Tell Tale

Right now,he is looking forward to his upcoming movies — Raaz 3,Murder 2,Crook and Chandu,the last a biopic on Chandrashekhar Prasad,the student leader from Jawaharlal Nehru University,Delhi who was shot dead on March 31,1997.

“Crook stars Emraan Hashmi — its tagline says ‘its good to be bad’,” says Bhatt. The story travels to Australia,at a time when racial tension is rife. “We’re not pointing fingers at anybody. It highlights discrimination but questions Indians who I believe are closet racists,” remarks Bhatt. In Chandu,Bhatt is “resurrecting a youth icon,an individual who felt for the real India and Indians,who walked the JNU campus and became the voice of the voiceless”. “What made him a controversial character? Here’s Chandrashekhar from Siwan in Bihar,a part of India no one wants to look at for it doesn’t have movers and shakers or Page 3 fluff. But Chandrashekhar chose to focus on those neglected and he was killed while fighting for them. This is his story,” Bhatt says. He has signed Delhi-based Imran Zahid for the main role and will start shooting this year. “It was Zahid who introduced me to the life and times of Chandrashekhar and I felt these are the heroes our country needs.”

Bhatt keeps courting controversy,thanks to his plainspeaking. He talks about how the media went to town when his son’s association with David Headley cropped up. “It was an exaggerated event,a good story for news mongers which unfortunately took a toll on the family,” he says

Not many know that Bhatt has filmed in hotbeds of Naxal activities,shot at trouble-torn Manipur and held film festivals in Kohima. He has also decided to quit Twitter for the time

being. “I am deconstructing my online life. I’ve exhaled and barked too much,it’s time to pause and inhale,stop and listen. I want to write about my years in Bollywood,a journey of multiple memories and multiple people. It’s time for the storyteller to walk and talk,” he signs off.