Anees Bazmee: ‘Kartik and the makers said we could postpone the shoot’

Pics/Yogen Shah, Instagram

On February 11, a day after he fractured his right leg in his hotel room in Kolkata, Anees Bazmee underwent surgery. The filmmaker laughs that on February 13 morning, he was back in his office, figuring out details of the Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 shoot that rolls on March 10. Delaying the filming of the Kartik Aaryan and Vidya Balan-starrer on account of his health is out of the question. "We had gone location hunting in Kolkata and were to return the next day when I twisted my leg. The medical team said if I plastered it, it would take me over three months to heal. I took the option of undergoing surgery and inserting a steel plate so that I could start shooting," says the director.

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (2022) saw Aaryan as Rooh Baba, who claims to have the power to communicate with spirits, and was a runaway hit on its release. Now, Bazmee is eager to call action on the horror comedy's third instalment. "When I injured my leg, producer Bhushan Kumar, and Kartik were extremely concerned. They told me if I wanted, we could postpone the shoot. I firmly refused and told them we should advance it," he laughs.

Anees Bazmee

What makes the third part all the more special for the director is that it marks the return of Balan, who played the original Manjulika in Bhool Bhulaiyaa (2007). "I was always keen to work with her. We go back a long way when she had agreed to do a cameo in Thank You [2011]. When I approached her for BB3, she was happy too, to work together. She has a powerful role in the movie." Will she reprise Manjulika's role? "I cannot reveal that now. The idea is to make this bigger and better than the others. It's a supernatural thriller with ghosts, Manjulika and Rooh Baba. But who is playing Manjulika in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 is a surprise."

For Rooh Baba though, Bazmee cannot imagine anyone other than Aaryan. "Kartik is a director's actor. We share a great tuning. I know him from his Pyaar Ka Punchnama [2011] days. When I like an actor's work, I call him/her. Kartik was thrilled that I had called him then. He is the best at playing this role."