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Although filmmaker Vikram Bhatt — known for movies such as Raaz, Awara Paagal Deewana, Aetbaar, and 1920, among others — enjoyed a phase where most of his projects performed well at the box office, the tide eventually turned, leading to a string of flops. Once the tough times began, most of his industry friends turned their backs on him. At this time, a hopeless Vikram Bhatt decided to direct the movie 1920, which he penned too. In a recent interview, the director recalled the kind of struggles he had to go through at the time of its making and release, waiting for a miracle to revive his dying career.
In an interview with Bharti Singh and Harsh Limbachiya on their YouTube channel, Vikram Bhatt shared, “After a couple of hit films, I had a series of flops and in the industry, there is a rule: ‘if you have a couple of bad Fridays then people stop taking your calls’. I was helpless. At that time, I had a subject called 1920. I decided to direct it.”
He added, “I struggled a lot to make that film. I had nobody to buy it from me. Nobody believed in me. The situation was so bad that even my lightman was like: ‘Sir, yeh kaisi film hai? (What kind of film is this?)’ I said, ‘This is what is going to work’. After completing production, I had around 35 trials of the film, but nobody bought it from me. I knocked on the doors of every studio and producer, but nobody showed any interest. Everybody had their own opinions and reasons. Eventually, I only released the film. The release day was filled with stress and the environment was stressed.”
However, Vikram Bhatt’s confidence in himself and his film finally worked for him. He recalled, “I remember, my dad calling me when I was in office. He said, ‘Do you have an FM Radio?’ I said, ‘no I don’t have it here at the office.’ He then asked me to go to my car and switch to Radio Mirchi. At that point in time they had a show where the audience would give its verdict. They would say ‘mirchi‘ if they liked it and ‘tamatar‘ if they didn’t. When I heard the programme, most of them said ‘mirchi‘. Then critic Ritu Raj called it a masterpiece. Eventually, after 1920, again my films got on track and became hits.”
The film, made on a budget of Rs 7 crore, went on to earn Rs 14.5 crore, eventually becoming a famous franchise. A sequel to the film, 1920: The Evil Returns, was released in 2012, which too became a commercial success despite mixed reviews.
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