It's a mad, mad world out there, and particularly so in that sprawling ancestral home of Shiney Ahuja, a descendant of some yesteryear Maharaja, in this week's new release Bhool Bhulaiyya.

Shiney and his wife Vidya Balan who've been living in the US for some years, make a trip back home, and ignoring the advice of his extended family, decide to live in that palatial home that his family insists is haunted.

When strange incidents take place around the house, and evidence suggests that at least one member of the family may be suffering from psychological problems, Shiney invites his friend Akshay Kumar, a trained psychiatrist to come over and help the family face these challenges.

Essentially a remake of the Malayalam film Manichitrathazhu starring Mohanlal and Shobana, Bhool Bhulaiyya makes one slight diversion from the original script.

Unlike the Malayalam film which was a Shobana-vehicle in which Mohanlal played merely a supporting role, Bhool Bhulaiyya is a one-man-show for Akshay Kumar even though he enters the plot fairly late in the day.

Fortunately that works here, because it's really the comedy Akshay Kumar brings to the film that proves to be its real draw.

You might argue that wearing a pair of glasses is hardly enough to look like a psychiatrist, and I'd agree with you.

You might argue that Akshay Kumar performs less like a psychiatrist and more like a mentally challenged person himself, and again I'd agree with you.

But really, if you're looking for logic and reason and continuity and authenticity in a Priyadarshan film, then the joke's on you, my friend!