Vidya Balan Was Unprepared Before Shooting Manjulika's Scary Bed Scene In Bhool Bhulaiyaa

Amongst one of the most remembered roles of Vidya Balan is her character of Avni/Manjulika in the 2007 psychological thriller Bhool Bhulaiyaa, directed by Priyadarshan. The actress is also onboard the third installment of the franchise and will feature in a pivotal role opposite Kartik Aaryan and Triptii Dimri. In an interview with PTI, Vidya took fans behind the scenes of the filming of one of the most popular scenes from Bhool Bhulaiyaa, which was also pivotal to the storyline.

Vidya on filming Bhool Bhulaiyaa horror scene

Bhool Bhulaiyaa featured Akshay Kumar as a pyshcharatist and Vidya as Avni, who suffers from dissociative identity disorder. Shiney Ahuja played her husband in the movie. Vidya said she relied completely on Priyadarshan to play the role of Avni, who starts to believe in the legend of Manjulika, a Bengali dancer.

Narrating the story behind a famous scene in the movie where Avni momentarily transitions into Manjulika and ends up lifting a heavy bed, Vidya credited Priyadarshan for his effortless direction. “We made the film 'haste khelte' and the director knew exactly what he wanted and he knew how to get that work out of us. People talk about that scene from the film... I went to set and we were doing a scene and Priyan sir said this is the next scene , I said, ‘okay, so what am I supposed to do?'," Vidya told PTI.

"When I think back, I'm like, ‘We didn’t even realise how we did it’. But again, no one was taking themselves seriously. I think that's Priyan’s direction for you, he just gave me the right kind of cues, I knew the lines, it was a small scene, so actually I just read it up there,” she added.

Vidya Balan recalls saying yes to Priyadarshan for Bhool Bhulaiyaa

Vidya shared that she had seen the original Malayalam movie Manichitrathazhu and when Priyadarshan offered her the role in Bhool Bhulaiyaa, done by Shobhna in the original, she jumped at the chance.

"When he offered the film to me, I said, ‘Wow, are you offering me that film?’, and I said yes instantly. There was no script or anything because I had seen the original. It was probably the shortest meeting I had for a film and that was the shortest time I took to say yes to a film because I loved the original,” the actress, who will be seen in Do Aur Do Pyaar next, added.