EXCLUSIVE | 'Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3' DoP Manu Anand: 'Shah Rukh Khan's Zero was the toughest film of my career, as far as the VFX of Kartik Aaryan's film is concerned…'

As the release of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 draws near, excitement is reaching a fever pitch among fans. Starring the talented Kartik Aaryan, the iconic Madhuri Dixit, the ever-enigmatic Vidya Balan, and rising star Triptii Dimri, the film promises to blend horror and comedy in a way that fans have come to love.

And in an exclusive interview with Firstpost, the director of photography Manu Anand spoke about his prep for the horror-comedy, the toughest film of his career, and collaborating with filmmaker Anees Bazmee.

Edited excerpts from the interview

How was your experience? How was your preparation for Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3?

We had a very, very, very, very, very hectic and a very, very, intense pre-production experience on Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3. So Anees Bazmee had been working on the writing and everything for a while, but it’s only in sort of January that the team came together. And we were like, oh my god, we just we have to put the film together, and we’re going on the floors in March. So we had 2 months of intense prep on the film. We had extensive recces, and in fact, we went all over the country. We went to, to Madhya Pradesh.

We went to Rajasthan. We went to West Bengal. In fact, we went to Gujarat to find the right location which fits the mood. With Anees Bhai, I had intense meetings on the look of the film, including our production designer. All of that was a very, very intense and hectic 2 months to 3 months of prep.

Nobody would know that it was done inside a short trip. You would think it is a very, very big trip, but I think people worked extra hard, 24 hours a day at times to just, you know, get this and then finally shoot. Then even post of the film has been such a tight one. The whole process has been very intense.

How much is the DoP involved in the VFX of the film?

DoP is a director of photography. So I’m not just involved in the VFX where it’s inside the image of the film. VFX is also part of the image of the frame. It has the actor, and then it has my lighting. It has the camera movement. And then in some scenes, there is also VFX. So as a director of photography, I’m marrying along with the director all these elements together into the frame. I have done a lot of VFX in films like Fan and Zero.

And I have a long history of collaborating with Red Chillies. In fact, we also collaborated them in Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2. So part 3 is also with Red Chillies. Our collaboration has been very successful. And as far as the VFX is concerned, I personally remain very involved, and I’m very particular about even the look and the concepts, in terms of what kind of backgrounds we have.

Anees Bazmee has such tremendous faith in me that he lets me really sort of take certain amount of responsibility for all of these elements including coming together into the same. And of course, he’s, with his experience of things, the conductor behind all of us. And specifically to your point as to what the director of photography is involved with the VFX is, VFX is also part of the world that I’m photographing. So if the VFX is not good, as a director of photography, I can tell that this is not working.

It is not marrying, it is the the VFX does not marry our scene properly. Because the ultimate goal is to have invisible VFX. Good VFX is VFX that sort of marries  the scene that we have shot, and it doesn’t give a sense that, hey, anything is out of place. It should look like it belongs to the world.

As compared to last two parts, what do you have to say about the photography and cinematography of this part? 

So this time, Anees and I had huge meetings on how do we make our world of Bhool Bhulaiyaa 3 different from the previous part. So as a cinematographer, as a director of photography, I am working in tandem with many departments. So, you know, all of our departments come together to create this world, whether it’s a production design department, they’re the costume designers. There’s a cost of camera department.

This time, we are set in Kolkata and Bengal, and you’ll see the color influences of Kolkata and Bengal in the film. And, in terms of scale and in terms of the grandiose vision that Anees Bhai had this time, I’m sure you can already see that in the trailer.

How was it like capturing Madhuri Dixit and Vidya Balan in the same frame?

See, everybody asks this question. How is it? You must know yourself that it was a magical experience to capture them in one frame. The day I found out that we are doing, it was a day full of excitement, and yet at the same time, I was extremely, fearful.

Which has been the toughest film of your career?

Zero. If you see the making of the film, every shot was taken 4 to 5 times. To make Shahrukh Khan into a dwarf, it required a lot of passes of the camera to move. And then at the end of it, it required the VFX to be integrated perfectly into the final image. So in terms of difficulty of sort of shooting, Zero was extremely hard.

How would you describe Kartik Aaryan’s screen presence?

I always tell Kartik that you’re a lucky, lucky, lucky man. And I always tease him, you know, I tell him that the camera loves you. And the camera loves you so much that all kinds of light, all kinds of lenses, all kinds of camera angles, they all look good on you. So for a director of photography, you have an actor who is so good looking in terms of the way the camera loves the actor.

It is a huge advantage. And then on top of that, he is extremely hardworking, and humble and respectful and very, very hardworking towards his craft; you’ll probably in a few days see that a song will come out, and you’ll see the effort and the title track. The amount of effort that he takes to rehearse and to practice, and he’s really, really involved. He’s not just there to come say his lines. He’s like a true team member for the film, and, he’s thinking about the film.

He he will be present, even though the camera’s on the other actor, and he just has to give the cues. He will come and give the cues. And I have done a few films with him like Bhool Bhulaiyaa 2 and 3, and Dhamaka. I can see the growth in him as an actor and a performer, and, he’s only going to get better and bigger.