Vishal Bhardwaj says he deserves 10th National Award for working with Shahid Kapoor in four films: ‘I’m difficult too’

Joking about his partnership with Shahid, Vishal added, “I am hesitant to say this, but I have gotten 9 National Awards till now, sorry I have to say this thing that is making me sound pompous, but my friends tease me that I should get the 10th National Award for working in four films with Shahid Kapoor.”

Vishal further admitted that he is not an easy director to work with and that Shahid understands him best. “However, what my friends don’t know is that I am a difficult person to work with and Shahid knows that. Shahid understands my passive aggression, and he understands that I am a very difficult man to work with, so I think Shahid should get a National Award for working with me in four films,” he said.

He added, “Shahid and I complement each other. We fight a lot also. We are a team like Laxmikant-Pyarelal and others.”

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Vishal admits it took him 10 years to make O’Romeo

During the interaction, Vishal also explained why O’Romeo took nearly a decade to materialise, despite him acquiring the rights to the film around 10 years ago. He said, “10 kyun lage…kyunki jab maine iss kahani ke right liye the 3 saal tak maine isko banne ki koshish hi nai ki the..3-4 saal. Jab maine banana ki koshish ke tab ismein protagonist koi aur hua karta tha.. jab aap dekhenge tab pata chalege..bahot time tak mere liye stale hoti chali gaye. Bahot directors ne mujhse aake story manage, aap banana nai rahe hai aap hume de dijiye. Main itna possessive tha iss kahani ko leke maine nai de.” Vishal initially tried to make the story with Irrfan Khan and Deepika Padukone, however, the actress didn’t have dates at the time and later Irrfan was diagnosed with cancer.

He further added, “I think yeh film jitne budget mein bane hai utni mere hasiyat nai hai as a director. Utna paisa nai hai. This is Sajid bhai’s (Sajid Nadiadwala, producer) conviction in me and in the project.”