Vikram Bhatt shares experiences of working on the OG Agneepath and other movies like Raaz

Vikram Bhatt obliged a group of aspiring actors and young journalists by talking to them on the audio-only portal ClubHouse. A number of questions were thrown at him during the session and he answered each and every question in as much detail as he could. He was mostly asked about the technique in film creation and about the horror genre in which he excels. Some of the questions that he was asked had him talking about his journey in Bollywood and what prompted him to make the movies that he did. Talking about the time when he acted as an assistant director on the film Agneepath featuring Amitabh Bachchan, he had some fun things to share.

The thought process behind Vikram Bhatt's movies

“When we were shooting for Agneepath, the director of the film told us we have gotten Amitabh Bachchan as the lead for the film, what are his defining qualities which we should maximise on? We told him he has a great voice, the director said okay let's make his voice hoarse. He dances well, okay we do not need him to dance in the film. We said he has very expressive eyes, the director said we should slather it with kohl so it's unremarkable. It became a running joke on the set of the film saying that we have taken all the defining qualities of Amitabh Bachchan and we have stripped him bare. But that was the film that added to Amitabhji’s recognition. I have never seen a worker like Amitabh, he is truly inspirational”.

Vikram Bhatt was then asked how he had managed to make films like Aap Mujhe Ache Lagne Lage, Awara Paagal Deewana and Raaz all in the same year when they were so intrinsically different. Vikram Bhatt had a funny yet practical answer for this.

“I decided I am going to do what I want to do and write how I want to write. I will keep reinventing myself. If I fail I will pick myself up and start from scratch. I will read more books than a youngster. I will be more tech-savvy than editors. I will do everything I want. That is what helped me to move ahead and do things how I have always wanted to. I never allow anything to stop me, least of all people’s opinions".

IMAGE: VIKRAM BHATT'S INSTAGRAM