'Shah Rukh Khan & Aamir Khan Can't Guarantee A Film Success' Says This Popular Bollywood Director

Filmmaker Vikram Bhatt has definitely 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, and went on to direct several films, but his first major success came in the form of the erotic horror film Raaz, starring actors Bipasha Basu and Dino Morea.

Bhatt reveals that many people had initially dissuaded him from making the film. “When I had conceptualised Raaz, many told me that making a horror film was a bad idea. But it turned out to be the opposite. Similar was the case with 3D films such as Haunted (2011), and Creature (2014), which did not do well at the box office, but was a good film.”

Talking about his journey, he adds, “It has been full of ups and downs, so far. I have seen friends leaving, enemies becoming friends. I have never seen it in terms of highs or lows, but what difference I have made.”

Asked about his obsession with the horror genre, he replies, “People who make comedy films all the time are never asked why they make such films. Similar is the case with production houses who only sell love in their films. I like peddling fear. Also, today, people won’t go to enjoy their favourite sensations — be it happy, sad or thrilled — minus a good story. A Shah Rukh Khan or an Aamir Khan in a film doesn’t guarantee success.”

While his last film, Raaz Reboot (2016), couldn’t spell magic at the box office, he is now busy with his web series Hadh, which is the latest victim of the online threat of piracy. “Let’s just say I had a Game Of Thrones experience (the American drama series, whose latest episodes were leaked online recently). On one hand, 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. Thus the creative person in me is stoked, but the businessman in me is pissed. I think none of us is safe from piracy; we all are victims,” explains Bhatt.