‘THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO TALK ABOUT OUR PERSONAL LOSSES’
Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt feels it is now time to stand together as a nation in our fight against Covid-19
Everything has been thrown into a disarray, with the second wave of Covid-19 gripping India. The entertainment sector, which was just beginning to get back on its feet since late last year, is again seeing work get stalled.
Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt says the business continued to get impacted even after things opened up around October last year, when theatres reopened after seven months.
“We are still reeling under the impact. We only got one proper release, Roohi (in February). Even Sanjay Gupta’s Mumbai Saga (that released in mid-March) got hit badly by the lockdown. I’m sure he suffered losses on a film that’s complete,” notes Bhatt, adding that the situation is grim everywhere. “But, when you look around and see people dying, you realise your problems are very little compared to what others are going through,” he opines.
While the 52year-old admits that there is trouble around, he insists this is the time to come together to fight the virus: “Our theatres are in a lot of trouble, but the nation is in bigger trouble. Now is not the time to talk about personal losses. This is the time for us to get together as a nation.”
Bhatt had been shooting for a project, Anamika, with actor Sunny Leone, but work came to a halt as a lockdown was announced in Maharashtra, last month.
“I was almost done with the shoot when work was again stopped. We did rapid antigen tests every day and an RT-PCR every seven days. Luckily, I had another project, (recently released web series) Bisaat: Khel Shatranj Ka, which I had finished in the interim period where we had less cases,” he says.
Ask what’s keeping him occupied in this lockdown, and Bhatt reveals he is writing a lot.
“My boss Mahesh Bhatt, an integral part of my company’s creative process, is on my case when I’m not doing enough. He is a taskmaster. Thankfully, writing is something you can do when you’re in a lockdown,” he
signs off.
theatres Our a lot of are in but the trouble, bigger is in nation trouble. BHATT, VIKRAM
Filmmaker