‘A Shah Rukh Khan or an Aamir Khan in a film doesn’t guarantee success’
Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt is one of those few people in the industry who has kept up with the changing times. Be it introducing 3D technology to films or venturing into the digital space, he has always been ahead of the curve.
The 48-year-old, who completes 25 years in the film industry this year, started off with the 1992 film Jaanam. But his first major success came in the form of the erotic horror film Raaz (2002).
About Raaz, Bhatt reveals, “When I had conceptualised it, many told me that making a horror film was a bad idea. But it turned out to be the opposite. Similar were the cases with 3D films such as Haunted (2011) and Creature (2014), which, though didn’t do well at the box office, were good films.” His obsession with the horror genre is not unknown and he says, “People who make comedy films all the time are never asked why they make it. Similar is the case with production houses, who only sell the idea of love in their films. I like peddling fear. Also, today, people don’t enjoy their favourite sensations minus a good story. A Shah Rukh Khan or an Aamir Khan in a film doesn’t guarantee success always.”
Bhatt is now busy with his web series, which is the latest victim to the online threat of piracy: “Let’s just say that I had a Game Of Thrones experience (the American series, whose latest episodes were leaked online). It’s great flattery that people want to see your stuff so badly that they create an account on a video-sharing website and leak it, and the creative person in me is stoked but the businessman in me is pissed.”