Singolare carriera quella del clan dei Bhatt, parallela alla Bollywood che conta. Nel corso degli anni, i Bhatt hanno diretto e prodotto film incuranti degli argomenti trattati - spesso volutamente pruriginosi - e ignorando le onerose superstar. I titoli della Vishesh Films hanno conquistato una fetta considerevole di mercato. Sono pellicole perlopiù di intrattenimento puro, contraddistinte da colonne sonore molto accattivanti e da sequenze audaci per gli standard indiani. Ma il clan ha anche il merito di aver creato una star ormai di prima grandezza - Emraan Hashmi, componente della stessa famiglia -, e di aver prodotto
Gangster, il miglior lavoro, ad oggi, di Anurag Basu. Vi segnalo l'intervista
Emraan doesn't need me anymore, concessa da Mahesh Bhatt (proprietario della Vishesh Films in società col fratello Mukesh) a Sonil Dedhia e pubblicata ieri da Rediff. Di seguito un estratto:
'The trigger for Jannat 2 is quite interesting. Tell us about it.
I was sitting in my old office at Juhu when a young man came and told the receptionist that he wanted to meet me. When she refused to let him in, he took out a country-made pistol from his bag and fired one shot at one of the doors. This is something we enact on the sets and enhance it for cinematic experience, but it was happening in real life! Then, the writer of the film, Shagufta Rafique, was a victim of illegal arms. Her brother-in-law Brij Sadanah (who directed the film Victoria No. 203) got drunk one day, killed his wife and daughter, and ultimately shot himself dead. These incidents became the trigger.
The character and the plot are different from Jannat so why call the film Jannat 2?
We had earlier called this film
Informer. That got an ice cold response from the media. It was not generating the kind of anxiety amongst the audience. The truth is that the blockbuster mentality has taken over. We have the same mentality as Hollywood. The opening weekend has become very important. A franchise gives a sense of security to everyone - the director, producers, exhibitors and even the audience feels that they are watching something close to the first part. (...) We tasted success with
Murder 2 and
Raaz 2. As soon as we changed the name of our film from
Informer to
Jannat 2, the pre-release buzz has been astounding. People are eager to see the film. (...)
So that's just succumbing to public demand?
I think that is uncharitable. We have never succumbed to a star system and we have stood alone and made films on our own terms. We use our own brand that we have created to our advantage in these times when everybody is obsessed with brands. (...) In our case the star of our film is the brand we build. (...)
Do you feel in a safe zone when you are casting Emraan Hashmi in your film?
After
Murder 2, Emraan may look like a very safe proposition, but (...) having created this monster we won't let this monster devour us. What's the point of saying that you won't work with stars and you wait for your own in-house star to dictate the terms? He has other people to work with which would make him richer and just because he is the flesh of our flesh, blood of our blood, we have agreed. Emraan doesn't have to work only with us. That's why Kunal Khemu is one of our major assets. We are going to invest in him. Randeep Hooda is another great actor whose potential hasn't been tapped by the industry. We won't lean only on Emraan Hashmi; we will move away from the safety of even an Emraan Hashmi if it cripples us. (...) The world is not a static place. People change, evolve. I am not the same and neither is he. I have never felt that he should limit his flight to my understanding. I was wrong when I advised him that it would be suicidal to play the role of Dawood Ibrahim in
Once Upon A Time In Mumbaai. My protective parental instinct said that it would be bad for him to play the role of the most demonised terrorist in India but he had the guts to say no to me and he did it. (...) Today he is a force to reckon with. He isn't my destination neither am I his destination. Today, Kunal Khemu needs me more than Emraan Hashmi. And if you ask me, between Kunal Khemu and Emraan Hashmi whom do I support, I'll say Kunal Khemu, as Emraan is already a star.
Vishesh Films is known for launching new talent. But was it a deliberate decision to not launch your own (...) daughter? (...)
Alia is lucky to get a break with Karan Johar. He is an A-grade filmmaker who has passion and who has the platform and makes the kind of movies that the masses like. She is a young girl, just 18 years old, just out of school, and that's the right kind of vehicle for her. She didn't have to work towards it; it just happened'.
