Vidya Balan, Akshay Kumar and Shiney Ahuja in Bhool Bhulaiyaa

If Darling introduced horror comedy, then Bhool Bhulaiyaa promises to take ‘horcom’ to another level. Touted as a “psychological comic thriller”, Bhool Bhulaiyaa’s promo has already caught the eye and ear — with the Hare Krishna Hare Ram number becoming a rage.

The 69-second promo does not waste a single moment in establishing that Bhool Bhulaiyaa is a mix of horror and comedy. The opening shot is that of an imposing fort in Rajasthan. As the camera moves into the fort, the principal characters are introduced: Akshay Kumar clad in saffron is Dr Shrivastav, a fresh-looking Vidya Balan is Avni, Paresh Rawal looking at his own reflection in the mirror and crying out with horror and anger is Batuk Shankar, while Shiney Ahuja in spotless white kurta pyjama is introduced as Siddharth.

The next 10 seconds of the promo are all about dark silhouettes, shadows moving eerily. The fort takes on a ghostly appearance and all the characters find themselves in strange situations. One catches a glimpse of Rajpal Yadav, also in saffron, and Amisha Patel peeping uncertainly from behind a curtain.

Paresh Rawal tries to run away from a strange-looking object; Rajpal Yadav, with his face painted red, has smoke coming out of his ears and in one particularly hilarious scene, Akshay behaves as if he is possessed by a spirit.

The words ‘This October, get ready to get lost’ appear on the screen while the motif of a white mask is there in almost every frame.

The fun factor continues till the last second of the promo as a bespectacled Akshay Kumar is shown being hounded by a white spirit, very much like Casper the friendly ghost.

The second promo of Bhool Bhulaiyaa is a music video of the Hare Ram Hare Krishna song featuring Akshay dancing with a bevy of girls. It is about three minutes long and is well worth it. Akshay is super cool — whether in coat and cap or in saffron robes — and the way he uses his hands to the rhythm of the beat can already be seen on dance floors across the country.

Directed by Priyadarshan and produced by T Series, Bhool Bhulaiyaa’s music has been scored by current Priyadarshan favourite Pritam while Sandeep Chowta does the background music. Bhool Bhulaiyaa — earlier titled Chandramukhi — releases on October 12, alongside the Pradeep Sarkar multi-starrer Laaga Chunari Mein Daag.