On Friday, director Anees Bazmee wrapped up the final schedule of the romantic-horror comedy Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 in Mumbai after concluding their schedule in Orchha, Madhya Pradesh. In July, mid-day had reported about the team kicking off the last schedule (Darr ke aage release hai, July 10), with Vidya Balan joining them in Orchha. 

The schedule concluded in Mumbai with the makers shooting on the 11 sets built across two locations in the city.

“It was a gruelling 40-day final schedule, which had to be shot quickly as Anees and producer Bhushan Kumar wanted to release the first teaser by the end of August,” says a source from the creative team, adding that they always intended to wrap up the shoot by the end of July.

“While the unit shot in live locations across Orchha, they had put up 11 sets at Goregaon’s Royal Palms for the final two weeks. A part of the massive climax, a song with the entire cast, and some dramatic scenes with Kartik [Aaryan] were shot in this schedule. To complete the shoot on time, the team shot for 15 to 20 hours a day,” the source adds.

While the shoot in Orchha was underway, production designer Rajat Poddarr, who also worked on Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 (2022), put the final touches on the 11 sets, which included the rooms of the Raja, Rooh Baba, and Manjulika, in Mumbai.

“After Orchha, the unit resumed work in Mumbai in the second week of July. They began at the haveli set up in Aarey Milk Colony and then moved to shoot on the sets [built to denote the interiors of the haveli] at Royal Palms. [In the coming days], the unit will shoot one romantic track between Kartik and Triptii [Dimri], either in India or overseas,” the source says.

Building and shooting across multiple sets was never a daunting task for Bazmee; instead, setting a “bigger narrative than the earlier instalments and working with Vidya Balan” was the bigger challenge for the filmmaker. “People have seen Vidya in Bhool Bhulaiyaa [2007], so they expect more of her in the third part,” the source adds about the film set to hit theatres during Diwali this year.