Post by odadune on Dec 4, 2013 21:41:13 GMT
(disclaimer: I saw Bhool Bhulaiyaa-the Hindi remake, reputedly to be moderately faithful to the original-early in my Bollyviewing days, but have not seen the Malayalam original).
Link to old thread: www.bollywhat-forum.com/index.php?topic=25862.0
This was an immensely popular and influential "haunted house" mystery from Malayalam cinema, made in 1993. Like many haunting/poltergeist scenarios in movies and in popular lore the events are connected with a young, frustrated woman, but this one adds an interesting "maybe magic maybe mundane" angle rather than committing itself to either a naturalistic or a supernatural explanation. Manichitrathazhu won about five zillion awards and inspired an equally huge number of spinoffs.
First came the Kannada (Karnatakan) version, Apthamitra, starring Vishnuvardhan as the psychiatrist/Van Helsing analogue originated by Mohanlal. This beefed up the size of the psychiatrist role somewhat; giving the actor a slight "dual role" aspect to play. The Tamil version Chandramukhi, starring Rajnikanth, made even more of the psychiatrist role. Around the same time came the Bengali/Bangla version, called Rajmohol, which I don't know very much about. Bhool Bhulaiyaa, which featured Akshay Kumar as the psychiatrist, reverted this character to just a major player in an ensemble cast. It was one of four hits he had in 2007, arguably the best year of his career, and although it did not single-handedly revive Vidya Balan's career or anything like that, it reminded people that she could act and looked lovely in traditional clothes at a time when she tended to take blandly written, badly dressed roles in potboilers.
Then came the sequels. Sandalwood (the film industry of Karnataka) went first with a project called Aptharakshaka. Basically this expanded the Ancient Times backstory of the evil king and the beautiful dancer, but
with Vishnuvardhan (in his last screen performance) coming in to set things right (and play a second role in the shape of the evil Ancient Times king). The Telugu film Nagavalli positioned itself as a remake of this film and a sequel to Chandramukhi, with Venkatesh playing a pupil of Rajnikanth's character from Chandramukhi. (Nagavalli was somewhat popular on the old forums, I will try to put up a thread here when I get a chance).
Priyadarshan, who'd been an assistant director on Manichitrathazhu and lead director on Bhool Bhulaiyaa, recently did a Malayalam sequel/spinoff called Geethaanjali, with a plot different from Aptharakshaka/Nagavalli, which received lukewarm to negative reviews. There was rumored to be a Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 in the works, but Priyadarshan doesn't seem to be involved in that one, so I don't know what they're likely to do for a plot if it does go forward.
Link to old thread: www.bollywhat-forum.com/index.php?topic=25862.0
This was an immensely popular and influential "haunted house" mystery from Malayalam cinema, made in 1993. Like many haunting/poltergeist scenarios in movies and in popular lore the events are connected with a young, frustrated woman, but this one adds an interesting "maybe magic maybe mundane" angle rather than committing itself to either a naturalistic or a supernatural explanation. Manichitrathazhu won about five zillion awards and inspired an equally huge number of spinoffs.
First came the Kannada (Karnatakan) version, Apthamitra, starring Vishnuvardhan as the psychiatrist/Van Helsing analogue originated by Mohanlal. This beefed up the size of the psychiatrist role somewhat; giving the actor a slight "dual role" aspect to play. The Tamil version Chandramukhi, starring Rajnikanth, made even more of the psychiatrist role. Around the same time came the Bengali/Bangla version, called Rajmohol, which I don't know very much about. Bhool Bhulaiyaa, which featured Akshay Kumar as the psychiatrist, reverted this character to just a major player in an ensemble cast. It was one of four hits he had in 2007, arguably the best year of his career, and although it did not single-handedly revive Vidya Balan's career or anything like that, it reminded people that she could act and looked lovely in traditional clothes at a time when she tended to take blandly written, badly dressed roles in potboilers.
Then came the sequels. Sandalwood (the film industry of Karnataka) went first with a project called Aptharakshaka. Basically this expanded the Ancient Times backstory of the evil king and the beautiful dancer, but
{spoiler}
had their ghosts and/or undead selves allegedly haunting a new and unconnected set of characters,
had their ghosts and/or undead selves allegedly haunting a new and unconnected set of characters,
with Vishnuvardhan (in his last screen performance) coming in to set things right (and play a second role in the shape of the evil Ancient Times king). The Telugu film Nagavalli positioned itself as a remake of this film and a sequel to Chandramukhi, with Venkatesh playing a pupil of Rajnikanth's character from Chandramukhi. (Nagavalli was somewhat popular on the old forums, I will try to put up a thread here when I get a chance).
Priyadarshan, who'd been an assistant director on Manichitrathazhu and lead director on Bhool Bhulaiyaa, recently did a Malayalam sequel/spinoff called Geethaanjali, with a plot different from Aptharakshaka/Nagavalli, which received lukewarm to negative reviews. There was rumored to be a Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 in the works, but Priyadarshan doesn't seem to be involved in that one, so I don't know what they're likely to do for a plot if it does go forward.