Not Jigra, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 is your latest Bhai Dooj watch. Here’s why

SPOILER ALERT: Siblings seem to be having a moment on screen this month. The timing is apt as the nation celebrates Bhai Dooj today, the second day after Diwali, which signifies the bond between sisters and brothers. In case you’re looking for a movie to watch in theatres with your siblings, there are a couple of options playing right now. The obvious choice is Vasan Bala’s escape thriller Jigra, revolving around a sister’s (Alia Bhatt) quest to rescue her younger brother (Vedang Raina) from an impending death sentence. But there’s another new release that may have missed the sibling radar because it’s been quite strategically concealed.
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Anees Bazmee’s horror comedy Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 may seem like a follow-up to the 2022 blockbuster sequel, with Kartik Aaryan reprising his role of ghostbuster Rooh Baba. But there’s also Vidya Balan’s Bengali witch Manjulika from the first part, which released back in 2007, had a different director (Priyadarshan) and even a different tonality (psychological horror). The threequel lands somewhere in between – it has the latent emotional heft of the first and the broad-stroke comedy of the second. Given the way it’s been marketed and how it plays out for the first 2 hours, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 is sure to shake things up in the climax.
So if you’ve been reading despite the spoiler alert, here’s when you may want to stop. Along with Vidya, Anees Bazmee threw in a trump card in the trailer when Madhuri Dixit was also introduced as Manjulika. In fact, Vidya and Madhuri were seen giggling together in a scene, dressed as witches, and having a classical dance-off in a king’s court in another. A minor glimpse shows them holding each other by their throats as well. This tension made the internet speculate whether Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 is a queer love story, in which Vidya and Madhuri’s characters are banished because of their romance in an era where it was considered a sin.
In fact, Vidya and Madhuri haven’t even promoted the film together, except for the song launch of Ami Je Tomar 3.0, which is at the heart of every Bhool Bhulaiyaa film. During the interval block, Vidya and Madhuri are indeed introduced as sisters – Manjulika and Anjulika – on the lines of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, in which Tabu played both the twin sisters. But this is just a distraction – because in the climax, it doesn’t matter who Manjulika is. She’s not the ghost here. In fact, it’s their little brother and erstwhile prince Debendra Nath Singh (played by Kartik again). He was the one who was banished and burned alive, thanks to his sisters.
This is where Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 surprisingly subverts gender stereotypes. Kartik’s Debendra is a prince, soon set to inherit his father’s throne, but all he wants to do is dance. He identifies himself as a woman and is caught wearing women’s jewellery by his sisters Anjulika and Manjulika. They dress him up and encourage him to dance to his heart’s content – only to alert their father that he doesn’t deserve the throne since he’s gender-confused. Even though they’re the daughters of the house and accomplished dancers themselves, they have their eyes set on the throne. Their father announces the death penalty for his son but also sees through his daughters’ ill intentions and banishes them from his kingdom.
The official narrative is built as Manjulika killing her brother in order to claim the throne, after which her father orders her to be burnt alive. This also depicts how history is often tampered with to reinforce gender stereotypes. What if our women were ambitious rulers and our men were graceful dancers? Manjulika and Anjulika are reborn – not to claim the throne this time, but to make peace with their brother, who has been seeking salvation since then inside the cursed royal palace. It’s in this climactic exchange that the prowess of powerhouses like Vidya and Madhuri is milked well – they’re flawed, selfish sisters, a trope shown rather sparingly in Hindi cinema. And Kartik is the brother who only desired acceptance, not as a king, but more as a dancer. This unconventional swap of gender roles makes Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 a rare Bhai Dooj find, unlike all the sappy sibling dramas out there.