I don’t need stars: Vikram Bhatt

“I do believe that there are some films that cannot be made without stars. But then the bitter truth is that those who are available are not saleable and while the ones who are saleable are not available.

“In such a case,the best choice for a filmmaker is to make him a brand name. As far as horror films are concerned,I guess Vikram Bhatt is a brand name. Now as long as I have that core competence,I don’t need a star,” Bhatt said.

‘Shaapit’ marked the debut of Bollywood playback singer Udit Narayan’s son Aditya Narayan and Shweta Agarwal,but could not manage to make a similar impact as was the case in ‘Raaz’ (Dino Morea,Bipasha Basu) or ‘1920’ (Rajneesh Duggal,Adah Sharma),both of which had Bhatt at the helm of affairs.

But Bhatt,who has given hits like ‘Ghulam’ and ‘Kasoor’ in the past,defends his choice.

“I believe Aditya was always just the right face for ‘Shaapit’. He was the first and only choice and even after the release of the film,I am very positive about his future. He is a superstar in the making. He is also a very good singer,” said Bhatt.

There is also a slight buzz in the industry that it was Udit’s influence that helped Aditya bag ‘Shaapit’,but the director denies it.

“No,that’s not true at all. Udit Narayan had nothing to with the casting decision for ‘Shaapit’. Of course,since Aditya is his son and I know him for decades,I approached him before signing Aditya,” said Bhatt.

“The script of ‘Shaapit’ was such that the leading man couldn’t be shown indulging into anything heroic. In a horror film the protagonist should be vulnerable enough for audience to be worried about him. You can’t have a six feet boxer and expect audience to worry about him. Instead,they should be scared for the lead couple,” the filmmaker added.