Bhool Bhulaiyaa

Bhool Bhulaiyaa
Theatrical release poster
Directed byPriyadarshan
Screenplay byNeeraj Vora
Dialogues by
  • Manisha Korde
  • Yashwant Mahilwar
Story byMadhu Muttam
Based onManichitrathazhu
by Fazil
Produced byBhushan Kumar
Krishan Kumar
Starring
CinematographyTirru
Edited byN. Gopalakrishnan
Arun Kumar Aravind
Music bySongs:
Pritam
Score:
Ranjit Barot
Production
company
Distributed byBalaji Motion Pictures
Eros International
Release date
  • 12 October 2007 (2007-10-12) (India)
Running time
154 minutes
CountryIndia
LanguageHindi
Budget₹32 crore
Box office₹82.35 crore

Bhool Bhulaiyaa (transl. Labyrinth) is a 2007 Indian Hindi-language psychological horror comedy film directed by Priyadarshan from a screenplay by Neeraj Vora and produced by T Series. It is a remake of the 1993 Malayalam-language film Manichitrathazhu written by Madhu Muttam and directed by Fazil, which is based on a 19th-century tragedy that happened at Madhu's Alummoottil tharavad (an old traditional mansion) in Muttom (near Haripad) in central Travancore. The film stars Akshay Kumar, Vidya Balan, Shiney Ahuja, and Ameesha Patel, alongside Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav, Manoj Joshi, Asrani, and Vikram Gokhale. The film score and soundtrack were composed by Ranjit Barot and Pritam respectively, with lyrics written by Sameer and Sayeed Quadri.

The film was shot under the working title of Chandramukhi in Jaipur, mainly at the Chomu Palace (a haveli) and also the City Palace, while the song "Allah Hafiz" was shot at Hampi. Madhu, the writer of the Malayalam film, has been credited as the sole writer for the remakes after he filed a copyright suit against Fazil when the latter started being listed as the writer of the original script in the remakes.

Produced on a budget of ₹32 crore, Bhool Bhulaiyaa earned 82.84 crore, thus becoming the eighth-highest grossing Hindi film of 2007. It received mixed reviews from critics but has attained cult status, with praise towards Kumar's psychiatrist character, Balan's portrayal of Avni and Manjulika, and the film's music. The film spawned a standalone sequel titled Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (2022) with a new principal cast and only Yadav returning in a reboot of his role. The third film in the series, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, with Vidya playing an alternate version of her character and Yadav again rebooting his character, released on Diwali 2024.