Upamanyu Biswas
At the end of ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3,’ the hunt for Manjulika’s ghost takes an unforeseen turn after Ruhaan and the Maharaja’s family realize that deeper family secrets plague the palace of Raktaghat. With Durgashtami right around the corner, the fake ghostbuster has to find a way to rid the house of its ghost and bring back the good times in the village. However, the revelation of hidden rooms and reincarnated characters adds even more complications to the generational horror story. As such, Ruhaan and Meera start suspecting that the odd events happening around the place must be connected to the palace restorer Mallika and its prospective buyer, Mandira. Convinced that Manjulika must have possessed them, the two prepare for the inevitable, only for the real truth to emerge behind the ghost’s identity. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 Plot Synopsis
In Maharastra, India, Ruhaan Randhawa, AKA Rooh Baba, cheats people out of valuables by claiming to be an exorcist dealing with supernatural qualms. His reputation eventually leads him to the doorstep of a royal client, the brother-in-law of the Maharaja (King) of Raktaghat in West Bengal. He pleads with Ruhaan to help him contact his deceased niece Meera’s soul, who recently passed away. With the help of his trusty companion, Tillu, Ruhaan employs some theatrics to showcase his ability. However, when Meera appears out of nowhere, Ruhaan gets scared out of his wits and gives up the sham. In reality, Meera is alive, and her uncle captured the footage of Ruhaan’s falsehood on camera, threatening to reveal it to the public unless he follows Meera and him to Raktaghat, where he has to take on an exorcism job.
After accepting the blackmail, Ruhaan travels to Raktaghat with his new acquaintances. However, upon entering the local village, he is confused by the reaction of people, who are amazed by his resemblance to the prince of Raktaghat from 1824, Debendranath. Ruhaan meets up with the Maharaja and Meera’s family, stunned at their poverty. The family has been reduced to a meager existence because of the revival of the spirit of Manjulika, the princess of Raktaghat and Debendranath’s half-sister, from 1824. According to legend, she was envious of her brother after he was chosen to succeed to the throne of Raktaghat. Subsequently, she murdered him to usurp the post herself, only to be burned at the stake by her father. Her spirit then came back to life to kill the Maharaja and exact revenge on those who wronged her.
Ruhaan is tasked with getting rid of Manjulika’s evil presence, with the Rajpurohit (high priest) stating that Manjulika can only be eradicated by a reincarnated figure of the old Maharaja’s family. The Rajpurohit of 1824 locked up Manjulika’s ghost in a sealed palace room. As such, Ruhaan can only open the door and deal with the spirit on the auspicious day of Durgashtami. However, Meera, who is skeptical of the whole supernatural angle, urges Ruhaan to exorcise the place symbolically much earlier, hoping to sell the palace for a hefty sum. As sparks fly between the princess and the fraudster, they try to explain the meaning behind the odd events taking place inside the palace, which go against their non-supernatural claims. More hurdles surface when two additional guests enter the palace with dubious motivations.
Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 Ending: Are Mallika and Mandira Possessed By Manjulika?
After arriving in Raktaghat, Ruhaan soon becomes a popular figure within the Maharaja’s family and in the local village, as he is prophesized to end the reign of Manjulika’s ghost. However, he faces opposition from the Pandit family, who have been squatting in Manjulika’s room for a long time. They employ a variety of scare tactics to drive Ruhaan away, but the ghostbuster remains immune to their plans. Instead, he figures out the truth behind the Pandit family living in Manjulika’s room with help from Mallika, the newly appointed palace restorer. Although a new hire, she possesses an eerie level of knowledge about the palace and its inhabitants. Meera suspects that Manjulika may be possessing her.
Ruhaan uses Mallika’s help to perform a public exorcism, asking her to step into the role of Manjulika during the proceedings. The event goes well, albeit shaking up Ruhaan after he hears Manjulika’s angry voice from behind the sealed door. In the aftermath, a new vibrancy enters the palace as inhabitants begin believing that the ghost is gone and Ruhaan has driven it away. During the restoration work, Mallika and her workers discover a hidden passage leading to another sealed palace room. After a little digging, the Rajpurohit learns that the room belonged to another secret daughter of the 1824 Maharaja, Princess Anjulika. Not long after the discovery, a mysterious woman named Mandira arrives at the palace to buy the establishment from the current Maharaja.
Mandira and Mallika’s presence spooks inhabitants within the palace, with some citing that they are seeing more odd occurrences in the place. Ruhaan is plagued by numerous nightmares involving the two women, a fear that eventually drives him to leave the palace, albeit with no success. Eventually, he and Meera discuss the weird behavior exhibited by Mandira and Mallika, with both suggesting that Manjulika might have possessed them. Although they do not agree on who it is, they decide to keep an eye on both moving forward. Finally, on the night before Durgashtami, Ruhaan and the palace occupants gather at the place where Manjulika was burned, ready with the holy oil necessary to trap and kill the ghost. Not long after, Manjulika enters in her ceremonial garb and scary mask.
Who is the Ghost? What Was Their Secret?
With the final ritual moments from taking off, Ruhaan is flabbergasted to witness the Pandit family using the Holy Oil for their personal use. The moment of comedy is soon replaced by more serious matters as Meera starts acting strangely and threatens to kill herself. Ruhaan saves her before facing up to Mallika and Mandira. The two women show a variety of supernatural abilities as Ruhaan and the rest watch them dumbfounded. Their fight eventually ends with Mallika trying to strangle Ruhaan to death. However, he manages to use the holy oil to trap her. Subsequently, it is Mandira’s turn to fight back as the ghost takes her over. The ghost leaves her body and finally reveals to everyone watching that its real identity is not Princess Manjulika but Prince Debendranath, the chosen heir to the throne.
As it turns out, the late prince was a lover of dancing and had a conflicted gender identity, wishing to be a woman despite being born as a man. One night, Princess Manjulika and Anjulika entered his chamber and found out the truth behind his secret desires and challenges. Sensing an opportunity, they arranged for their brother to dance in the royal hall, hoping that their father would cut him out of the family line in favor of them instead. The Maharaja entered the hall with his followers and was distraught to witness his son’s dancing and seeming disdain for masculinity. He slapped Debendranath and had him dragged out. The prince was punished by being tied to the stake and burned in the palace.
Meanwhile, Manjulika and Anjulika were given separate sentences by the Maharaja for turning their brother’s gender identity into a dramatized event, dragging other people into the ploy. He had Manjulika exiled after alerting her that she would forever be touted as the murderer behind her brother’s death, while Anjulika was set to be erased from history and from people’s memory. In the present day, the two sisters were reincarnated as Mallika and Mandira, with the former representing Manjulika and the latter Anjulika. The ghost of Debendranath had used his powers to make it seem as if Manjulika possessed them. However, they were reincarnated figures who had been drawn to the palace of their own accord.
How Does Prince Debendranath Attain Salvation? Who is Mandira?
It is made evident at the end that Prince Debendranath was angry at everything that had happened to him. His pain at having to live in a man’s body during life was only exacerbated at death when his own sisters betrayed him for the opportunity to become the Queen of Raktaghat. As such, his plans for vengeance are mostly centered on those two. However, with time, his rage became all-consuming, and he wished to eradicate everyone within the palace if possible. Therefore, it comes as a huge moment of growth in the final sequence when both Mallika and Mandira ask for forgiveness from Debendranath. As they are flooded with memories of their past life, they realize the crimes they committed against their brother were heinous and did not need to be repeated.
The heartfelt request surprises Debendranath, especially as his sisters profess to give up their own lives in exchange for the survival of the other inhabitants. They admit that their brother’s death was entirely their fault, a confession that finally acknowledges the injustice Debendranath carried all his life and into death. He is moved by their devotion and their ability to repent their sins. In fact, he is so touched by it that he sheds a tear and decides to give up his vengeful path. He instantly transforms back to his restored human form, showcasing his beauty prior to his death. He disappears for good a moment later, having finally found salvation. Meanwhile, Rajpurohit comments that the prophecy of reincarnated figures releasing Manjulika has come true, albeit in a fashion he did not expect.
After Debedranath is gone, a mid-credits scene depicts the events in the palace the following morning as Ruhaan, Mallika, Mandira, and Meera gather in the palace’s courtyard. Mallika states that her previous life as Manjulika must have been the reason why she wanted to become a palace restorer all her life. Meanwhile, Mandira states that although she was drawn to the Raktaghat palace, her reasons for coming were actually something different. Her real identity is ACP Rathore, an undercover cop who has been investigating Ruhaan for deceiving people using fake ghostbuster claims. Hearing her words, Ruhaan loses consciousness and hits the floor, indicating that even if Manjulika’s ghost may be gone, his personal days of horror are still far from over.
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