Actor Vidya Balan, who returned to the "Bhool Bhulaiyaa" franchise with the recently released third part, says the success of the first film helped change the perception of her, as filmmakers realised that she could handle more complex and unconventional roles. Balan, who starred as Avni/Manjulika opposite Akshay Kumar in Priyadarshan's 2007 hit "Bhool Bhulaiyaa", said the movie opened up new opportunities for her. "People realised that there was another facet (to me).
I don't know if it was prompted by that, but "Ishqiya" came to me after that. When people see you do different things, their minds open up with possibilities. "It was a huge commercial success, so I'm sure it must have impacted people's decisions," Balan told PTI in an interview.
The actor said her father still has a complaint -- that Balan didn't win any awards for her performance in the movie. "I was like, 'It's okay.' But four years in a row after that, I picked up the Best Actress awards in most places.
So, things always balance out," Balan said, referring to her wins for "Paa" (2010), "Ishqiya" (2011), "The Dirty Picture" (2012), and " " (2013). Despite the popularity of the first part, Balan and Kumar did not appear in the sequel, "Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2", which was released in 2022. Directed by Anees Bazmee, the movie featured an almost entirely new cast, with Rajpal Yadav being the exception, and became a major box office hit upon its release.
Balan made a comeback to the franchise with "Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3", .
