Vidya Balan showed her dissapointment on not receiving any award for 2007’s hit film Bhool Bhulaiyaa.
Bollywood actress Vidya Balan will return as the iconic character Manjulika in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, marking her much-awaited comeback to the franchise that she first starred in back in 2007. The original film, Bhool Bhulaiyaa, was a huge box-office success, and Vidya’s powerful portrayal of Manjulika was widely praised. Despite this, she didn’t win any awards for her role, a decision that left her father particularly disappointed. In a recent interview with Galatta India, Vidya opened up about the experience, saying, “I was told that since Bhool Bhulaiyaa was a remake of a Malayalam film, my performance didn’t qualify for a nomination. I accepted it, but my father felt quite bad.”
Balan explained that while she moved on from the disappointment, her family, especially her father, was affected. “He would tell me, ‘It was such a good performance; you should have won an award!’ But I explained that awards are comparative, and someone else’s performance was recognized that year,” she added.
Bhool Bhulaiyaa also featured Akshay Kumar, Shiney Ahuja, Ameesha Patel, Paresh Rawal, Rajpal Yadav, Manoj Joshi, Asrani and Vikram Gokhale.
In 2008, Kareena Kapoor swept most of the Best Actress awards for her popular role as Geet in Jab We Met. However, Vidya soon made her mark, winning Best Actress awards for four consecutive years: for Paa in 2010, Ishqiya in 2011, The Dirty Picture in 2012, and Kahaani in 2013. Reflecting on her journey, Vidya said, “I think I’m very lucky. I’ve always focused on my work, not the outcome. I’ve won so many awards that I hadn’t even dreamed of.”
Now, after 17 years, Vidya is all set to reprise her iconic role in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3, alongside Kartik Aaryan, Tripti Dimri, Rajpal Yadav, Sanjay Mishra, Vijay Raaz, and Madhuri Dixit. The film’s theatrical release will be on Diwali, November 1, 2024. At the box office, the film will be clashing with Ajay Devgn’s action-drama Singham Again. Both the movies are ready to battle it out at the box office this Friday with a combined potential of day one being around Rs 100 crore all-India nett.