Bollywood star Madhuri Dixit Nene says Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 allowed her to step into the uncharted territory of a horror-comedy, an opportunity that was too good to let go. InBhool Bhulaiyaa 3, Balan and Dixit Nene appear in dual roles as Mallika and Manjulika, and Anjulika and ACP Rathore, respectively.
Dixit Nene said she met director Anees Bazmee a few months ago and told him that she loved Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2. Shortly after their meeting, Bazmee called her. “He said, ‘I want to narrate you something that I’m making, and there’s a fantastic role in it’. He came and gave me a gist and told me what the story was about,” she said.
“When I heard the script, I loved my role as it gave me something different to do. I’ve never played (a role) in this genre of filmmaking, like a horror comedy. I thought it would be something different for me. There was Vidya, Kartik (Aaryan) and the whole gang of fantastic actors, so I said, ‘I’ll do it’," the actor told PTI in an interview.
Interestingly, Balan starred in the 2010 thriller Ishqiya, and Dixit Nene was seen in its sequel,Dedh Ishqiya (2014). Balan was also the star of original Bhool Bhulaiyaa, a film that Dixit Nene loved watching.
“Maybe there was a connection somewhere, she did Ishqiya, and I did Dedh Ishqiya, and now we are together in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3. It’s been amazing. I’ve admired her as an actor,” Dixit Nene said.
“Getting to work together (with Vidya) was wonderful because we were feeding off each other’s energy on the sets. Not only as an actor, I find her (to be) a nice and fantastic person. We got along very well and we enjoyed each other’s company," she said.
Released on November 1, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 has quickly become a major hit, raking in an impressive box office collection of Rs 219 crore, according to the trade website Sacnilk.
Dixit Nene is elated with the commercial success and attributes it to the dedication of the entire team. “All of us were good. Today they don’t delegate the success of a movie to a particular person, they will acknowledge everybody because filmmaking cannot be ‘I’, it’s always teamwork and collaboration," she said.
“When the collaboration is proper, then everything works (out). This has been a great collaboration between all the actors, and everybody wanted this film to be successful."
One of the talking points ofBhool Bhulaiyaa 3 is the dance-off between Dixit Nene and Balan on the fan-favourite track, Ami Je Tomar 3.0, which is a mish-mash of Kathak and Bharatnatyam. The popular song has been reimagined twice in the first and second parts of the franchise film already.
“This is the first time in life that the song was already iconic because of part one ofBhool Bhulaiyaa and then it was used again in part two, and now in this film. They’ve called it ‘3.0’ (version) because this is the third time the same song is used in a film. It was wonderful that I could be part of an already iconic song,” Dixit Nene said.
In the past, the seasoned actor has had dance face-offs with actor-choreographer-filmmaker Prabhu Deva in the song, Que Sera Sera from Pukar, the hit song, Dola Re Dola from Devdas, where she danced alongside Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Badi Mushkil with Manisha Koirala from Lajja, and the Dance of Envy with Karisma Kapoor in Dil Toh Pagal Hain.
Dixit Nene, whose illustrious career of four decades has been punctuated by mesmerizing dance performances, said that dance duets are both a challenge and a joy. “I remember all of them very fondly because I enjoyed working with Karisma, Manisha or Aish," she said.
Among all the songs, Dola Re Dola is a hallmark of dancing, which was brought to life under the masterful choreography of the late Saroj Khan. “The combination of Saroj ji (Khan, choreographer), Sanjay Leela Bhansali (director), Aish and me, was amazing. There were a lot of trolly shots that she (Saroj Khan) did which were iconic. Like, the whole movement of the camera, me and Aish, interchanging, turning, the camera turning…"
The biggest challenge in duet performances is: achieving cohesion, believes Dixit Nene. “When two people are dancing at the same time the steps have to be cohesive, you should be in sync with each other, and that’s the biggest challenge. What we did with ‘Ame Je Tomar’ was that we were performing two different dance styles, she (Balan) was doing Bharatnatyam, and I was doing Kathak. So, trying to make movements which match each other was a challenge," the actor, who is a trained Kathak dancer, said.
Kathak is part of me, but the choreography is a different thing. Once you choreograph something, then you’ve to learn the choreography and reproduce it in the best possible way you can," she added.
Actors Triptii Dimri, Rajpal Yadav, Vijay Raaz, Sanjay Mishra, Ashwini Kalsekar, and Rajesh Sharma among others round out the cast of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3.