‘I can feel people around me thinking that this guy was about to die, and now he’s back.’
Key Points
- ‘I treated the incarceration like the electricity had gone out… At the back of my mind, there was the certainty that the lights would come back, sooner or later. And they did.’
- ‘Before the ordeal, I saw myself as a lonely soul. I was so moved by how my family came together for Shweta (wife Shwetambari) and me.’
- ‘I no longer doubt the existence of God. I never did, but this time, I saw for myself that he tries very hard to make you stop believing in him. That is the test.’
Vikram Bhatt‘s Haunted 3D: Echoes Of The Past has surprisingly done well at the box office, and the director is thrilled.
It sure comes as a welcome change from the trauma he underwent earlier, when he and his wife Shwetambari were arrested and spent over 70 days in jail.
“Maturity hits you like a freight train; sometimes it’s because of heartbreak, sometimes a death in the family, sometimes a situation like ours,” Vikram Bhatt tells Rediff Senior Contributor Roshmila Bhattacharya.
Haunted 3D: Echoes Of The Past came with half-a-dozen other releases — including Steven Spielberg’s Disclosure Day, Imtiaz Ali’s Main Vaapas Aaunga, Kangana Ranaut’s Bharat Bhhagya Viddhaata, Manoj Bajpayee’s Governor and the Hollywood horror Backrooms — and it’s the only one doing well. How does it feel?
I want to scream and tell everyone, ‘Beware of the franchise!’ (Laughs)
I can feel people around me thinking that this guy was about to die, and now he’s back, why does he keep haunting us like this?!
I’m like this kaccha limboo.
When we were kids playing cricket, there was usually this one guy, the youngest and smallest amongst us, who would cry to be allowed to play. To indulge him, the big boys would let him bat for both teams convinced that he would be out soon. But sometimes this kaccha limboo would turn out to be a better player than they had expected.
I was the kaccha limboo of June 12, and no matter the competition, my Haunted 3D is still playing.
I had expected it to do well, but this well in such adverse circumstances, definitely not!
You could have chosen a more open window instead of coming in a crowd?
There are no open windows. This week, there is Cocktail 2 and then Welcome to the Jungle. A small film gets pushed around in any case.
Talking about franchises, will Haunted 3D be the new Raaz?
Raaz is Raaz and it is Mukesh Bhatt’s property.
Haunted, 1920 and Shaapit are mine and this is the new me, meri kainaat!
Today, with Haunted 3D acing the competition, you have reason to be upbeat. But at any point during the 70-plus days that you were in jail, did you lose hope?
No, I treated the incarceration like the electricity had gone out.
It was uncomfortable, I couldn’t watch TV, but at the back of my mind, there was the certainty that the lights would come back, sooner or later. And they did.
There was something else too that was heartwarming. Before the ordeal, I saw myself as a lonely soul. I was so moved by how my family came together for Shweta (wife Shwetambari) and me.
My sister-in-law and brother-in-law took it up as a personal challenge to get us released. We were in a different city, but they came from Mumbai every week to visit us. They spent so much money to get us out; I’ve never seen such generosity.
‘Most people come out of such experiences shaken and needy, but Shweta has come out stronger’
Being locked up in jail, not having the freedom to walk around, being alone with your thoughts and fears, is an unimaginable ordeal. How did you deal with it?
I’m not religious, but I have always been God loving. I retreated into a safe place in my mind. I was convinced that I would not be forsaken.
I told myself that what was happening was not supposed to happen, but now that it was, it was not supposed to last. Truth would win. In the end, I was proven right.
If I was sad about anything, it was that my wife had to go through so much pain. I wanted to alleviate her suffering.
Is Shwetambari still haunted by the incarceration?
Yes and no; since the trial is still on, one does get a little anxious. But she continues to remain my pillar, asserting that we have learnt from this experience that no matter what, we will not partner with anyone in desperation.
That’s pretty courageous, I think.
Most people come out of such experiences shaken and needy, but Shweta has come out stronger.
Have you noticed any changes in yourself since you came out?
I no longer doubt the existence of God. I never did, but this time, I saw for myself that he tries very hard to make you stop believing in him. That is the test.
‘If anything makes me vengeful, it’s what my children had to go through’
How did your daughter Krishna, and sons Adiraj and Arhavirr deal with the situation?
My daughter was pregnant at the time and my sons are still very young. But they were there for my father (Pravin Bhatt). They took care of the house and office.
They did everything possible to get Shweta and me released. If anything makes me vengeful, it’s what my children had to go through.
At the same time when faced with a situation like this, kids grow up overnight and become more responsible.
Maturity hits you like freight train; sometimes it’s because of heartbreak, sometimes a death in the family, sometimes a situation like ours.
Your dad must have been pretty shaken?
He was. It was so soon after we lost my mother. He’s 90 and didn’t know what was happening.
Even if someone told him, he would forget the next day. All he knew was that his son was in jail and he was miserable. He would call up my driver and ask him if I was okay, where I was.
‘I maintain I haven’t done anything wrong’
While shooting Haunted 3D, did you get a premonition that something like this could happen?
Not at all. I maintain I haven’t done anything wrong. I can’t go into details because the case is sub-judice. But I can say what is there in the Supreme Court judgment; that this is not a criminal case, it is a civil matter.
Did you write any scripts when in jail?
I finished Part 1 of Krishna Avatar, a three-film trilogy.
Will it be anything like Ranbir Kapoor’s Ramayana?
No. If we had to slot it, I would say it is like Narsimha. It’s an animation film using hyper realistic animation. Even the actors are generated.
I want to release it by February 2027 though nothing will happen if February becomes March. Actually, I wanted it as a birthday gift.
‘I’m lucky Sushmita Sen and Ameesha Patel are not talking about Shweta’
But your birthday is on January 27.
(Chuckles) Since my films invariably get delayed for some reason or the other, I have given myself an extra month.
Any plans of bringing your novel Handful of Sunshine to the screen?
That story is finished. When you express yourself through a film or a book, recreating it becomes monotonous and robotic.
I’ve seen directors of regional films remake them in other languages, but something about the original is invariably lost in translation and transition.
Turning the book into a film would just be a job, a chore. It wouldn’t come out well.
What about a sequel in print?
No. Right now, I am obsessed with creating a horror universe and Krishna Avatar.
Doesn’t it irk that even after all these years, when you are happily married, instead of your wife, your relationships with your exes Sushmita Sen and Ameesha Patel still makes news?
I’m lucky they are not talking about Shweta or I would get an earful from her. My wife is a very private person and not a fan of being spoken about publicly.
What appears about the others too are just eye-catching headlines. But that’s how this works.
When Shweta got bail, the headline read ‘Vikram Bhatt refused bail’.
Below, in a smaller font, was, ‘Wife gets bail’. I had not even applied for bail that day.
Photographs curated by Satish Bodas/Rediff
