Himesh Mankad (MUMBAI MIRROR; October 5, 2019)

Mirror was the first to report that (July 13) Anees Bazmee will be directing Kartik Aaryan in the sequel to the 2007-horror comedy, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, fronted by Akshay Kumar. Soon after, it was revealed that Kiara Advani has been signed on as the female lead for this Bhushan Kumar and Murad Khetani production. Now, we have learnt that Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 goes on the floors on Dussehra, October 8. “It’s an auspicious day. It will be a brief two to three-day schedule in Mumbai with Kartik,” revealed a source.

Following this, Anees jumps on to the post production and promotions of his upcoming comedy, Pagalpanti, featuring John Abraham, Anil Kapoor, Ileana D’cruz and Arshad Warsi while Kartik will get into the Pati Patni Aur Woh remake. Buzz is, he will also start Sanjay Leela Bhansali’s upcoming directorial, the Alia Bhatt starrer- Gangubai. He also has Karan Johar’s Dostana 2, which will be directed by Collin D’Cunha.

“The second schedule will kick-off early next year with Kiara also jumping into the maze,” added the source. The film is targeting a July 2020 release and shooting is expected to wrap up by March. The original, directed by Priyadarshan, was inspired by Rajinikanth’s 2005 Tamil film, Chandramukhi, which in turn was a remake of the 1993 Malayalam film, Manichitrathazhu. It revolved around a couple, Shiney Ahuja and Vidya Balan, who move into their ancestral palace in Rajasthan, turning a deaf ear to warnings about a ghost on premises only to be possessed by the spirit of Monjulika, a Bengali classical dancer. Akshay played a psychiatrist from New York, who is called to figure what the problem is.