Anees Bazmee takes over the reigns of the Bhool Bhulaiyaa franchise from Priyadarshan. His sequel, which will be out in November this year, has a new cast. Kartik Aaryan, Tabu and Kiara Advani will be seen in lead roles, and Rajpal Yadav has been retained from the original.

Speaking about his film and personal beliefs, the director told Bombay Times, “I believe in science, but I have met a lot of people in my life who believe in ghosts, spirits and black magic. The stories these people told me have been interesting and thrilling. Main majjey se bhooton ki kahaaniyan sunta hu. In fact, as a child, my grandmother used to tell me ghost stories and I used to enjoy them. Darr bhi lagta tha par hum sunna bhi chahte the.”

He added, “I have also met people who told me that they were possessed. I like to say that I believe in science, but raat ko aap agar mujhe andhere mein kisi khandar jaane bolenge, toh I will be scared. I am not a daredevil, I do get scared. But no matter what our personal beliefs, films are a make-believe world. You believe Superman can fly even when you know it’s a fictional character. So, when I make a Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2, it’s up to me to convince you that the evil spirits may exist even when they may not. The objective is to make the audience entertain and give them that element of fear and thrill. I want them to laugh as well as be petrified. It’s a tough combination, but that’s the genre we are trying to crack here — psychological thriller/ comedy.”