The Bollywood industry has been quietly buzzing with rumour for a while now that the 'reunion' between Akshay Kumar and Priyadarshan had more to it than just a nostalgic throwback, but as it happens, today's news from Mid-Day finally puts some of that speculation to rest. It appears that Bhooth Bangla, which is due to be released on April 10, 2026 - wasn't just 'inspired' by the look and feel of Bhool Bhulaiyaa, no, it actually turned out to be the original script for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2
It's been a long and winding road, but before the franchise was handed over to Anees Bazmee and the later entry of Kartik Aaryan in the 'Rooh Baba' era, Priyadarshan had already sat down and outlined a sequel intended for Kumar. At that point, he and Kumar had already set the ball in motion over the script, but they managed to walk away with it in their pockets due to creative differences and a change of direction on the part of T-Series - they went for a more 'pop-horror' vibe and so the original team was left behind.
We're now looking at the Jaipur and Hyderabad schedules for a reworked, much heavier and more mythologically dense version of the original 2007 DNA - they're ditching the Manjulika-style break downs and swapping them with some "vedic black magic" and all the chaotic slapstick which was such a hallmark of Hera Pheri
For Kumar, this project is about retreating to a genre he used to own - comedy horror. It's a deliberate move and one that suggests he's aware of what he has in this film and that moving the release date forward to avoid the congestion in May, which Dhurandhar 2 was due to create in May, tells you that Balaji Motion Pictures are all too aware of what they have. They've got a spiritual successor that doesn't need to go down the Part 2 route to bank on nostalgia; it's a rebranding that might actually be the film's biggest plus point. If the pics of Paresh Rawal and Rajpal Yadav at Chomu Palace are anything to go by, Priyadarshan is finally making the Bhool Bhulaiyaa sequel he had been denied for 15 years now.