is ready to face the ghost in the palace but not live another day in poverty. .

Aaryan is front and center, and he does it all: being charming and funny, romancing and dancing, defeating ghosts. I love that the actor is willing to poke holes in Bollywood’s trend of hyper-masculine heroes. Ruhaan gets scared easily, and just like in the second movie, when things get too intimidating, he tries to run away. But the abundant energy he invests is sabotaged by the flat writing. The jokes just aren’t funny enough – even though there’s a killer line about Shehzadawhich was one of Aaryan’s major failures – and the scares aren’t terrifying enough.

Maybe it’s time to give Manjulika a rest. After all, there’s only so far you can take a vengeful ghost and two great songs.