Nonika Singh
Year 2022; Hindi films were flopping left, right and centre. Anees Bazmee’s Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 came and trade pundits heaved a sigh of relief as the horror.com turned out to be one of the biggest hits in the flop year for Bollywood.
Circa 2024: The master of comedies is busy shooting the third outing of the successful film. If with the sequel he was rivalling the brilliance of Priyadarshan, who had directed the first part, now the noted writer-director Anees is competing with himself.
But then, the maker of superhit films like No Entry, Welcome, Ready, Singh is Kinng insists, “My competition is always with myself.” A tall order by all means for how do you better your own record of blockbusters? And he says, “Simply by working to the best of one’s ability.”
Sequels, you may think are simply cut and paste, easiest job on the earth, with a ready template in place. But he says, “Carrying on a popular franchise, rising to people’s expectations is a huge responsibility.”
Equally onerous is making people laugh. To those especially acerbic critics, who often dismiss his films as ‘brainless fun’, his repartee is, “Jo filmein hanste gaate ban jaati hain, making them is no joke.”
Sure, there is a method behind the madness but no sure-fire formula. Indeed, he follows certain rules like no double meaning/entendre dialogues.
While making Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, he was sure he did not want to create a psychological thriller like its prequel. For the threequel, the major chunk of which has been shot in vibrant Kolkata’, he won’t reveal much about the storyline. Will Vidya Balan reprise the role of Manjulika of Bhool Bhulaiyaa, all he would say is, “Watch the film to know it. In her part lies the most beautiful mystery.”
Right now he is only too happy she said yes to the film. Having worked with actors like Irrfan Khan, Tabu, Nana Patekar, et al, he observes, “What these actors bring to the table is phenomenal. Even if at times, let’s say writing or direction is a notch less than desired, they would raise it to par excellence.”
Kartik Aaryan, his lead star of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 as well as part three, gets an encouraging pat for being ‘an honest and easy to work with actor.’ Tripti Dimri, the ‘national crush’, will turn a new leaf, ‘If in my film if she will not do comedy then what else would she do?’ Actually, he is very fond of all his actors be it Salman Khan or Anil Kapoor whose comic timing he swears by. He is a trifle sad that Anil will not be a part of No Entry’s sequel. Ideally, he would have loved to include Fardeen Khan too, who did a wonderful job in No Entry and who is making a comeback after 14 years in Heeramandi. Nevertheless, he is excited to work with the new crop of actors, including Diljit Dosanjh, whom he has signed for No Entry 2. On the Punjabi heartthrob, he says, “He is a very good actor as Chamkila has proved and retains the innocence of a rooted man.” Actually, Anees loves the quality of innocence. In his films even dons have that piquant charm and are not ‘out and out villains.’
His idea of comedy is not buffoonery but a healthy mix of situational slapstick coupled with rib-tickling punch-lines. You bet he laughs in his own films and can laugh at himself too. On the rare flops in his long career, like Pagalpanti, he quips, “Kabhi kabhi pagalpanti ho jaati hai.” But make no mistake as he makes us run in mad lanes of laughter, he himself is not lost in any maze. His motto is simple; be positive. In his movies he might turn it into a joke but his mission to spread positivity and laughter remains un-diminished. Driven by passion, a lesson he learnt from the ultimate showman Raj Kapoor whom he assisted way back in Prem Rog, he writes dil se and directs with junoon. Yet, despite glorious innings in the industry during which he has written as many as 30 films for other directors too, he does not take himself seriously. He only makes aficionados of his cinema double up with laughter. For that he can spend hours and hours on the editing table to get the mood of his film right. Any wonder the title ‘king of comedy’ remains well within his grasp.