A sprinkle of this, a dash of that: Akshay Kumar-starrer ‘Bhooth Bangla’ trailer features refurbished old classics

Mumbai: The trailer of the Akshay Kumar-starrer ‘Bhooth Bangla’ was unveiled on Monday. The film marks the reunion of Akshay Kumar, Priyadarshan, Paresh Rawal, and Rajpal Yadav. And by the looks of it, the makers seem to be playing safe in order to serve market forces and the audience.

While the trailer does reveal an engaging storyline balancing the humour with horror, it tries too hard to appeal to the masses. Beyond the surface, one can clearly see the threads of old classics, some from Akshay Kumar’s own repository.

For starters, the haveli shown in the trailer appears to be the same as the one used in ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’. Old dialogues that have become legendary memes have been replugged in included in the trailer to extract laughs. However, the most prominent inclusion is the song ‘Ram Ji Bhala Karein’, featuring the hook line of the song ‘Bhuter Raja Dilo Bor’ from the National Award-winning Bengali film ‘Goopy Gyne Bagha Byne’, helmed by Satyajit Ray.

In fact, the dynamics between the character of Akshay Kumar and Rajpal Yadav is a strong pull back to their dynamics in ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’.

The film also stars Tabu, Rajpal Yadav, Jisshu Sengupta, Asrani and Mithila Palkar. Earlier, the makers of the film decided to move its release date. Co-producer Ektaa Kapoor took to her Instagram, and shared a creative notifying her followers of the change in the release date of the film. The makers decided to push the release of the film owing to the exceptional performance of the Ranveer Singh-starrer ‘Dhurandhar: The Revenge’.

Presented by Balaji Motion Pictures, a division of Balaji Telefilms Ltd, in association with Cape of Good Films, ‘Bhooth Bangla’ is directed by Priyadarshan, and produced by Akshay Kumar, Shobha Kapoor, and Ektaa R Kapoor.

The film will bow in cinemas on April 16, 2026.

IANS