Viktor Acharya Hopes Good Films Will Manage To Attract Audience Back To Theatres

For Vijay Krishna (Viktor) Acharya, the lockdown was a moment to reflect as a film-maker as he spent a lot of time writing and fine-tuning his anticipated next. Though he is fully tight-lipped about sharing any further details of his anticipated project, Viktor says the pandemic made him reflect on the kind of films that he would like to make in the future. 

“I finished writing the script of my next film in the lockdown. So, I sort of reflected a little bit, not just on the film script that I've written, but also on the kind of films I may want to do in the future. And exactly what is it that I would like to do as far as the world of films is concerned. So, yes, the lockdown has been a reflective one for me and a lot of things became quite clear to me, both in terms of my creative endeavours and the space that I'd like to inhabit,” says Viktor, who caught up for a quick chat with us on his birthday.

Viktor says his future projects will echo this realisation strongly. He says, “I think it is better that I let my work speak for it and through that, maybe, I can indicate or I can suggest what are the things or what are the thoughts that grip me at the moment. I hope that creativity and creative endeavours are judged creatively. Perhaps, that is my bigger thought through this year. We have come to judge everything and to look at most things in very external worldly figures. When we talk of films today, we either talk of box office or we talk of film festivals but the truth is each film ends up being a different kind of an experience for an audience. So, perhaps with different kinds of films being made, we would discover newer audiences.”

The film industry is set to make a big comeback as the world manages to get a grip on the coronavirus with the vaccine roll out. Viktor says, “It has been nightmarish to say the least! When the vaccine is rolled out and the cases go down, people will have greater confidence, people would want to come out. Not just the film industry but I think everything else will also slowly come back to normal, whatever is the fundamental. I think the whole community experience will come back, the whole experience of watching a film on the big screen, of taking time out, especially after people have been indoors for so long, will be a good thing for the film industry.”

The film-maker adds, “One certainly hopes that good films will manage to attract the audience back to the theatres. If I were to talk of myself as an audience, there is not one kind of film that I want to see in theatres. There is the spectacle that you like to watch at some point in time, there's something which is insightful and hopeful and at the same time, there are different kinds of stories. I don’t think I want to see old wine in new bottles, having been exposed to some brilliant content on OTT’s. So, audience will come to theatres to see something new, to have a new experience.”