Breaking down the ending of ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’

Here’s a breakdown of the ending of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3.

It has been 17 years since Bhool Bhulaiyaa released and introduced to the world the unforgettable mystery of Manjulika, supposedly a vengeful spirit that wandered around the halls of an ancient palace. But the appeal of the movie lay not in the scares, but the twist at the end: that Avni was not possessed at all and, in fact, there was no ghost, just superstition masking the reality of mental illness. But in the sequel, and now Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, Manjulika is no longer a psychological manifestation but a genuine spirit. Here’s all you need to know about what happens in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 ending, as well as the movie’s large ensemble cast, budget and release date.

In this horror comedy movie, Kartik Aaryan returns as Ruhaan or Rooh Baba, a self-proclaimed ghostbuster. We find him swindling people out of their money by claiming to get rid of evil spirits possessing their family members or haunting their houses. However, his pretty profitable career brings him to a new case in which he comes face to face with something he is not prepared to deal with an actual, honest-to-goodness ghost.

The ending of this movie contains a significant twist that makes you reconsider everything you have seen earlier. Despite a limp script and a characteristically (and unpleasantly) maximalist direction by Anees Bazmi, the movie is somewhat saved thanks to the superb cast featuring names like Madhuri Dixit.

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 ending explained: The truth behind Manjulika’s spirit

What is Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 all about?

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 brings back Rooh Baba but I believe this is an alternate-universe movie. Rooh Baba encounters another Manjulika after the events of the second movie and does not bat an eye. Anyhow, Ruhaan is introduced to a down-on-its-luck royal family of Raktaghat, West Bengal ruled by Vijay Raaz’s irritable king. Their ancestral palace is believed to be haunted by the several hundred-year-old ghost of Manjulika and is thus abandoned. They, instead, live in a sort of barn and are dirt poor (in one hilarious scene they are seen taking turns to squeeze out the last drop of toothpaste from a nearly empty tube).

But since Ruhaan is promised INR 1 crore by Meera (Triptii Dimri) and she has threatened to expose his deception, he decides to take the job. What is the job? To dispose of Manjulika’s ghost in the palace so the family can sell it and become wealthy again. A priest (played by Manish Wadhwa) who claims descent from Rajpurohit (royal priest) of the kingdom says he needs Ruhaan’s help since he can talk to spirits. He also warns him that he should not open a certain door until Durgashtami, behind which presumably Manjulika’s spirit is imprisoned using a combination of a giant, familiar lock, holy spells and talismans.

Oh and then the priest drops a bomb: Ruhaan is a rebirth of Prince, Rajkumar Debendra Nath, Manjulika’s brother. While at first Manjulika was the only child of the then king (Denzil Smith) and was going to rule the kingdom, the king sired a son from a servant — Debendra. While Manulika, then a young girl, feigned love for her brother, she hated him as he was going to usurp her rightful throne. She murdered him at one point in the future and in return, her father and the king condemned her to death by burning her at the stake. But she did not exactly go away. From a bitter woman, she became a vengeful, evil spirit. First, she murdered the king and then probably everyone else. The surviving members of the royal family have been living in abject poverty since then. And even though, she was vanquished by a ritual and a holy oil, she has not really gone away. She is still imprisoned in that room, biding her time.

Ruhaan, the priest says, is destined to end the reign of Manjulika as it was foretold that only someone with royal blood in their veins can destroy Manjulika once and for all.

Is Manjulika real or just a figment of someone’s imagination?

It appears that she is indeed real. Things begin to go bump in the night for Ruhaan. He has fallen in love with Meera, who also seems to love him. But in one terrible nightmare, he witnesses her falling to her death. He begins to see visions of a ghostly figure. It gets to a point that he decides to run away as soon as he can. This is when the movie becomes a psychological thriller as it plays with Ruhaan’s mind.

Then he learns that behind at least some of his woes are the terrible trio of Chhota Pandit (Rajpal Yadav), Bade Pandit (Sanjay Mishra) and Panditayeen (Ashwini Kalsekar). It appears they were happy and content living in the room where Manjulika was supposedly locked up — nothing happened to them. To hide their malfeasance, they locked the room again, while making a hidden point of entry from a window adjacent to the door. Now they are trying to scare away Ruhaan and the royal family so they can rule over the palace again. But the door is opened way before Durgashtami and there is no Manjulika that anybody can see apart from a few scares that can be chalked up to overactive imaginations and the terrible trio’s shenanigans. So, is there no Manjulika, after all?

Will the real Manjulika stand up, please?

As they say, be careful what you wish for. As everyone is debating the very existence of a ghost called Manjulika (Vidya Balan), two contenders for the identity of Manjulika turn up. The first one is a woman called Mallika. Claiming to be a restorer of old heritage properties, she feels strange from the beginning (the phonetic similarity between Mallika and Manjulika should not be lost on you). It is not long before another wannabe-Manjulika turns up. She is called Mandira (Madhuri Dixit) and she claims she belongs to another royal family and is fabulously wealthy. She can buy the palace for INR 1000 crore, 200 crore more than what they expected. Ruhaan, Meera and everyone else is nonplussed.

Now, neither of them claims to be Manjulika — not exactly. But their behaviour can be charitably called suspicious. They act exactly like ghosts pretending to be human. And Ruhaan is not fooled. When Mandira says she will not buy the property until Durgashtami (not suspicious at all), a new prospective buyer turns up. He says he can buy it right now and especially falls in love with the royal throne. When he says it will be kept in his drawing room, Mallika is unreasonably upset.

Later, Meera witnesses her lifting the throne angrily saying in Bengali that it has always been hers. And then literally the whole cast of the movie witnesses both women laughing hysterically and a little creepily. Oh and Ruhaan either dreams of really seeing the two women playing a childhood game.

Then, a second, even more, hidden and protected door appears after Mallika and her crew who are restoring the palace to its old glory dig deeper. It is in the basement. Since they have to sell the property, the royals ask Ruhaan to open the door and he does. And then all hell breaks loose. The mysterious events escalate.

The priest learns from his research of lineage documents of the royal family that the king had not one but two daughters: Manjulika and Anjulika. Now, it appears both Mandira and Mallika and ancient ghosts who are now free.

What happens in the ending of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3?

The priest believes he can perform the same rituals his ancestor (the Rajpurohit) did all those centuries ago (three actually) and produce the holy oil that will destroy the threat of both ghosts. But Ruhaan is still not exactly sure whether both or one is Manjulika (since there has never been a talk of Anjulika’s ghost). After Mallika, hair loose, voice scary and eyes dark as sin tries to kill Mandira, Ruhaan using the holy oil traps Mallika in a fiery circle. But then, Mandira claims she is the real Manjulika and says they committed a big mistake not to trap her instead.

Then, the truth comes out by way of a painting that was disfigured by Mallika to apparently hide the identity of the person. It showed a figure (a woman, judging by her clothes). But it is not a woman at all. It is the Prince, Debendra Nath. Since Ruhaan and others never see the identity of the ghost (he wore a mask that was left on the scene of her death by one of the men who burned him), they assume she was a woman from her clothes. But it was Debendra all along. He is the ghost who has haunted the palace all this time. He was a transvestite who loved to perform female dance forms and was probably trans-curious.

When he was spotted dancing by his sisters, Manjulika and Anjulika, they said they would love to see a performance. But it was a trap. As he was performing, they invited the king to see him. He was appalled and ordered him to be burnt at the stake. As he burned, he swore vengeance against his sisters and everyone who wronged him, including his father.

Neither Mallika nor Mandira are ghosts, but they were possessed by Debendra to make sure others would also burn them alive — so they would feel the same pain he felt. Mallika and Mandira are reincarnations of Manjulika and Anjulika, respectively, and have found themselves drawn to the palace their whole life. As Debendra is trapped, Ruhaan asks them to burn him. But they refuse, and instead seek forgiveness. Debendra, satiated, gets liberated (moksha).

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 movie review

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 lumbers onto screens like a ghost with two left feet, dragging its dated gags and a needlessly convoluted (and yet simplistic storyline. The funniest part about this horror comedy movie is that Manjulika remains the go-to ghost for the overlords of this godforsaken franchise. I know they deviated a little this time, but Manjulika was still the selling point in the promos and trailers.

Conveniently, each movie is set in its own universe, with the only connections being Manjulika, the title and Chhote Pandit — essentially the franchise’s version of a recurring nightmare. Yikes. Meanwhile, Kartik Aaryan, also known as Akshay Kumar Lite, seems to be trying way too hard, flailing about in a desperate bid for comedic charm. It’s pathetic and embarrassing. What it is not is funny, unless it’s a joke at the audience’s expense. And since he is the lead actor, we see far too much of him in the movie.

The dance-off between Madhuri and Vidya (Ami Je Tomar 3.0) would have been nice had not for spectacularly bad choreography and even worse cinematography. At this point, it would be better if all the Manjulikas were left to rest in peace than have them resurrected every now and then whenever the studio finds itself short of funds.

I did not hate the final twist, but by that time I was so drained by the unending parade of worn-out tropes and uninspired humour that any hint of surprise felt like a flimsy afterthought.

There are a few high points, sure. One feels nicely nostalgic whenever the ever-melodious Shreya Ghoshal sings “Ami Je Tomar”. Sanjay Mishra and Vijay Raaz do excellently with whatever little screen time they are given. But ultimately Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 serves as a cautionary tale: sometimes, it’s best to let sleeping ghosts lie.

Who’s is in the cast of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3?

Apart from Kartik Aaryan, Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 also features Vidya Balan, Madhuri Dixit and Triptii Dimri, Vijay Raaz, Rajpal Yadav, Sanjay Mishra, Ashwini Kalsekar, Rajesh Sharma and more in the cast.

What was Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 release date?

Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 release date was 1 November 2024.

(Hero and featured image: Courtesy of IMDb)