A royal secret: the ghost of Raktghat Palace was a decoy
In short: For centuries, the legend of Manjulika claimed she was the vengeful spirit haunting Raktghat Palace. But a hidden chamber reveals a deeper, darker history of erasure. The true ghost wasn't the one everyone feared; it was a prince whose existence was systematically deleted from the royal records.
In 1824, a tragic sequence of events at Raktghat Palace set the stage for the haunting. A woman performing Kathak was caught by the king and burned alive. While her spirit was vengeful, the royal family took drastic measures to manage their legacy. To preserve their honor, the king chose to erase the existence of a woman named Anjulika from history entirely, falsely portraying her sister, Manjulika, as the murderer of Prince Debendranath.
The narrative of the haunting was a calculated deception. While Manjulika's room served as a decoy to frighten the public, the true spirit of Prince Debendranath—who was secretly effeminate and loved Kathak—was imprisoned in a hidden chamber. He was the one who actually killed the king and his guards before being captured. This historical manipulation meant that for generations, the 'haunting' was a mask for a much more complex family tragedy involving gender bias and royal politics.
In the 2024 film, this history resurfaces when a conman named Ruhaan is hired to exorcise the palace. The story reveals that the current residents are the descendants of this impoverished royal family. The climax uncovers that the modern-day protagonists are actually the reincarnations of the sisters, Anjulika and Manjulika. The film concludes with the spirit of Debendranath attaining salvation, finally resolving a cycle of vengeance and erasure that began two hundred years prior.
The production of this supernatural epic was a massive undertaking. Directed by Anees Bazmee, the film featured extensive locations including Kolkata, Orchha, and Leh. It notably grossed over ₹423.85 crore worldwide, becoming the second highest-grossing Hindi film of 2024. Despite its commercial success, the film faced a ban in Saudi Arabia due to its depiction of themes prohibited in that country.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3
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