Akshay Kumar says he was ‘removed’ from ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 & 3’

The Kartik Aaryan-starrers ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ and ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’ have been major box-office successes, raking in impressive collections right from their release. The third film went head-to-head with ‘Singham Again’ during the Diwali holidays in 2024, giving Ajay Devgn and Rohit Shetty a run for their money. While the success of these films is undeniable, it’s also true that the original ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa’, which starred Akshay Kumar, still enjoys a cult following. The popularity of the 2007 film laid the foundation for its transformation into a franchise. However, Akshay Kumar’s absence from the sequels has been a point of discussion among fans and during a recent interaction, the actor shed light on why he was not part of the two follow-ups.

During an interaction with a leading media house, a fan candidly shared that they chose not to watch ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2’ and ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’ because Akshay was not involved. Responding to this, Akshay said, “I was removed. That’s it.”

In a prior interaction with another leading media agency, Kartik had addressed replacing Akshay in the franchise. He had said, “I have always been a huge fan of Akshay. I don’t see myself on the same level as him. I’ve watched him since I was a child, so it feels a bit strange to be compared to him.”

While fans were disappointed not to see Khiladi Kumar in ‘Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3’, they have something to look forward to with him reprising his role in the sequel to another iconic film - ‘Hera Pheri 3’.

Speaking about the much-anticipated project during the interaction, Akshay said, “Even I am waiting to start ‘Hera Pheri 3’. I don’t know, but if everything goes well, it will start this year. When we started ‘Hera Pheri’, we didn’t know it would go ahead to become such a cult. Even when I saw the film, I didn’t understand. Yes, it was funny, but none of us expected the characters of Babu Bhaiya, Raju and Shyam to become a cult.”