Why was Krishna (Vikram) Bhatt initially “scared” to direct ‘1920 Horrors-of-the-Heart’ movie ? --- by Chaitanya Padukone

Veteran yet young-at-heart filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt seemed to be in a cheerful mood at the recent unveiling event of the trailer-teaser-show-reel of 1920: Horrors Of The Heart where director Krishna (Vikram) Bhatt,  heroine Avika Gor, and of course  Vikram Bhatt were present at (Juhu) Sunny Super Sound theatre.

Enthused Bhatt-saab (as he is fondly known in showbiz) “These two girls (Krishna and Avika) represent the future of cinema. There is this ‘reverse-mentoring’ syndrome, where both Krishna and Avika have been sharing their valued inputs, while making our latest movie more relatable and engaging to all sections of theatre audiences. Yes, there is the horror junp-jolt-scare-fare undercurrent But it is smartly blended with family-drama sentiments, romantic emotions and the ‘sautela’ characters elements. .The project has been supervised by director Krishna’s father Vikram Bhatt, who is hailed as the King of the horror genre with mega-hit movies like Raaz (2002) and its sequels and then the super-hit 1920 (2008) movie franchise and its sequels, to his credit. I’ve been working in the industry for more than 50 years and I feel proud that I could impart some of the knowledge I’ve acquired over the years to them. Both of them ( Krishna--Avika) are the faces of how today's youth thinks. Also, I really feel that the franchise 1920 in itself is a very big responsibility to be fulfilled. So, I’m glad that sensitive Krishna and exuberant Avika have decided to take the baton forward.” says Mahesh Bhatt

When asked about how major a responsibility does she feel on her shoulders to take the super-popular horror--legacy forward, that has been created by her father Vikram, the candid Krishna says, “When dad and Mahesh uncle suggested that I take to the director’s chair with this film, I was frankly very 'scared' initially, because the comparison with your director-father is inevitable. But, when we wrote the story, I felt I could make it. And now, watching you all applaud the film for the way it has turned out, I feel I’ve done something right. I feel I’ve made my father proud, which was very important to me. So, I hope after the release of the film, everyone will say that I’ve done better than my dad.”

Both Mahesh Bhatt and eminent producer Anand Pandit present this spine-chilling film - a Vikram Bhatt Production in association with Dr Raj Kishor Khaware. Krishna Bhatt debuts as a film director. The film will release on June 23, in Hindi, Tamil and Telugu.

Anand Pandit stated, “(Mahesh) Bhatt saab always brings a new twist to a story, and he has done so beautifully with 1920 – horrors of the heart. Debutant director Krishna Bhatt has added a more youthful style to the film and has learned well from the master of horror space himself – Vikram Bhatt. As a result, the film is guaranteed to bring chills to Horror enthusiasts.”

Krishna said, "Mahesh (Bhatt) uncle helms our company, and when he wrote 1920 after the Covid days, I worked closely with him. The experience of being under his guidance is surreal. He makes you go inside your mind and tap into your feelings, which you didn’t know you possessed. I learned tremendously from him. The years spent on my father Vikram's set have given me a solid grounding in many facets of film-making. I hope to do justice to a genre he is the ace of.”  

On his daughter’s debut, Vikram Bhatt said, “It’s a heartfelt proud moment for me to see my young daughter’s film on the verge of a theatrical release. Krishna has been assisting me since I directed Haunted; she has seriously assisted me on sets for the last couple of years. She was completely in control of the sets and had a lot of clarity on how she wanted a scene to unfold or the music she wanted for her story. I want to thank Anand Pandit for giving the film an excellent release.”

Colors TV show ‘Balika Vadhu’ (2008) fame beautiful angelic Avika Gor, as the aggrieved daughter, is on a mission to avenge her parents injustice in Krishna Bhatt's ‘1920 - Horrors of the Heart’. The film unleashes psychological terror with evil characters and a perceptible eerie-sinister screen-ambience/. Avika Gor admitted to being a horror genre fan and stated, "I enjoy watching horror and was keen to work with the phenomenal Bhatts in the genre as no one understands it better than them. Bhatts also have great melodious music in their movies. It truly is a prestige-honour to work in this film written by veteran Mahesh, produced by Vikram Bhatt and directed by Krishna Bhatt."

What a super-happy coincidence, that director 'dulhan' Krishna Bhatt just got 'married' to her (non-filmy background-businessman) boyfriend-fiance (mangetar) Vedant Sarda in the presence and blessings of family members ,on Sunday June 1tth at a star-studded elaborate traditional wedding ceremony. Besides Mahesh Bhatt, Pravin Bhatt and Pooja Bhatt, the star-guests at the Krishna-Vedant shaadi included Sunny Leone, Aamir Khan, Avika Gor, Aftaab Shivdasani and Bobby Deol...